Goldbach's conjecture as a "transcendental" theorem

Francesco Panizzoli

pp. 463-481

in: Axiomathes 29 (5), 2019.

Abstract

Goldbach’s conjecture, if not read in number theory (mathematical level), but in a precise foundation theory of mathematics (meta-mathematical level), that refers to the metaphysical ‘theory of the participation’ of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), poses a surprising analogy between the category of the quantity, within which the same arithmetic conjecture is formulated, and the transcendental/formal dimension. It says: every even number is ‘like’ a two, that is: it has the form-of-two. And that means: it is the composition of two units; not two equal arithmetic units (two numbers ‘one’), but two different formal-transcendental units, which are, in arithmetic, two prime numbers.