Philosophy Now Forum

Noax wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:His first line is "Do you do mathematic? No. You do Mathematics." What would that have to do with whether "math" or "maths" is correct?

He's noting that there's no convention of using "mathematic." There's only a convention of using "mathematics."

Okay. I agree with that. But so what? What does it have to do with "math" versus "maths"?

Sorry to have bothered you then.

So you agree with me then?

Terrapin Station wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote:And so for no other reason it's wrong.

Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

If the English say mathS then it's mathS. Every other ENGLISH-speaking country says mathS. Of course, the yanks have to be different because they are a bunch of illiterate oafs who are intent on dragging the rest of the world down with them.

Terrapin Station wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote:And so for no other reason it's wrong.

Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

It is exactly the sort of thing that is right or wrong.
All values judgements are ultimately subjective. Since I, a subject, reacts to "math" in a negative way that makes it wrong, by the only category that matters - how one feels about it.

Noax wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote:And so for no other reason it's wrong.

Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

Being brought up with 'math' all my life, Hobbes explanation makes total sense. Yes, it is convention in the USA, but that does not make the convention correct. It is the sort of thing that is right or wrong. I will probably not change my spoken usage of the word, but I will on the forums, just like I usually switch to metric measurements for international conversations. Metric is not more correct, but it is far less stupid.

As I recall, Americans do not say "stat", but "stats" for statistics. I wonder what you say?

Terrapin Station wrote:

Noax wrote:It is the sort of thing that is right or wrong.

By virtue of what?

By virtue of the fact that "Math" is ugly.

Terrapin Station wrote:I'm not arguing for one way or the other here, by the way, but re the notion of "mathematics" being a plural noun, there is no convention anywhere that employs "mathematic" as a singular noun in any context. For example, there's no convention of saying something like "commutative algebra is a mathematic."

Not relevant.

Terrapin Station wrote: What does it have to do with "math" versus "maths"?

~How do you abbreviate statistics?

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote:And so for no other reason it's wrong.

Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

If the English say mathS then it's mathS. Every other ENGLISH-speaking country says mathS. Of course, the yanks have to be different because they are a bunch of illiterate oafs who are intent on dragging the rest of the world down with them.

I think for the same sort of reason that they misspell several words such as colour - illiteracy of the 18thC.

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote:And so for no other reason it's wrong.

Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

If the English say mathS then it's mathS. Every other ENGLISH-speaking country says mathS. Of course, the yanks have to be different because they are a bunch of illiterate oafs who are intent on dragging the rest of the world down with them.

That sounds like an argumentum ad populum. Argumentum ad populums are fallacious. (Not to mention that it's simply "rah rah conformism" and who the frig wants to be all pro-conformism like that?)

Terrapin Station wrote:

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

If the English say mathS then it's mathS. Every other ENGLISH-speaking country says mathS. Of course, the yanks have to be different because they are a bunch of illiterate oafs who are intent on dragging the rest of the world down with them.

That sounds like an argumentum ad populum. Argumentum ad populums are fallacious. (Not to mention that it's simply "rah rah conformism" and who the frig wants to be all pro-conformism like that?)

Pompous ass. And it's nothing of the sort. Some people respect a beautiful language, and don't like seeing it stupided-down and made ugly.

Hobbes' Choice wrote:It is exactly the sort of thing that is right or wrong.
All values judgements are ultimately subjective. Since I, a subject, reacts to "math" in a negative way that makes it wrong, by the only category that matters - how one feels about it.

What makes something right or wrong is that it matches a fact about what the world is either mind-independently like, or mind-dependently like when it's a proposition that's about what the minds in question are like.

(I know that's a bit more complicated than just saying "What makes something right or wrong is that it matches a fact about what the world is mind-independently like," but it's better to be accurate in this case, I think, than simple just for ease of reading comprehenion's sake.)

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: If the English say mathS then it's mathS. Every other ENGLISH-speaking country says mathS. Of course, the yanks have to be different because they are a bunch of illiterate oafs who are intent on dragging the rest of the world down with them.

That sounds like an argumentum ad populum. Argumentum ad populums are fallacious. (Not to mention that it's simply "rah rah conformism" and who the frig wants to be all pro-conformism like that?)

Pompous ass.

It's pompous to point out fallacious reasoning on a philosophy board?

Terrapin Station wrote:

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:That sounds like an argumentum ad populum. Argumentum ad populums are fallacious. (Not to mention that it's simply "rah rah conformism" and who the frig wants to be all pro-conformism like that?)

Pompous ass.

It's pompous to point out fallacious reasoning on a philosophy board?

Excuse me, oh great 'philosopher'.

But I don't want this to be like the IMDb Politics or Religion, Faith and Spirituality boards. And especially not like the IMDb Sandbox or Soapbox.

Terrapin Station wrote:

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:Category error. This isn't the sort of thing that can be right or wrong. It's just conventional or unconventional. "Math" is the convention in some locales. "Maths" is the convention in other locales.

If the English say mathS then it's mathS. Every other ENGLISH-speaking country says mathS. Of course, the yanks have to be different because they are a bunch of illiterate oafs who are intent on dragging the rest of the world down with them.

That sounds like an argumentum ad populum. Argumentum ad populums are fallacious. (Not to mention that it's simply "rah rah conformism" and who the frig wants to be all pro-conformism like that?)

No it is an argument of precedent.

The language of English began in the British Isles and spread throughout the world, only the USA use math, the rest of the world uses maths.