Repository | Book | Chapter
The idea of number from Gauss to Cantor
the Leibnizian heritage and its surpassing
pp. 1-11
Abstract
In a letter to David Hilbert, datelined January 27, 1900, Georg Cantor takes a position against Dedekind's opinion that numbers are "free creations of the human mind" ("free" underlined by Cantor), and the editors comment as follows: In der Überzeugung, daß Zahlen auch transiente Realitat besitzen [. . . ], besteht denn auch die wesentliche Differenz zu Dedekind, dem die Zahlen "freie Schopfungen des menschlichen Geistes" sind.
Publication details
Published in:
Chin Drian Yannick, Krömer Ralf (2012) New essays on Leibniz reception: in science and philosophy of science 1800-2000. Dordrecht, Springer.
Pages: 1-11
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-0346-0504-5_1
Full citation:
Séguin Philippe (2012) „The idea of number from Gauss to Cantor: the Leibnizian heritage and its surpassing“, In: Y. Chin Drian & R. Krömer (eds.), New essays on Leibniz reception, Dordrecht, Springer, 1–11.