His father, alexander, a headmaster of a secondary school for girls, and his mother, auguste nee bialloblotzky, brought him up in the. A logicomathematical enquiry into the concept of number. But crispin wright claimed, in his book freges conception of numbers as objects 1983, that. This paper offers a critical discussion of this view, showing that it is vitiated by. Dummetts solution for meaning is one holistic and practicalinferential, having two parts. View enhanced pdf access article on wiley online library html view download pdf for offline viewing. According to frege, any sentence that expresses a singular thought consists of an expression a proper name or a general term plus the definite article that signifies an object together with a predicate the copula is, plus a general term accompanied. Canadian journal of philosophy volume xiv, number 4, december. This system is, except for minor differences, secondorder logic together with an abstraction operator governed by freges axiom v. Freges conception of numbers as objects scots philosophical monographs. Together they form an accessible and authoritative introduction to aspects of frege s thought that have, until now, been largely missed by the philosophical community. A companion to the philosophy of language, 2 volume set, 2nd. Freges theorem in a constructive setting bell, john l.
Freges conception of numbers as objects crispin wright. Freges famous definition of number infamously uses the concept of extension. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. He is also author of abstract objects blackwell publishers, 1997. Zaltay center for the study of language and information and philosophy department stanford university in this paper, i derive a theory of numbers from a more generaltheory of abstract objects. If the inline pdf is not rendering correctly, you can download the pdf file here. Wrights new book is a sustained defense of arithmetical platonism. Freges and dedekinds logicisms hourya benis, marco panza, gabriel sandu to cite this version. According to wright, however wright 1983, 11, there were three more specific considerations which were involved in frege s judgement that numbers were abstract objects. So, i learned from this book that when i instantiate my predicate i am in frege s words finding the content of the concept, saturating the concept, finding its meaning, its bedeudung, returning thoughts to my user. Each essay attempts a sympathetic, if not uncritical, reconstruction, evaluation, or extension of a facet of frege s theory of arithmetic. Profiles in the origins of twentieth century thought, chicago.
Using frege s perfect language we learn to distinguish between objects, and what we say about those objects. Aberdeen university press 1983 abstract this article has no associated abstract. A companion to the philosophy of language, 2 volume set. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Freges theorem and foundations for arithmetic stanford. A systematic exposition and a scoperestricted defense of freges grundlagen conception of numbers. It also discusses his view that truthvalues are objects and the socalled regress argument for the indefinability of truth. Freges and dedekinds logicisms connecting repositories. Thirteen years ago i published a short book henceforward freges conception which challenged this view, arguing that freges platonismthe conception of numbers as specific objects providing the proper subject matter of arithmetic, but given to us independently of any special intuitionadmitted of an epistemologically.
Freges conception of numbers as objects scots philosophical monographs crispin wright on. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. A general survey of frege s views on truth, the paper explores the problems in response to which frege s distinctive view that sentences refer to truthvalues develops. Since a statement of number based on counting contains an assertion about a concept, in.
Patricia blanchettes excellent freges conception of logic is focused, for the most part, on two interrelated questions. In the philosophy of language, the distinction between concept and object is attributable to the german philosopher gottlob frege overview. Frege s conception of numbers as objects scots philosophical monographs. Freges conception of numbers as objects aberdeen university press 1983. An answer to the first question sets the stage for answering the second. In essays on freges basic laws of arithmetic, edited by p.
Pdf fregean onetoone correspondence and numbers as. Buy frege s conception of numbers as objects scots philosophical monographs by crispin wright isbn. Fregean onetoone correspondence and numbers as object properties 335 are two by two coordinated entities while there are actually not and there is just one a entity on the one side put in oneto. First, she examines frege s understanding and use of conceptual analysis, and how this notion plays out methodologically in frege s logicist philosophy of mathematics. The moving wall represents the time period between the last issue available in jstor and the most recently published issue of a journal. As frege s writings became more widely read, a number of articles were written about various aspects of frege s workhis ontology, semantics, logic. According to wright, however wright 1983, 11, there were three more specific considerations which were involved in freges judgement that numbers were abstract objects. Gottlob frege, the concept of number, in benacerraf and putnam, pp.
Second, she carefully explicates freges views on logic and its role in both mathematical. He has published widely in the philosophy of mathematics, logic and language including frege s conception of numbers as objects 1983, truth and objectivity 1992, and realism, meaning, and. This is in full accord with the criterion 1 gavethat the singular definite article always indicates an object, whereas the indefinite article accompanies a conceptword. Wright s new book is a sustained defense of arithmetical platonism. The two main components in freges mathematical philosophy were his platonism and his logicism the claims, respectively, that mathematics is a body of knowledge about independently existing objects, and that this knowledge may be acquired on the basis of general logical laws and suitable definitions. In rare instances, a publisher has elected to have a zero moving wall, so their current issues are available. How did freges conception of logic differ from that of later logicians. Extensions, in the fregean framework, are susceptible to bringing many difficulties, and, some say, even paradoxes. Freges theorem is mandatory reading for anybody wishing to learn about the. At the center of wrights defense is a version of freges famous dictum that only in the context of a sentence does a word have any reference. According to the curriculum vitae that the 26year old frege filed in 1874 with his habilitationsschrift, he was born on november 8, 1848 in wismar, a town then in mecklenburgschwerin but now in mecklenburgvorpommern.
This volume contains 16 original papers by leading scholars on the philosophical and mathematical aspects of abstractionism. Using freges perfect language we learn to distinguish between objects, and what we say about those objects. Abstractionism, which is a development of freges original logicism, is a recent and much debated position in the philosophy of mathematics. Freges conception of numbers as objects by crispin wright freges conception of numbers as objects by crispin wright pp. Freges conception here is, however, far from clear. Frege s conception of numbers as objects aberdeen university press 1983. In frege s conception of numbers as objects crispin wright defends modernised versions of the responses to them of the great german mathamatician and philosopher, gottlob frege, who held that numbers are a kind of logical object and that our knowledge about them, and its relevance to the ral world, is to be seen as a product of our faculty of. Some reflections on frege s constraint wright, crispin, notre dame journal of formal logic, 2000. Frege s conception of numbers as objects scots philosophical monographs crispin wright on. At the center of wright s defense is a version of frege s famous dictum that only in the context of a sentence does a word have any reference. Many of these papers are of great value for the study of frege, and it was thought desirable to assemble some of them in a single volume. A partial reconstruction of freges grundgesetze in object theory edward n.
The oxford handbook of philosophy of mathematics and logic. Numerical abstraction via the frege quantifier antonelli, g. A partial reconstruction of freges grundgesetze in object theory, journal of philosophical logic, 286 1999. First, she examines freges understanding and use of conceptual analysis, and how this notion plays out methodologically in freges logicist philosophy of mathematics. Re ections on freges and dedekinds logicisms, springer, pp. Some reflections on freges constraint wright, crispin, notre dame journal of formal logic, 2000. A general survey of freges views on truth, the paper explores the problems in response to which freges distinctive view that sentences refer to truthvalues develops. Crispin wright, freges conception of numbers as objects.
A few years ago, richard heck showed that the ramified predicative secondorder fragment of the grundgesetze is consistent. His books include wittgenstein on the foundations of mathematics 1980, frege s conception of numbers as objects 1983, truth and objectivity 1992, realism, meaning and truth 2nd edn, 1993, the blackwell companion to philosophy of language with bob hale, blackwell, 1997, the reason s proper study with bob hale, 2001, rails to infinity. Extensions, numbers and freges project of logic as universal. Joan weiner 2007 has argued that freges definitions of numbers constitute linguistic stipulations that carry no ontological commitment. Pdf dummett and the origins of analytical philosophy. Patricia blanchette s excellent frege s conception of logic is focused, for the most part, on two interrelated questions. Dummett accordingly insists that it is contrary to freges intention to claim, as did peter geach, that we are to count numerical terms as proper names because they refer to fregean objects. The solution is conceptually tighter in the sense that it retains the fregean principle of separating sharply between concepts and objects, it retains. So, i learned from this book that when i instantiate my predicate i am in freges words finding the content of the concept, saturating the concept, finding its meaning, its bedeudung, returning thoughts to my user. He has published widely in the philosophy of mathematics, logic and language including freges conception of numbers as objects 1983, truth and objectivity 1992, and realism, meaning, and.
Extensions, numbers and freges project of logic as. The semantics of mathematics and science is quite different. Abstract a feature of freges philosophy of arithmetic that has elicited a great deal of attention in the recent secondary literature is his contention that numbers are self. One of the most important differences between kant and frege concerns the resources available to logic. The two main components in frege s mathematical philosophy were his platonism and his logicism the claims, respectively, that mathematics is a body of knowledge about independently existing objects, and that this knowledge may be acquired on the basis of general logical laws and suitable definitions. Mathematics and logic have been central topics of concern since the dawn of philosophy. In the final section of the paper, there is a brief philosophical discussion of how the present theory relates to the work of other philosophers attempting to reconstruct freges conception of numbers and logical objects. Notice that humes principle bears an obvious formal resemblance to basic law v. In the final section of the paper, there is a brief philosophical discussion of how the present theory relates to the work of other philosophers attempting to reconstruct freges conception of. Freges conception of numbers as objects tiles 1984. Fixing frege free download book urmusliaphas diary. In this paper i offer a conceptually tighter, quasifregean solution to the concept horse paradox based on the idea that the unterfallen relation is asymmetrical.
Request pdf the measure of scottish neologicism the scottish neologicist project began with the development of arithmetic in c. Abstractionism, which is a development of frege s original logicism, is a recent and much debated position in the philosophy of mathematics. Therefore, neologicist programs want to avoid the problems and to replace the classical fregean definition of number with humes principle where frege does not use extensions. Freges conception of numbers as objects scots philosophical. Taking this early theory to have been an account of cardinals as secondlevel functions, this paper works out the significance of the fact that freges cardinal numbers as objects is a theory. His discussion lasts a mere two sections sections 5556 before he moves on to his more o cial portrayal of numbers as objects. In other words, the number n would be a concept that could truly be predicated of. And despite freges clear distinction from lagrange in rejecting the idea of functions as pieces of language, panza finds in frege a similar deep reliance on language in freges understanding of functions. One was the use of definite descriptions like the number of the planets, which we saw above could also be. Hourya benissinaceur, marco panza, and gabriel sandu.
His books include wittgenstein on the foundations of mathematics 1980, freges conception of numbers as objects 1983, truth and objectivity 1992, realism, meaning and truth 2nd edn, 1993, the blackwell companion to philosophy of language with bob hale, blackwell, 1997, the reasons proper study with bob hale, 2001, rails to infinity. Application of dummetts model of history of ideas in freges philosophy is proving a fertile research for the history of philosophy. Jul 06, 2007 project euclid mathematics and statistics online. Use the link below to share a fulltext version of this article with your friends and colleagues. One was the use of definite descriptions like the number of the planets, which we saw above could also be used for functional expressions. Frege s other program antonelli, aldo and may, robert, notre dame journal of formal logic, 2005. In freges conception of numbers as objects crispin wright defends modernised versions of the responses to them of the great german mathamatician and philosopher, gottlob frege, who held that numbers are a kind of logical object and that our knowledge about them, and its relevance to the ral world, is to be seen as a product of our faculty of. Freges conception of numbers as objects crispin wright, c.
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