3 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Kit Fine on the nature of numbers
If we abstract from all special features of an individual to get cantors units, isn't it impossible to tell how many of them we have? Would we not get only ONE unit if we abstract all properties that make them individuals and therefore nothing we could count? I don't get it.
Comment by d3jg at 22/01/2015 at 08:32 UTC
3 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I don't think you should abstract **all** properties to include the 4 dimensions. You still have two objects, even if they are otherwise 100% identical, as long as they occupy different positions in space and/or time. If they don't occupy different places in space or time, then it's just one object. The same. Hence the notation of two circular units in the braces. One unit must come first, then the second. Their nature of first, then second (relating to time/space) is what gives them the "two" property.