I'm reading about category theory. A question I don't see answered anywhere is about the choice of the word "category" in this context. Why this concept was named "category"?
2026-05-05 14:40:47.1777992047
Why the name "category"?
127 Views Asked by Bumbble Comm https://math.techqa.club/user/bumbble-comm/detail At
1
There are 1 best solutions below
Related Questions in CATEGORY-THEORY
- (From Awodey)$\sf C \cong D$ be equivalent categories then $\sf C$ has binary products if and only if $\sf D$ does.
- Continuous functor for a Grothendieck topology
- Showing that initial object is also terminal in preadditive category
- Is $ X \to \mathrm{CH}^i (X) $ covariant or contravariant?
- What concept does a natural transformation between two functors between two monoids viewed as categories correspond to?
- Please explain Mac Lane notation on page 48
- How do you prove that category of representations of $G_m$ is equivalent to the category of finite dimensional graded vector spaces?
- Terminal object for Prin(X,G) (principal $G$-bundles)
- Show that a functor which preserves colimits has a right adjoint
- Show that a certain functor preserves colimits and finite limits by verifying it on the stalks of sheaves
Related Questions in NOTATION
- Symbol for assignment of a truth-value?
- Does approximation usually exclude equality?
- Is division inherently the last operation when using fraction notation or is the order of operation always PEMDAS?
- Question about notation $S^c$
- strange partial integration
- What does Kx mean in this equation? [in Carnap or Russell and Whitehead's logical notation]
- Need help with notation. Is this lower dot an operation?
- What does this "\" mathematics symbol mean?
- Why a set or vector start counting from a negative or zero index?
- How to express a sentence having two for all?
Related Questions in TERMINOLOGY
- The equivalent of 'quantum numbers' for a mathematical problem
- Does approximation usually exclude equality?
- Forgot the name of a common theorem in calculus
- Name of some projection of sphere onto $\mathbb{R}^2$
- What is $x=5$ called??
- Is there a name for this operation? $f(a, b) = a + (1 - a)b$
- When people say "an algebra" do they always mean "an algebra over a field"?
- What is the term for "in one $n$-space"?
- The product of disjoint cycles
- What about the 'geometry' in 'geometric progression'?
Trending Questions
- Induction on the number of equations
- How to convince a math teacher of this simple and obvious fact?
- Find $E[XY|Y+Z=1 ]$
- Refuting the Anti-Cantor Cranks
- What are imaginary numbers?
- Determine the adjoint of $\tilde Q(x)$ for $\tilde Q(x)u:=(Qu)(x)$ where $Q:U→L^2(Ω,ℝ^d$ is a Hilbert-Schmidt operator and $U$ is a Hilbert space
- Why does this innovative method of subtraction from a third grader always work?
- How do we know that the number $1$ is not equal to the number $-1$?
- What are the Implications of having VΩ as a model for a theory?
- Defining a Galois Field based on primitive element versus polynomial?
- Can't find the relationship between two columns of numbers. Please Help
- Is computer science a branch of mathematics?
- Is there a bijection of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with itself such that the forward map is connected but the inverse is not?
- Identification of a quadrilateral as a trapezoid, rectangle, or square
- Generator of inertia group in function field extension
Popular # Hahtags
second-order-logic
numerical-methods
puzzle
logic
probability
number-theory
winding-number
real-analysis
integration
calculus
complex-analysis
sequences-and-series
proof-writing
set-theory
functions
homotopy-theory
elementary-number-theory
ordinary-differential-equations
circles
derivatives
game-theory
definite-integrals
elementary-set-theory
limits
multivariable-calculus
geometry
algebraic-number-theory
proof-verification
partial-derivative
algebra-precalculus
Popular Questions
- What is the integral of 1/x?
- How many squares actually ARE in this picture? Is this a trick question with no right answer?
- Is a matrix multiplied with its transpose something special?
- What is the difference between independent and mutually exclusive events?
- Visually stunning math concepts which are easy to explain
- taylor series of $\ln(1+x)$?
- How to tell if a set of vectors spans a space?
- Calculus question taking derivative to find horizontal tangent line
- How to determine if a function is one-to-one?
- Determine if vectors are linearly independent
- What does it mean to have a determinant equal to zero?
- Is this Batman equation for real?
- How to find perpendicular vector to another vector?
- How to find mean and median from histogram
- How many sides does a circle have?
The term ``category'' came from the Kantian perspective on a category being the most general form of thinking, although I may be mistaken on the finer points of the actual philosophy there. This is discussed in this philosophy.stackexchange post here (see the accepted answer in particular) which speaks far more eloquently on the subject than I could hope to mimic.