Category Archives: Philosophy

About Mathematics

Posted on October 12, 2008 by

This post collects some brief philosophical thoughts about mathematics that appeared as part of my paper “Combinatorics with a geometric flavor: some examples,” from the proceedings of the conference “Vision in Mathematics, towards 2000.” I added two small items (the first and … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, What is Mathematics | Tagged | 6 Comments

The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Sympathy, and Yaari’s Challenge

Posted on September 3, 2008 by

Correlation and Cooperation In our spring school devoted to Arrow’s economics, Menahem Yaari gave a talk  entitled “correlation and cooperation.” It was about games as a model of people’s behavior, and Yaari made the following points: It is an empirical fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Games, Philosophy, Rationality | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Optimism – two quotes

Posted on June 15, 2008 by

1. Here is a quote from Karl Popper’s paper “Science, Problems, Aims, Responsibilities” about Francis Bacon: “According to Bacon, nature, like God, was present in all things, from the greatest to the least. And it was the aim or the … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Is Mathematics a Science?

Posted on May 25, 2008 by

Many people do not regard mathematics as a science since it does not directly probe our physical reality; some mathematicians even like to think about mathematics as being closer to art, music or literature. But is there really a big … Continue reading →

Posted in Open discussion, Philosophy, What is Mathematics | Tagged , | 4 Comments