Frege: Philosophy of Mathematics

by Dummett

No one has figured more prominently in the study of the German philosopher Gottlob Frege than Michael Dummett. His magisterial Philosophy of Language is a sustained, systematic analysis of Frege's thought, omitting only the issues in philosophy of mathematics. In this work Dummett discusses, section by section, Frege's masterpiece The Foundations of Arithmetic and Frege's treatment of real numbers in the second volume of Basic Laws of Arithmetic , establishing what parts of the philosopher's views can be salvaged and employed in new theorizing, and what must be abandoned, either as incorrectly argued or as untenable in the light of technical developments.

Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher whose work had enormous impact on Bertrand Russell and later on the young Ludwig Wittgenstein, making Frege one of the central influences on twentieth-century Anglo-American philosophy; he is considered the founder of analytic philosophy. His philosophy of mathematics contains deep insights and remains a useful and necessary point of departure for anyone seriously studying or working in the field.

Genres: Philosophy, Mathematics, Logic

346 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1991

Reviews

[Kantor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo mejor del libro está en los capítulos en los que se profundizan y extienden las ideas fundamentales de Frege. Con ellos, Dummet consigue que los temas posean actualidad, y que por tanto sean relevantes para cualquiera interesado en la filosofía de las matemáticas en general. En ocasiones la exposición puede hacerse algo lenta, pero se agradece la minuciosidad del texto a medida que se avanza en él y los problemas tratados son más detallados.

[Kevin Gibbons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough reading at times, but the persistent reader will be rewarded with a great many insights into Frege's logicist project, and the philosophy of math in general