Rise of Analytic Philosophy, 18791930 - From Frege to Ramsey

In this book Michael Potter offers a fresh and compelling portrait of the birth of modern analytic philosophy, viewed through the lens of a detailed study of the work of the four philosophers who contributed most to shaping it:¿ Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Frank Ramsey. It covers the remarkable period of discovery that began with the publication of Frege's Begriffsschrift in 1879 and ended with Ramsey's death in 1930. Potter-one of the most influential scholars of this period in philosophy-presents a deep but accessible account of the break with absolute idealism and neo-Kantianism, and the emergence of approaches that exploited the newly discovered methods in logic. Like his subjects, Potter focusses principally on philosophical logic, philosophy of mathematics, and metaphysics, but he also discusses epistemology, meta-ethics, and the philosophy of language. The book is an essential starting point for any student attempting to understand the work of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, and Ramsey, as well as their interactions and their larger intellectual milieux. It will also be of interest to anyone who wants to cast light on current philosophical problems through a better understanding of their origins.

List of contents

Introduction
Part I Frege

1. Biography


2. Logic before 1879


3. Begriffsschrift I: Foundations of logic


4. Begriffsschrift II: Propositional logic


5. Begriffsschrift III: Quantification


6. Begriffsschrift IV: Identity


7. Begriffsschrift V: The ancestral


8. Early philosophy of logic


9. The Hierarchy


10. Grundlagen I: The context principle


11. Grundlagen II: Arithmetical truth


12. Grundlagen III: Numbers


13. Grundlagen IV: The formal project


14. Sense and reference I: Singular terms


15. Sense and reference II: Sentences


16. Sense anad references III: Concept-words


17. Grundgesetze I: Types


18. Grundgesetze II: Extensions


19. The Frege-Hilbert correspondence


20. Later writings


21. Frege's Legacy

Part II Russell

1. Biography


2. Bradley


3. Geometry


4. McTaggart


5. German Mathematics


6. Whitehead


7. Moore


8. Leibniz


9. Peano


10. Early logicism


11. Denoting concepts


12. The contradiction


13. On denoting


14. Truth


15. Types


16. Middle logicism


17. Acquaintance


18. Matter


19. Pre-war judgement


20. Facts


21. Late logicism


22. Post-war judgement


23. Neutral monism


24. Russell’s legacy
III Wittgenstein


25. Biography


26. Facts


27. Pictures


28. Propositions


29. Sense


30. Wittgenstein’s concept-script


31. Objects


32. Identity


33. Solipsism


34. Ordinary language


35. Minds


36. Logic


37. The metaphysical subject


38. Arithmetic


39. Science


40. Ethics


41. The mystical


42. The legacy of the Tractatus
IV Ramsey


43. Biography


44. Truth


45. Knowledge


46. The foundations of mathematics I: Types


47. The foundations of mathematics II: Logicism


48. Universals


49. Degrees of belief


50. Facts and propositions


51. Last papers


52. Ramsey’s legacy

Bibliography

About the author

Michael Potter is Professor of Logic at Cambridge University, UK, and a Life Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. His studies in the history of analytic philosophy include Reason’s Nearest Kin (2000) and Wittgenstein’s Notes on Logic (2009). He is also noted for work in the foundations of mathematics, including Set Theory and its Philosophy (2004).

Summary

In this book Michael Potter offers a fresh and compelling portrait of the birth of modern analytic philosophy, viewed through the lens of a detailed study of the work of the four philosophers who contributed most to shaping it: Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Frank Ramsey. It covers the remarkable period of discovery that began with the publication of Frege's Begriffsschrift in 1879 and ended with Ramsey's death in 1930. Potter—one of the most influential scholars of this period in philosophy—presents a deep but accessible account of the break with absolute idealism and neo-Kantianism, and the emergence of approaches that exploited the newly discovered methods in logic. Like his subjects, Potter focusses principally on philosophical logic, philosophy of mathematics, and metaphysics, but he also discusses epistemology, meta-ethics, and the philosophy of language. The book is an essential starting point for any student attempting to understand the work of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, and Ramsey, as well as their interactions and their larger intellectual milieux. It will also be of interest to anyone who wants to cast light on current philosophical problems through a better understanding of their origins.

Product details

• Authors: Michael Potter
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 21.10.2019
• EAN: 9781138015135
• ISBN: 978-1-138-01513-5
• No. of pages: 506
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Analytic, Analytical philosophy & Logical Positivism, Analytical philosophy and Logical Positivism