Abstract

Mrs. Gaskell: (i) A circle is the set of points at a distance R from a central point and (ii) R must be greater than zero. Me: why do you include requirement (ii) in your definition? Mrs. Gaskell: Because a mere point is not a circle. Me: it is a degenerate circle. Mrs. Gaskell: It is just not a circle and I don't accept degenerate characters in my home. Me: no mathematician today accepts your definition. Mrs. Gaskell: That is not an argument against my definition. That is just an appeal to follow the crowd. Me: your definition is inelegant. Mrs. Gaskell: I find my definition is elegant. I am being bullied into proceeding in a style that eludes all rule-specification. Me: at least one person thinks that elegance can be defined. Mrs. Gaskell: That is in metaphysics, not in geometry. Me: do you just move from field to field as if they were distinct games? "These are the rules of the novel game, and I am now an accomplished player of it. These are the rules of the epistolary game..." Mrs. Gaskell: this is not an objection.