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From: stuart@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP (Stuart Kurtz)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Re: Rich Rosen & Logic.
Message-ID: <177@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 6-Aug-84 12:17:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: gargoyle.177
Posted: Mon Aug  6 12:17:18 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Aug-84 08:06:01 EDT
References: <662@teltone.UUCP> <1700034@iuvax.UUCP>
Organization: U. Chicago - Computer Science
Lines: 32

Readers of net.religon ... I apologize for that flaw in my personality
that requires me to publically respond to public attacks.

> From: dsaker@iuvax.UUCP
> ...
> 
> []
> The way Godel's Incompleteness Theorems are tossed around makes me sick.
> These are technical results; they can't be thrown into the realm of
> ordinary philosophical deliberations off-handedly.
> Before anyone out there throws them in again, please, PLEASE, GO & READ
> A PRECISE STATEMENT OF THEM.
> 
> Daryel Akerlind                              "Your ignorance makes me
> ...ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!dsaker                      ill and angry ..."

First, I am quite well acquainted with the precise, formal versions of
Godel's theorems.  My credentials include a PhD in mathematical logic.
It is important to remember that mathematical logic is first and
foremost a mathematical analysis of reasoning.  Therefore, attempts to
transfer technical theorems of mathematical logic to informal arguments
are not *necessarily* flawed a priori.  My use of the incompleteness
theorem was to point out a specific technical flaw in Rich Rosen's
reasoning.  I challenge Mr Akerling *personally*, to point out why my
original application of the 2nd incompleteness theorem was incorrect.
(I did implicitly assume that RR accepts the rules of arithmetic.)

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	"Some of us sheep are sheep, and some of us are wolves."

Stuart Kurtz			:	Department of Computer Science
ihnp4!gargoyle!stuart		:	The University of Chicago