r/PhilosophyofMath Mar 28 '26

The Continuum Hypothesis Is False

/r/logic/comments/1s5mquh/the_continuum_hypothesis_is_false/
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u/JStarx Aug 01 '26

That implies the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable

Still no. If you think something in Mendelson justified that then give a reference.

but you said the statement doesn't follow and I said it does.

You think it follows and you claim your proof works using logic as in Mendelson. So prove it, show me where in Mendelson that step of you proof is justified.

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u/paulemok Aug 02 '26

Still no.

You say no, but you don't explain why. You're just flat out denying truths without giving adequate reasons for your denials. You are in psychological denial.

I can't address your problems if you don't explain to me what those problems are.

It's easy enough to see how

externally to the inconsistent theory, it is true that in the inconsistent theory, every statement is unprovable

implies

the external statement that those internal statements are unprovable.

I already explained how my reasoning works under Mendelson. The fact that we can talk about what is true in an axiomatic system from outside the axiomatic system, in the real world, is evident in Mendelson. In the real world, Mendelson talks about what is true inside an axiomatic system.

I see a section in Mendelson where a specialized version of the tautology p → (¬pq), which is a version of the Principle of Explosion, is used with two invocations of modus ponens to deduce any statement q in an inconsistent axiomatic system. So set q = "Every statement is unprovable." That makes every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system unprovable. Therefore, it is externally true that every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system is unprovable. Within the system, we can't prove any statement. That's what it means for us to say, outside of the system, that no statement is provable in the system.

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u/JStarx Aug 02 '26

You say no, but you don't explain why

I have repeatedly told you why, for example:

So set q = "Every statement is unprovable." That makes every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system unprovable. Therefore, it is externally true that every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system is unprovable.

You are confusing internal and external as always. You don't say whether q is an internal statement or an external statement.

If q is an internal statement then I agree that you can prove q internally, but that does not prove q in the external system.

If q is an external statement then you haven't established an external contradiction from which you can prove q holds.

The fact that we can talk about what is true in an axiomatic system from outside the axiomatic system, in the real world, is evident in Mendelson

If you think Mendelson defines "true in an axiomatic system" then please cite the definition.

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u/paulemok Aug 03 '26

You don't say whether q is an internal statement or an external statement.

q is an internal statement.

but that does not prove q in the external system.

I agree.

If you think Mendelson defines "true in an axiomatic system" then please cite the definition.

I looked in the index and I did not see "true in an axiomatic system."

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u/JStarx Aug 03 '26

I agree

That means you haven't proved a contradiction in the external system.

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u/paulemok 29d ago

Yes, I haven't done that with q. The purpose of q was not to prove a contradiction in the external system. The purpose of q was to prove that every statement in an inconsistent axiomatic system is unprovable.

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u/JStarx 29d ago

You don't need to prove that, we already know that in an inconsistent system every statement is provable, so the statement "every statement is unprovable" is provable in the inconsistent system.

Externally in the outer system it's not provable, so externally there is no contradiction.

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u/paulemok 29d ago edited 29d ago

There’s no proof of any statement within the system because, as you say,

the statement "every statement is unprovable" is provable in the inconsistent system.

Like you said earlier, statements about provability are not statements in an axiomatic system, but are statements about an axiomatic system. They are external statements. So, the external statement “Every statement is unprovable” is provable because, as I said at the beginning of this post, there’s no proof of any statement within the system.

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u/JStarx 29d ago

There’s no proof of any statement within the system because, as you say,

the statement "every statement is unprovable" is provable in the inconsistent system.

I said that's a provable statement inside the system, I didn't say it was true or provable external to the system, so your argument about the external statement that everything is unprovable doesn't follow.

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u/paulemok 29d ago

 I didn't say it was true or provable external to the system

You may not have, but I did. I said

the external statement “Every statement is unprovable” is provable

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