Category Archives: Cartesianism

Cartesianism, fourfolds, Mathematics, Philosophy

Four Transformations of Chu Spaces

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sq_four_transformationsCan mathematics help us reformulate Cartesian Dualism? I have previously tried to diagram some of computer scientist Vaughan Pratt’s notions, such as a Duality of Time and Information and the Stone Gamut. Another recent attempt is the diagram above of four transformations that issue out of his analysis of Chu Spaces. Pratt’s conceptualization of these generalized topological spaces led him to propose a mathematization of mind and body dualism.

The duality of time and information was actually an interplay of several dualities, such as the aforementioned time and information, plus states and events, and changing and bearing (or dynamic and static). The philosophical mathematization in his paper “Rational Mechanics and Natural Mathematics” leads to additional but somewhat different dualities, shown in the following table:

Mind Body
Mental Physical
States Events
Anti-functions Functions
Anti-sets Sets
Operational Denotational
Infers Impresses
Logical Causal
Against time With time
Menu Object
Contingent Necessary

Pratt reveals two transformations that are “mental”: delete and copy, and two that are “physical”: adjoin and identify.

These four transformations are functions and their converses which:

  • Identify when the function is not injective.
  • Adjoin when the function is not surjective.
  • Copy when the converse is not injective.
  • Delete when the converse is not surjective.

Ordinarily we think of mind and body as being radically different in kind, but perhaps they are the same but merely viewed from a different perspective or direction. Recall what Heraclitus says, “the road up and the road down are the same thing”.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism_%28philosophy_of_mind%29

Click to access ratmech.pdf

http://chu.stanford.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_space

[*6.74, *6.75, *9.76]

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Cartesianism, fourfolds, Mathematics, Mind-Body Dualism

The Stone Gamut

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Our thesis is that the category Set is the ultimate abstraction of body, and that Set^op, equivalent to the category of complete atomic Boolean algebras (i.e. power sets), which we shall advocate thinking of as antisets, is dually the ultimate abstraction of mind.

— From Chu Spaces: automata with quantum aspects by Vaughan Pratt

Reflecting an era of reduced expectations for the superiority of humans, we have implemented causal interaction not with the pineal gland but with machinery freely available to all classical entities, whether newt, pet rock, electron, or theorem (but not quantum mechanical wavefunction, which is sibling to if not an actual instance of our machinery).

— From Rational Mechanics and Natural Mathematics by Vaughan Pratt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_algebra

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributive_lattice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_space

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partially_ordered_set

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_%28mathematics%29

References:

Click to access ph94.pdf

Click to access ratmech.pdf

http://chu.stanford.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_space

[*7.140]

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Cartesianism, Computation, fourfolds, Space and Time

The Duality of Time and Information, V2

2 Comments

The states of a computing system bear information and change time, while its events bear time and change information.

— from The Duality of Time and Information by Vaughan Pratt

The most promising transformational logic seems to us to be Girard’s linear logic.

— from Rational Mechanics and Natural Mathematics by Vaughan Pratt

Here we have three duals: information – time, state – event, and bear – change.

References:

Vaughan Pratt / The Duality of Time and Information http://boole.stanford.edu/pub/dti.pdf

Vaughan Pratt / Time and Information in Sequential and Concurrent Computation http://boole.stanford.edu/pub/tppp.pdf

Vaughan Pratt / Rational Mechanics and Natural Mathematics http://chu.stanford.edu/guide.html#ratmech

[*5.170]

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alchemy, Cartesianism, fourfolds, Metaphysics, Mind-Body Dualism, Philosophy

Arthur M. Young’s Fourfold Theory of Process

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I have recently come across the philosophical work of Arthur M. Young (AMY). This is an initial impression of that work since I have only read what is available from the web links below, and even then there is a great deal to digest. In addition, there is difficulty in presenting a summary of his theory because of similarities to my ideas as well as substantial differences. I am sure I will need to return to AMY’s theory after more consideration.

I have hinted at a correspondence between several double duals presented in this blog, but I have steered away from claiming that they are all linked to each other – that they are essentially equivalently exchangeable. AMY’s theory links the four elements, the four causes, Jung’s functions of the psyche, geometrical elements and transformations, as well as several other fourfolds into a cosmic theory of reality.

Some of these same fourfolds are present in my theory, and I am considering how others may be introduced. Some not mentioned by AMY are only mentioned in earlier entries on this blog, without presentation. However, from many of these same fourfolds I have reached substantially different conclusions from AMY. I believe this is because AMY’s theory of process is essentially dualistic, whereas my theory appears to be physicalistic, although one might also say it is a process and/or relational theory.

Below is a table of some of the correspondences for AMY’s theory of process:

Aristotle’s
Four
Causes		 Jung’s
Functions
of the Psyche		 Four
Elements of
Empedocles		 Geometric
Transform-
ations
Purpose Final Intuition Fire Rotation Spirit
Value Material Emotion Water Scale Soul
Form Formal Intellect Air Inversion Mind
Object Efficient Sensation Earth Translation Body

Below is a table of some of the correspondences for my theory:

Four Elements
of Empedocles		 The Here and
the Now		 Aristotle’s
Four Causes		 Duality of
Time and
Information		 Hjelmslev’s
Net
Fire Before Efficient Change time Substance
of content
Water After Final Bear time Form of
content
Air Above Formal Bear
information		 Form of
expression
Earth Below Material Change
information		 Substance
of expression

References:

Arthur M. Young / The Reflexive Universe

Arthur M. Young / The Geometry of Meaning

http://www.arthuryoung.com/barr.html

http://www.arthuryoung.com/4levels.html

http://www.arthuryoung.com/the2exc.html

[*6.84-*6.89, *7.78, *7.79, *8.2, *8.62, *8.63]

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Cartesianism, Computation, fourfolds, Space and Time

The Duality of Time and Information

1 Comment

The states of a computing system bear information and change time, while its events bear time and change information.

— from The Duality of Time and Information by Vaughan Pratt

The most promising transformational logic seems to us to be Girard’s linear logic.

— from Rational Mechanics and Natural Mathematics by Vaughan Pratt

References:

Vaughan Pratt / The Duality of Time and Information http://boole.stanford.edu/pub/dti.pdf

Vaughan Pratt / Time and Information in Sequential and Concurrent Computation http://boole.stanford.edu/pub/tppp.pdf

Vaughan Pratt / Rational Mechanics and Natural Mathematics http://chu.stanford.edu/guide.html#ratmech

 [*5.170]

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