The Uses and Abuses of the History of Topos Theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399267 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Colin Mclarty (0000-0002-3181-7537, Case Western Reserve University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 351-375 |
| Publication date | 1990-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/41.3.351 |
| OpenAlex | W1963512899 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 22 |
The view that toposes originated as generalized set theory is a figment of set theoretically educated common sense. This false history obstructs understanding of category theory and especially of categorical foundations for mathematics. Problems in geometry, topology, and related algebra led to categories and toposes. Elementary toposes arose when Lawvere's interest in the foundations of physics and Tierney's in the foundations of topology led both to study Grothendieck's foundations for algebraic geometry. I end with remarks on a categorical view of the history of set theory, including a false history plausible from that point of view that would make it helpful to introduce toposes as a generalization from set theory.
Algebra over a field · Categorical variable · Category theory · Generalization · Pure mathematics · Set (abstract data type) · Set theory · Topos theory · Computer Science · History and Theory of Mathematics · Mathematics · Philosophy and History of Science · Topological and Geometric Data Analysis
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,19 |
| Citation span | 1995 - 2009 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |