FOM: modeling PRA in the physical world

[john.kadvany@us.pwcglobal.com]

Steve:
I have not been following the PRA in the physical world conversation, but
it occured to me that there was a piece in JSL by Hilary Putnam called
"Models and Reality" around 1980 which touches on this idea. I think he
wanted to say that the Lowenheim-Skolem theorem prevents you from knowing
the world even up to isomorphism.  I never bought the argument, since you
may have a finite world.  Ian Hacking discusses criticizes the idea pretty
well, if memory serves right, in his book Representing and Intervening.
Shaughan Lavine's book Understanding the Infinite I believe (but could be
mistaken) also uses PRA and kinds of finitism.
Cheers, John.
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