23
votes
4answers
1k views

Illustrating Edward Nelson's Worldview with Nonstandard Models of Arithmetic

Mathematician Edward Nelson is known for his extreme views on the foundations of mathematics, variously described as "ultrafintism" or "strict finitism" (Nelson's preferred term), which came into the ...
6
votes
3answers
681 views

What is the status of irrational numbers within finitism/ultrafinitism?

According to constructivism a mathematical object to prove that it exists". There are several formulas to calculate pi, such as: so I take it ...
46
votes
8answers
5k views

Is there any formal foundation to ultrafinitism?

Ultrafinitism is (I believe) a philosophy of mathematics that is not only constructive, but does not admit the existence of arbitrarily large natural numbers. According to wikipedia, it has been ...
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