Choosing Names, Shaping Worlds

The first step, before you do anything interesting, in mathematics is to clarify your terms. Every axiom is stated at length, every edge case considered, theorems and lemmas are painstakingly written down before being distilled into a precise notation that can capture the intended properties. This attention to language is also an essential part of philosophy. It’s why Plato's dialogues often turn on definitions and most university philosophy courses are structured around a philosophers favourite words. These terms1, or you could equally call them “names”, are often at the root of the whole enterprise. But the importance of names isn't isolated to these highly technical, exacting fields. If you are running any kind of business or project it is equally the case that you will need to come up with a whole host of names in the process. Some names are a fun, low impact, ways to ensure a team can cohere. You can give a project a codename or select some silly references for the various meeting

The first step, before you do anything interesting, in mathematics is to clarify your terms. Every axiom is stated at length, every edge case considered, theorems and lemmas are painstakingly written down before being distilled into a precise notation that can capture the intended properties. This attention to language is also an essential part of philosophy. It’s why Plato's dialogues often turn on definitions and most university philosophy courses are structured around a philosophers favourite words. These terms1, or you could equally call them “names”, are often at the root of the whole ent