Introduction to Mathematical PhilosophyRussell, Bertrand
Philosophy
Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy
Russell, Bertrand
Mathematics -- Philosophy
In actual fact, it is simpler logically to find out whether two
collections have the same number of terms than it is to define
what that number is. An illustration will make this clear.
If there were no polygamy or polyandry anywhere in the world,
it is clear that the number of husbands living at any moment
would be exactly the same as the number of wives. We do
not need a census to assure us of this, nor do we need to know
what is the actual number of husbands and of wives. We know
the number must be the same in both collections, because each
husband has one wife and each wife has one husband. The
relation of husband and wife is what is called "one-one."
A relation is said to be "one-one" when, if has the relation
in question to , no other term ' has the same relation to ,
and does not have the same relation to any term ' other
than . When only the first of these two conditions is fulfilled,
the relation is called "one-many"; when only the second is
fulfilled, it is called "many-one." It should be observed that
the number 1 is not used in these definitions.
In Christian countries, the relation of husband to wife is
one-one; in Mahometan countries it is one-many; in Tibet
it is many-one. The relation of father to son is one-many;
that of son to father is many-one, but that of eldest son to father
is one-one. If is any number, the relation of to is
one-one; so is the relation of to or to . When we are
considering only positive numbers, the relation of to is
one-one; but when negative numbers are admitted, it becomes
two-one, since and have the same square. These instances
should suffice to make clear the notions of one-one, one-many,
and many-one relations, which play a great part in the principles
of mathematics, not only in relation to the definition of
numbers, but in many other connections.
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