Leap of faith. A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable, or without empirical evidence.[1] It is an act commonly associated with religious belief as many religions consider faith to be an essential element of piety.
The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he himself never used the term, as he referred to a leap as a leap to faith. A leap of faith according to Kierkegaard involves circularity insofar as a leap is made by faith.[2] In his book Concluding Unscientific Postscript, he describes the core part of the leap of faith, the leap. "Thinking can turn toward itself in order to think about itself and skepticism can emerge. But this thinking about itself never accomplishes anything. " Kierkegaard says thinking should serve by thinking something. Zeitgeist. The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time) is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time.
For example, the Zeitgeist of modernism typified and influenced architecture, art, and fashion during much of the 20th century.[1] The German word Zeitgeist is often attributed to the philosopher Georg Hegel, but he never actually used the word. In his works such as Lectures on the Philosophy of History, he uses the phrase der Geist seiner Zeit (the spirit of his time)—for example, "no man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit. "[2] Calculus ratiocinator. The Calculus Ratiocinator is a theoretical universal logical calculation framework, a concept described in the writings of Gottfried Leibniz, usually paired with his more frequently mentioned characteristica universalis, a universal conceptual language.
Two views[edit] There are two contrasting points of view on what Leibniz meant by calculus ratiocinator. The first is associated with computer software, the second is associated with computer hardware. Analytic geometry. Cartesian coordinates Analytic geometry, or analytical geometry, has two different meanings in mathematics.
The modern and advanced meaning refers to the geometry of analytic varieties. This article focuses on the classical and elementary meaning. In classical mathematics, analytic geometry, also known as coordinate geometry, or Cartesian geometry, is the study of geometry using a coordinate system. This contrasts with synthetic geometry. Eternalism (philosophy of time) Conventionally, time is divided into three distinct regions; the "past", the "present", and the "future".
Using that representational model, the past is generally seen as being immutably fixed, and the future as undefined and nebulous. As time passes, the moment that was once the present becomes part of the past; and part of the future, in turn, becomes the new present. In this way time is said to pass, with a distinct present moment "moving" forward into the future and leaving the past behind.
This conventional model presents a number of difficult philosophical problems, and seems difficult to reconcile with currently accepted scientific theories such as the theory of relativity. Many philosophers have argued that relativity implies eternalism.[3] Although he disagrees in a qualified sense, philosopher of science, Dean Rickles, notes that "the consensus among philosophers seems to be that special and general relativity are incompatible with presentism.
Riemannian geometry. Elliptic geometry is also sometimes called "Riemannian geometry".
Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, smooth manifolds with a Riemannian metric, i.e. with an inner product on the tangent space at each point which varies smoothly from point to point. This gives, in particular, local notions of angle, length of curves, surface area, and volume. From those some other global quantities can be derived by integrating local contributions.
Monism. Monism is the philosophical view that a variety of existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance.
The wide definition states that all existing things go back to a source which is distinct from them (e.g. in Neoplatonism everything is derived from The One). A commonly-used, restricted definition of monism asserts the presence of a unifying substance or essence. One must distinguish "stuff monism" from "thing monism".[3] According to stuff monism there is only one kind of stuff (e.g. matter or mind), although there may be many things made out of this stuff. According to thing-monism there exists strictly speaking only a single thing (e.g. the universe), which can only be artificially and arbitrarily divided into many things. The term monism originated from Western philosophy,[4] and has often been applied to various religions. History[edit] It was later also applied to the theory of absolute identity set forth by Hegel and Schelling. Definitions[edit] a.
B. Transfinite number. Transfinite numbers are numbers that are "infinite" in the sense that they are larger than all finite numbers, yet not necessarily absolutely infinite.
The term transfinite was coined by Georg Cantor, who wished to avoid some of the implications of the word infinite in connection with these objects, which were nevertheless not finite. Few contemporary writers share these qualms; it is now accepted usage to refer to transfinite cardinals and ordinals as "infinite". However, the term "transfinite" also remains in use. Definition[edit] Sample space. For example, if the experiment is tossing a coin, the sample space is typically the set {head, tail}.
For tossing two coins, the corresponding sample space would be {(head,head), (head,tail), (tail,head), (tail,tail)}. For tossing a single six-sided die, the typical sample space is {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} (in which the result of interest is the number of pips facing up).[2] Multiple sample spaces[edit] Metric space. The metric space which most closely corresponds to our intuitive understanding of space is the 3-dimensional Euclidean space.
Limit of a sequence. As the positive integer n becomes larger and larger, the value n sin(1/n) becomes arbitrarily close to 1. We say that "the limit of the sequence n sin(1/n) equals 1. " In mathematics, the limit of a sequence is the value that the terms of a sequence "tend to".[1] If such a limit exists, the sequence is called convergent. A sequence which does not converge is said to be divergent.[2] The limit of a sequence is said to be the fundamental notion on which the whole of analysis ultimately rests.[1] Limits can be defined in any metric or topological space, but are usually first encountered in the real numbers. Real numbers[edit] Real line. Cardinality. The cardinality of a set A is usually denoted | A |, with a vertical bar on each side; this is the same notation as absolute value and the meaning depends on context.
Alternatively, the cardinality of a set A may be denoted by n(A), A, card(A), or # A. Comparing sets[edit] Definition 1: | A | = | B |[edit] For example, the set E = {0, 2, 4, 6, ...} of non-negative even numbers has the same cardinality as the set N = {0, 1, 2, 3, ...} of natural numbers, since the function f(n) = 2n is a bijection from N to E. Definition 2: | A | ≥ | B |[edit] A has cardinality greater than or equal to the cardinality of B if there exists an injective function from B into A. Mathematical induction. Mathematical induction can be informally illustrated by reference to the sequential effect of falling dominoes.
Mathematical induction is a method of mathematical proof typically used to establish a given statement for all natural numbers. It is done in two steps. The first step, known as the base case, is to prove the given statement for the first natural number. The second step, known as the inductive step, is to prove that the given statement for any one natural number implies the given statement for the next natural number. From these two steps, mathematical induction is the rule from which we infer that the given statement is established for all natural numbers. Although its namesake may suggest otherwise, mathematical induction should not be misconstrued as a form of inductive reasoning (also see Problem of induction). History[edit] Dialectic. Dialectic (also dialectics and the dialectical method) is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to European and Indian philosophy since antiquity.
The word dialectic originated in ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues. The dialectical method is discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject, who wish to establish the truth of the matter guided by reasoned arguments.[1] The term dialectics is not synonymous with the term debate. While in theory debaters are not necessarily emotionally invested in their point of view, in practice debaters frequently display an emotional commitment that may cloud rational judgement.
Debates are won through a combination of persuading the opponent; proving one's argument correct; or proving the opponent's argument incorrect. Maieutics. Maieutics (/meɪˈjuːtɨks/ or /maɪˈjuːtɨks/) is a pedagogical method based on the idea that truth is latent in the mind of every human being due to innate reason but has to be "given birth" by answering intelligently proposed questions (or problems). Infinite regress. Distinction is made between infinite regresses that are "vicious" and those that are not. Aristotle[edit] Aristotle argued that knowing does not necessitate an infinite regress because some knowledge does not depend on demonstration: Primitive notion. Alfred Tarski explained the role of primitive notions as follows: When we set out to construct a given discipline, we distinguish, first of all, a certain small group of expressions of this discipline that seem to us to be immediately understandable; the expressions in this group we call PRIMITIVE TERMS or UNDEFINED TERMS, and we employ them without explaining their meanings.
Venn diagram. Example[edit] Sets A (creatures with two legs) and B (creatures that can fly) Euler diagram.