In writing Principia Mathematica, was one Russell's purposes to formally describe all the possible variations of logical concepts and reasoning that can be used in mathematics?
For example, suppose that a mathematician of the future manages to prove theorems about natural numbers
by reasoning on the properties of a subset of the complex numbers that has not yet been defined.
My question is, was one of Russell's purposes to be able to formally capture in advance all abstract concepts upon
which the mathematician's conception of the subset will be based, and also his reasoning over its properties,
before this subset is conceived by the mathematician's creative power?
2026-03-26 08:00:47.1774512047