Princeton University Press
Philosophy of Mathematics
Key Metrics
- �ystein Linnebo
- Princeton University Press
- Hardcover
- 9780691161402
- 8.6 X 5.5 X 0.9 inches
- 0.83 pounds
- Philosophy > General
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
A sophisticated, original introduction to the philosophy of mathematics from one of its leading contemporary scholars
Mathematics is one of humanity's most successful yet puzzling endeavors. It is a model of precision and objectivity, but appears distinct from the empirical sciences because it seems to deliver nonexperiential knowledge of a nonphysical reality of numbers, sets, and functions. How can these two aspects of mathematics be reconciled? This concise book provides a systematic yet accessible introduction to the field that is trying to answer that question: the philosophy of mathematics.
Written by �ystein Linnebo, one of the world's leading scholars on the subject, the book introduces all of the classical approaches to the field, including logicism, formalism, intuitionism, empiricism, and structuralism. It also contains accessible introductions to some more specialized issues, such as mathematical intuition, potential infinity, the iterative conception of sets, and the search for new mathematical axioms. The groundbreaking work of German mathematician and philosopher Gottlob Frege, one of the founders of analytic philosophy, figures prominently throughout the book. Other important thinkers whose work is introduced and discussed include Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, David Hilbert, Kurt G�del, W. V. Quine, Paul Benacerraf, and Hartry H. Field.
Sophisticated but clear and approachable, this is an essential introduction for all students and teachers of philosophy, as well as mathematicians and others who want to understand the foundations of mathematics.
Author Bio
I am Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oslo. Before that, I was a Professorial Fellow at the Northern Institute of Philosophy, Aberdeen, a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Birkbeck College (January 2010 - July 2012), and a Lecturer and then Reader in Philosophy at the University of Bristol. I have also held Research Fellowships at the Universities of Oxford and Oslo. I obtained a PhD from the Department of Philosophyat Harvard University in 2002 and an MA in Mathematics at the University of Oslo in 1996.
My main research interests are in the philosophies of logic and mathematics, metaphysics and the philosophy of language. I am particularly interested in questions concerning ontology, individuation, essence, reference (especially to abstract objects), necessity and knowledge of necessary truths. My approach to these questions is broadly Fregean in that I relate them to questions in philosophical logic and the philosophy of language. I have recently published two books, Philosophy of Mathematics (Princeton University Press, 2017) and Thin Objects: An Abstractionist Account (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Source: oysteinlinnebo.org
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