finitism

finitism
In the philosophy of mathematics, the view that the only legitimate numbers are finite: ‘God created the integers, the rest is the work of man’ (L. Kronecker). In mathematics the restriction to finitary methods was advocated by David Hilbert. It shares with constructivism the view that one cannot assert the existence of a mathematical object without indicating how to construct it. It adds the principle that one should never deal with the set of all the objects of an infinite totality. That a theorem holds for all members of such a set simply means that for any particular member of the set one can repeat the argument.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

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  • Finitism — In the philosophy of mathematics, finitism is an extreme form of constructivism, according to which a mathematical object does not exist unless it can be constructed from natural numbers in a finite number of steps. In her book Philosophy of Set… …   Wikipedia

  • finitism — noun An extreme form of constructivism, according to which a mathematical object does not exist unless it can be constructed from natural numbers in a finite number of steps …   Wiktionary

  • finitism — [ fʌɪnʌɪtɪz(ə)m] noun Philosophy & Mathematics rejection of the belief that anything can be infinite. Derivatives finitist noun & adjective …   English new terms dictionary

  • finitism — fi·nit·ism …   English syllables

  • finitism —  Финитизм …   Вестминстерский словарь теологических терминов

  • finitism — n. belief in the finiteness of the world, God, etc. Derivatives: finitist n …   Useful english dictionary

  • Temporal finitism — is the idea that time is finite.The philosophy of Aristotle, expressed in such works as his Physics , held that although space was finite, with only void existing beyond the outermost sphere of the heavens, time was infinite. This caused problems …   Wikipedia

  • theistic fïnitism —  Теистический финитизм …   Вестминстерский словарь теологических терминов

  • Philosophy of mathematics — The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. The aim of the philosophy of mathematics is to provide an account of the nature and methodology of …   Wikipedia

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