<p>I show on the basis of unpublished sources how Hilbert’s conviction of the solvability of all mathematical problems originated from an engagement with Kant’s philosophy of mathematics. Furthermore, I consider other sense of the “solvability” or “decidability” of mathematical problems which Hilbert thought about later: decidability in finitely many steps, which is an issue Hilbert inherited from Kronecker, “finitistic decidability” which Hilbert develops by reflecting on Kronecker’s methodological strictures, and finally the decision-problem as raised by Behmann in the 1920s. I argue that these different preoccupations have different historical and biographical roots, and should also be kept conceptually distinct.</p>

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Hilbert’s problems, Kant, and decidability

  • Moritz Bodner

摘要

I show on the basis of unpublished sources how Hilbert’s conviction of the solvability of all mathematical problems originated from an engagement with Kant’s philosophy of mathematics. Furthermore, I consider other sense of the “solvability” or “decidability” of mathematical problems which Hilbert thought about later: decidability in finitely many steps, which is an issue Hilbert inherited from Kronecker, “finitistic decidability” which Hilbert develops by reflecting on Kronecker’s methodological strictures, and finally the decision-problem as raised by Behmann in the 1920s. I argue that these different preoccupations have different historical and biographical roots, and should also be kept conceptually distinct.