on certainty 447

447. Compare with this 12 x 12 = 144. Here too we don’t say “perhaps”. For, in so far as this proposition rests on our not miscounting or miscalculating and on our senses not deceiving us as we calculate, both propositions, the arithmetical one and the physical one, are on the same level.

I want to say: The physical game is just as certain as the arithmetical. But this can be misunderstood. My remark is a logical and not a psychological one.

there is no need to say ‘perhaps’ –

with any proposition –

if it is understood that a proposition – of any kind –

is open to question –

open to doubt

with 12 x 12 = 144 –

what you have is an instruction for a word game –

a sign game – a game of sign substitution

if you play the game –

you play it as instructed

however this is not to say –

that the terms and operations of the game –

are without question –

without doubt

every mathematical concept  –

is a matter of intellectual contention –

the history of mathematical theory –

is testament to this –

if any testament is needed

in this respect mathematical propositions –

are no different to physical propositions

the physical game is just as uncertain –

as the arithmetical

my remark is a logical –

and not a psychological one

© greg t. charlton. 2010