Eric Steinhart More Precisely The Math You Need To Do Philosophy

2018·18 MB·English

by  Eric Steinhart

MORE
PRECISELY
The Math You Need
to Do Philosophy
More Precisely
The MathYou Need to Do Philosophy
Second Edition
Eric Steinhart
B
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Contents
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
Preface x
1.CollectionsofThings ....................................................................................1
2.SetsandMembers..........................................................................................2
3.SetBuilder Notation............................3
4.Subsets...........................................................................................................4
5.SmallSets∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙6
6.UnionsofSets................................................................................................7
7.IntersectionsofSets.......................................................................................8
8.DifferenceofSets........�∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙l0
9.SetAlgebra..................................................................................................10
10.SetsofSets................................................................................................11
11.UnionofaSetofSets................................................................................12
12.PowerSets.................................................................................................13
13.SetsandSelections..................................................................................'..15
14.PureSets....................................................................................................16
15.SetsandNumbers......................................................................................19
16.SumsofSetsofNumbers..........................................................................20
17.OrderedPairs.............................................................................21
18.OrderedTuples..........................................................................................22
-
19.CartesianProducts.....................................................................................23
2.RELATIONS ∙∙∙∙∙∙ ∙∙∙∙∙∙25
1.Relations......................................................................................................25
2.SomeFeaturesofRelations.........................................................................26
3.EquivalenceRelationsandClasses .............................................................27
4.ClosuresofRelations...................................................................................29
5.RecursiveDefinitionsandAncestrals .........................................................32
6.PersonalPersistence ....................................................................................33
6.1TheDiachronicSamenessRelation.......................................................33
6.2TheMemoryRelation............................................................................34
6.3SymmetricthenTransitiveClosure.......................................................35
6.4TheFissionProblem..............................................................................38
6.5Transitivethen SymmetricClosure.......................................................40
7.ClosureunderanOperation.........................................................................42
8.ClosureunderPhysicalRelations ............................................42
9.OrderRelations............................................................................................44
10.DegreesofPerfection ................................................................................45
11.Partsof Sets...............................................................................................48
vi Contents
12.Functions...................................................................................................49
13.SomeExamplesofFunctions....................................................................52
14.Isomorphisms ............................................................................................55
15.FunctionsandSums...................................................................................59
16.SequencesandOperationsonSequences..................................................60
17.Cardinality.................................................................................................61
18.SetsandClasses.........................................................................................62
1.Machines......................................................................................................65
2.FiniteStateMachines..................................................................................65
2.1RulesforMachines................................................................................65
2.2TheCareersofMachines.......................................................................68
2.3UtilitiesofStatesandCareers...............................................................70
3.TheGameofLife........................................................................................71
3.1AUniverseMadefromMachines .........................................................71
3.2TheCausalLawintheGameof Life ....................................................72
3.3RegularitiesintheCausalFlow.............................................................73
�
3.4ConstructingtheGameofLifefromPureSets.....................................75
4.TuringMachines........................................................................................1.78
5.LifelikeWorlds............................................................................................81
1.ExtensionalSemantics...................85
1.1WordsandReferents .............................................................................85
1.2A SampleVocabulary andModel .........................................................88
1.3SentencesandTruth-Conditions..........t.................................................89
2.SimpleModalSemantics.............................................................................92
∙
2.1PossibleWorlds.....................................................................................92
2.2ASampleModalStructure....................................................................95
2.3SentencesandTruthatPossibleWorlds ...............................................95
2.4Modalities..............................................................................................97
2.5Intensions...............................................................................................99
2.6Propositions...........................................................................................99
3.ModalSemanticswithCounterparts .........................................................101
3.1TheCounterpartRelation ....................................................................101
3.2A SampleModelforCounterpartTheoreticSemantics......................102
3.3Truth-ConditionsforNon-Modal Statements.....................................103
3.4Truth-ConditionsforModalStatements..............................................105
5.PROBABILIT1Y 08
1.SampleSpaces...........................................................................................108
Contents vii
��∙������∙�
.SimpleProbability.....................................................................................109
.CombinedProbabilities.............................................................................111
.ProbabilityDistributions ...........................................................................113
.ConditionalProbabilities...........................................................................115
5.1RestrictingtheSampleSpace..............................................................115
5.2TheDefinitionofConditionalProbability ..........................................116
5.3AnExampleInvolvingMarbles..........................................................117
5.4IndependentEvents .............................................................................118
.BayesTheorem..........................................................................................119
6.1TheFirstFormofBayesTheorem ......................................................119
6.2AnExampleInvolvingMedicalDiagnosis .........................................119
6.3TheSecondFormofBayesTheorem..................................................121
6.4An ExampleInvolvingEnvelopeswith Prizes....................................123
.DegreesofBelief.......................................................................................124
7.1SetsandSentences...............................................................................124
7.2SubjectiveProbabilityFunctions.........................................................125
.BayesianConfirmationTheory .................................................................127
8.1ConfirmationandDisconfirmation......................................................127
8.2BayesianConditionalization................................................................128
.KnowledgeandtheFlow ofInformation ..................................................129
6.INFORMATIONTHEOR1Y 31
��������−�
∙Communication .........................................................................................l31
.ExponentsandLogarithms........................................................................132
.TheProbabilitiesofMessages...................................................................134
.EfficientCodesforCommunication..........................................................134
4.1AMethod forMakingBinaryCodes...................................................134
4.2TheWeightMovingacrossaBridge...................................................137
4.3TheInformationFlowingthroughaChannel......................................139
4.4MessageswithVariableProbabilities .................................................140
4.5Compression........................................................................................141
4.6CompressionUsing HuffmanCodes...................................................142
.Entropy ......................................................................................................144
5.1ProbabilityandtheFlowofInformation.............................................144
5.2ShannonEntropy .................................................................................145
5.3EntropyinAesthetics ..........................................................................147
5.4JointProbability...................................................................................147
5.5JointEntropy ......................................................................�.................148
.MutualInformation ...................................................................................150
6.1FromJointEntropy toMutual Information.........................................150
6.2FromJointtoConditionalProbabilities ................................151
6.3ConditionalEntropy ............................................................................152
6.4FromConditionalEntropytoMutualInformation..............................153
6.5AnIllustrationofEntropiesandCodes...............................................154
.Information andMentality.........................................................................160
7.1Mutual Information andMentalRepresentation .................................160
viii Contents
7.2IntegratedInformationTheoryandConsciousness.............................160
..............................
7.DECISIONSAND GAMES 163
1.ActUtilitarianism......................................................................................163
1.1AgentsandActions..............................................................................163
1.2ActionsandTheirConsequences........................................................164
1.3Utility andMoralQuality....................................................................165
2.FromDecisionstoGames .........................................................................165
2.] ExpectedUtility...................................................................................165
2.2GameTheory.......................................................................................167
2.3StaticGames...........................................168
3.Multi-PlayerGames...................................................................................170
3.1ThePrisoner’sDilemma......................................................................170
3.2PhilosophicalIssuesinthePrisoner’sDilemma .................................171
3.3DominantStrategies............................................................................172
3.4TheStagHunt......................................................................................175
3.5Nash Equilibria....................................................................................176
4.TheEvolutionofCooperation...................................................................177
4.1TheIteratedPrisoner’sDilemma.........................................................177
4.2TheSpatializedIteratedPrisoner’sDilemma......................................180
.
4.3PublicGoodsGames...........................................................................181
4.4GamesandCooperation ......................................................................183
8.FROM THEFINITETOTHEINFINITE..........................186
.Recursively Defined Series.......................................................................186
.LimitsofRecursivelyDefinedSeries........................................................188
2.1CountingthroughAll theNumbers.....J...............................................188
2.2Cantor’sThreeNumber GeneratingRules..........................................190
2.3TheSeriesofVonNeumann Numbers................................................190
.SomeExamplesof Serieswith Limits.......................................................191
3.1AchillesRunsonZeno’sRacetrack ....................................................191
3.2TheRoyceMap...................................................................................192
3.3TheHilbertPaper ................................................................................193
3.4AnEndlessSeriesof Degreesof Perfection........................................194
.Infinity.......................................................................................................195
4.1InfinityandInfiniteComplexity..........................................................195
4.2TheHilbertHotel.................................................................................197
4.3OperationsonInfiniteSequences........................................................198
.Supertasks..................................................................................................198
5.1ReadingtheBorgesBook.....................∙...............................................198
5.2TheThomsonLamp ............................................................................199
5.3ZeusPerformsaSuper-Computation ..................................................200
5.4AcceleratingTuringMachines............................................................200
Contents ix
9.BIGGER INFINITIES∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ ∙∙∙∙∙202
1.SomeTransfiniteOrdinalNumbers...........................................................202
2.Comparingthe Sizesof Sets......................................................................203
3.Ordinal andCardinalNumbers..................................................................205
4.Cantor’sDiagonalArgument ....................................................................207
5.Cantor’sPowerSetArgument...................................................................2]l
5.1Sketchof thePowerSetArgument .....................................................211
5.2ThePowerSetArgument inDetail .....................................................213
5.3TheBeth Numbers...............................................................................214
6.TheAlephNumbers ..................................................................................216
7.TransfiniteRecursion ................................................................................217
7.] RulesfortheLongLine.......................................................................217
7.2TheSequenceofUniverses.................................................................218
7.3Degreesof DivinePerfection ..............................................................219
FurtherStudy0.0.0...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.000000IOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.0.221
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Glossary Of symbOIS OO..0...0.0.00.0.0.00.00.00.000000000223
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References 226
.........
Index 231
Preface
Anyone doingphilosophy today needs to have a sound understanding of a wide
rangeofbasicmathematicalconcepts. Unfortunately,mostapplied mathematics
textsaredesignedtomeettheneedsof scientists. And much of themath used in
the sciences is not used in philosophy. You’re looking at a mathematics book
that’s designed to meet the needs of philosophers. More Precisely introduces
the mathematical concepts.you need in order to do philosophy today. As we
introduce these concepts, we illustrate them with many classical and recent
philosophicalexamples. Thisismath forphilosophers.
It’simportanttounderstand what MorePrecisely isandwhat itisn’t. More
Precisely is not a philosophy of mathematics book. It’s a mathematics book.
We’re not going to talk philos0phically about mathematics. We are going to
teachyou themathematicsyou need todophilosophy. We won’t enterinto any
of the debates that rage in the current philosophy of math. Do abstract objects
exist? How do we have mathematical knowledge? We don’t deal with those
issues here. More Precisely is not a logic book. We’re not introducing you to
any logical calculus. We won’t prove any theorems. You can do a lot of math
with very little logic. If you know some propositional or predicate logic, it
won’t hurt. But even if you’ve never heard of them, you’ll dojust fine here.
More Precisely is an introductory book. It is not anadvanced text. It aims to
coverthe basics sothat you’re prepared to go into the depths on the topics that
are of specialinterestto you. Tofollow what we’re doinghere,you don’t need
anything beyond high school mathematics. We introduce all the technical
notations and concepts gently and with many examples. We’ll draw our
examples from many branches of philosophy — including metaphysics,
philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, epistemology, ethics, and
philosophy ofreligion.
It’snatural tostartwith somesettheory. All branches of philosophy today
.makesomeuse of settheory. If you want tobe ableto follow what’s going on
inphilosophy today,you need tomasteratleastthebasic languageof settheory.
You need to understand the specialized notation and vocabulary used to talk
about sets. Forexample,you need tounderstand the conceptof the intersection
of two sets, and to know how it is written in the specialized notation of set
theory. Sincewe’re not doing philosophy of math, we aren’t going to get into
any debates about whether or not sets exist. Before getting into such debates,
you need tohaveaclearunderstanding of theobjectsyou’re arguingabout. Our
purpose in Chapter '1 is to introduce you to the language of sets and the basic
ideas of set theory. Chapter 2 introduces relations and functions. Basic set-
theoretic notions,especially relations and functions,are used extensively in the
later chapters. Soif you’re not familiar with those notions, you’ve got to start
with Chapters 1and 2. Make sureyou’ve really mastered the ideas in Chapters
1and2beforegoingon.
After we discuss basic set-theoretic concepts,we go into concepts that are
used in various branches of philosophy. Chapter 3 introduces machines. A
machine (in the special sense used in philosophy, computer science, and
mathematics) isn’t an industrialdevice. It’s a formal structureused to describe
Preface xi
somelawful pattern of activity. Machines areoften used in philosophy of mind
— many philosophers model minds as machines. Machines are sometimesused
in metaphysics — simple universes can be modeled as networks of interacting
machines. You can use these models to study space, time, and causality.
Chapter4introducessomeof themath used inthephilosophy of language. Sets,
relations, and functions are extensively used in formal semantic theories —
especiallypossibleworldssemantics.
Chapter5introducesbasic probability theory. Probability theory isused in
epistemology and the philosophy of science (e.g., Bayesian epistemology,
Bayesianconfirmationtheory). Building onthetheory of probability,Chapter6
discusses information theory. Information theory is used inlepistemology,
philosophy of science,philosophy of mind, aesthetics,and in other branches of
philosophy. A firm understanding of informationtheory isincreasingly relevant
ascomputersplay evermore importantroles in human life. Chapter7discusses
some of the uses of mathematics in ethics. It introduces decision theory and
game theory. Finally, the topic of infinity comes up in many philosophical
discussions. Is the mind finitely or infinitely complex? Can infinitely many
tasks be done in finite time? What does it mean to say that God is infinite?
Chapter 8 introduces the notion of recursion and countable infinity. Chapter 9
shows that there is an endless progression of bigger and bigger infinities. It
introducestransfiniterecursion.
.
We illustrate the mathematical concepts with philosophical examples. We
aren’t interested in the philosophical soundness of these examples. Do sets
really exist? Was Platoright? It’sirrelevant. Whetherthey really existornot,
it’s extremely important to understand set theory to do philosophy today.
Chapter 3discusses mechanical theories of mentality. Are minds machines? It
doesn’tmatter. What matters isthat mechanical theories of mentality use math,
and that you need to know that math before you can really understand the
philosophical issues. As another example,we’ll spend many pages explaining
the mathematical apparatus behind various versions of possible worlds
semantics. Isthisbecause possible worlds really exist? We don’tcare. We do
care that possible worlds semantics makes heavy use of sets, relations, and
functions. As we develop the mathematics used in philosophy, we obviously
talk about lots and lots of mathematical objects. We talk about sets,numbers,
functions,and soon. Our attitudeto these objects is entirely uncritical. We’re
engaged in exposition, not evaluation. We leave the interpretations and
evaluations up to you. Although we aim to avoid philosophical controversies,
More Precisely is not a miscellaneous assortment of mathematical tools and
techniques. If you look closely, you’ll see that the ideas unfold in an orderly
andconnectedway. MorePreciselyisaconceptualnarrative.
Ourhopeisthatlearningthemathematicswepresent inMorePreciselywill
help you to do philosophy. You’ll be better equipped to read technical
philosophical articles. Articles and ideas that once might have seemed far too
formal will become easy to understand. And you’ll be able to apply these
concepts in your own philosophical thinking and writing. Of course, some
philosophers might object: why should philosophy use mathematics at all?
Shouldn’t philosophy avoid technicalities? We agree that technicality for its
own sake ought to be avoided. As Ansel Adams once said, “There’s nothing