The philosophy of mathematics

The philosophy of mathematics

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. Although Mathematical Science is the most ancient and the most perfect of all, yet the general idea which we ought to form of it has not yet been clearly determined. Its definition and its principal divisions have remained till now vague and uncertain. Indeed the plural name"The Mathematics"by which we commonly designate it, would alone suffice to indicate the want of unity in the common conception of it. In truth, it was not till the commencement of the last century that the different fundamental conceptions which constitute this great science were each of them sufficiently developed to permit the true spirit of the whole to manifest itself with clearness. Since that epoch the attention of geometers has been too exclusively absorbed by the special perfecting of the different branches, and by the application which they have made of them to the most important laws of the universe, to allow them to give due attention to the general system of the science. But at the present time the progress of the special departments is no longer so rapid as to forbid the contemplation of the whole. The science of mathematics[Pg 18] is now sufficiently developed, both in itself and as to its most essential application, to have arrived at that state of consistency in which we ought to strive to arrange its different parts in a single system, in order to prepare for new advances. We may even observe that the last important improvements of the science have directly paved the way for this important philosophical operation, by impressing on its principal parts a character of unity which did not previously exist. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 39702
Author: Comte, Auguste
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Gillespie, W. M. (William Mitchell), 1816-1868