dagger vs involutive

[tholen@mathstat.yorku.ca]

Here is an outsider's view on the debate which is all about a
formalistic (not to say meaningless) vs a meaningful name. There seem
to be only very few occasions in mathematics when the formalistic name
won, C*-algebras being a prominent example. In category theory, one is
reminded of the hot debate of triples vs monads of the 60s and 70s. I
guess that at the time of the "Zurich triple book" (SLNM 80) most
people would have predicted that triples had already won the race. Mac
Lane's book CWM appeared only 2 or 3 years later, after a vast amount
of literature on triples. But he consistently used the meaningful name
monad, even though (as far as I know) he had never directly published
on the subject. You be the judge who won!

Walter Tholen.