How the Continuum Hypothesis could have been a Fundamental Axiom

2024/09/10 by Joel David Hamkins · 1 voice
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #History and Theory of Mathematics #Mathematical and Theoretical Analysis #Relativity and Gravitational Theory

paper · pdf · doi:10.36253/jpm-2936

openalex publication_date 2024/09/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

I describe a simple historical thought experiment showing how we might have come to view the continuum hypothesis as a fundamental axiom, one necessary for mathematics, indispensable even for calculus.

Discussions

• It seems to me there is a great deal of contingency in the historical development. In a recent paper, I argued that if matters had proceeded just a little differently in a way that seems reasonable, t [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]

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