Autonomy of Geometry

In this paper we present three aspects of the autonomy of geometry. (1) An argument for the geometric as opposed to the ‘geometric algebraic’ interpretation of Euclid’s Books I and II; (2) Hilbert’s successful project to axiomatize Euclid’s geometry in a first order geometric language, notably eliminating the dependence on the Archimedean axiom; (3) the independent conception of multiplication from a geometric as opposed to an arithmetic viewpoint.