[FOM] Non-constructiveness.

Robert Black Robert.Black at Nottingham.ac.uk
Fri Jul 4 05:36:15 EDT 2003


>This is the sense in which it is non-constructive:  an existence 
>theorem, even in the "large finite" arena can fail to really give 
>you the object of which it speaks.
>
>- Lucas Wiman

In that case I think my objection shrinks to one of objecting to the 
vocabulary. We're no longer talking about constuctiveness but rather 
of feasibility (a very difficult subject on which I have nothing to 
say). If we're seriously worried about feasibility then all sorts of 
things that are constructively unproblematic will fail - e.g. 'every 
number is prime or composite'.

Robert
-- 
Robert Black
Dept of Philosophy
University of Nottingham
Nottingham NG7 2RD

tel. 0115-951 5845


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