Thought and Logic

The book deals with the reception and critique of symbolic logic among German-speaking philosophers at the turn of the 20th century. The first part discusses the period from the late 1870s up to the end of the 19th century. The main issue is the arrival of the Boolean algebra of logic in Germany and Austria. It examines also the reasons why Gottlob Frege was so unsuccessful in his attempts to draw the attention of philosophers to his logicist programme. The second part deals with the first two decades of the 20th century. Its main topic of inquiry is the reception of Bertrand Russell's and Louis Couturat's ideas in the German-speaking world. In particular, it concentrates on the relationship between Russell and neo-Kantians.

Autorentext
The Author: Jarmo Pulkkinen is a historian of science and ideas, working at the History Department of Oulu University (Finland). He has published books and articles on the history of philosophy and the history of computers. His present research interests include the history of artificial intelligence and the history of scientific metaphors.

Inhalt

Contents: History of symbolic logic - History of the logicist programme - History of neo-Kantianism.