According to the iterative conception of set, each set is a collection of sets formed prior to it. The notion of priority here plays an essential role in explanations of why contradiction-inducing sets, such as the Russell set, do not exist. Consequently, these explanations are successful only to the extent that a satisfactory priority relation is made out. I argue that attempts to do this have fallen short: understanding priority in a straightforwardly constructivist sense threatens the coherence of the empty (...) set and raises serious epistemological concerns; but the leading realist interpretations---ontological and modal interpretations of priority---are deeply problematic as well. I conclude that the purported explanatory virtues of the iterative conception are, at present, unfounded. (shrink)

Mathematicians and physical scientists depend heavily on the formal symbolism of mathematics in order to express and develop their theories. For this and other reasons the last hundred years has seen a growing interest in the nature of formal language and the way it expresses meaning; particularly the objective, shared aspect of meaning as opposed to subjective, personal aspects. This dichotomy suggests the question: do the objective philosophical theories of meaning offer concepts which can be applied in psychological theories of (...) meaning? In recent years cognitive scientists such as Chomsky [1980], Fodor [1981] and MacNamara [1982] have used philosophical approaches to the meaning of formal language expressions as the basis for their psychological theories. Following this lead it seems appropriate to review some of the main treatments of meaning with a view to their transferability. (shrink)

The Polish logicians' propositional calculi, which consist in a distinct synthesis of the Fregean and Boolean approaches to logic, influenced W. V. Quine's early work in formal logic. This early formal work of Quine's, in turn, can be shown to serve as one of the sources of his holistic conception of natural language.

Adding higher types to set theory differs from adding inaccessible cardinals, in that higher type arguments apply to all sets rather than just ordinary ones. Levy's reflection axiom is justified, by considering the principle that we can pretend that the universe is a set, together with methods of Gaifman [8]. We reprove some results of Gaifman, and some facts about Levy's reflection axiom, including the fact that adding higher types yields no new theorems about sets. Some remarks on standard models (...) are made. An obvious strengthening of Levy's axiom to higher types is considered, which implies the existence of indescribable cardinals. Other remarks about larger cardinals are made; some questions of Gloede [9] are settled. Finally we argue that the evidence for V = L is strong, and that CH is certainly true. MSC: 03E30, 03E55. (shrink)