The origination of the concept of multiplicity through that of the collective combination

pp. 15-22

in: Edmund Husserl, Philosophy of arithmetic, Berlin, Springer, 2003

Abstract

The well-known definition of the concept of number — as we may more briefly say in place of "whole number," conforming to the common way of speaking — is: The number is a multiplicity of units. Since Euclid¹ used it, this definition has returned again and again. Instead of "multiplicity," the words "plurality," "totality," "aggregate," "collection," "group," etc., are also used, all names of the same or almost the same signification, although not without appreciable nuances.²