Product Description
What is the number one? How do we know that 2+2=4? These apparently simple questions are in fact notoriously difficult to answer, and in one form or other have occupied philosophers from ancient times to the present. Gottlob Frege's conviction that the truths of arithmetic, and mathematics more generally, are derived from self-evident logical truths formed the basis of a systematic project which revolutionized logic, and founded modern analytic philosophy.

In this accessible and stimulating introduction, Joan Weiner traces the development of Frege's thought from his invention of a powerful new logical language in Begriffsschrift, through his explication of his project in the Foundations of Arithmetic and famous papers such as 'On Sense and Reference', to the brilliant, but ultimately doomed, presentation of the system in Basic Laws of Arithmetic. At each stage, she discusses Frege's motivations in a way which enables the modern reader to appreciate the originality, clarity, and profundity of his thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

mediocre introduction
This book is fine you are willing to settle for mediocrity. I have read many lucid books; this is not one of them.

I agree that it is dull and quite futile reading
I recommend reading some of Frege's own works, most notably the Foundations of Arithmetic.This book can not convey the energy and enthusiasm they carry. It gives the impression that all Frege's concern was building a logical notation that would express the validity of 'mathematical induction', a form of inference that can not be accounted for in Aristotalian logic.No real further insight into Frege has been accomplished.. try one of the shorter works of Dummet like the Origins of Analytic Philosophy, i think would be much more interesting and also instructive.

Excellent
This is an excellent introduction to the thought of Frege, an understanding of whom is essential to the study of modern philosophy...I think it is quite well-written; however, some of the discussion is rather technical for a book in the Past Masters series.

Wonderful Book!
I found this introduction to Frege to be wonderfully lucid and intriguing! Wonderful Book and a wonderful author!

Great and easy intro to Frege
The "Past Master" series is excellent.I had no idea that G. Frege was so important in the development of modern logic.I have had minimal exposure to logic and philosophy, but with a little effort theideas presented in this book can be understood even without thatbackground. It is not necessarily easy, but the effort is worth it.

Thisis probably a good book if you are encountering Frege in a college courseand want to see the context his thoughts came out of and what hisintentions were. ... Read more

Product Description
Este libro pone al alcance del lector no especializado la obra cardinal de GottlobFrege, padre de la filosofia analitica. De facillectura y compresion, la pluma de Stepanians nos conduce vivamente por el entramado primordial del significados y sentidos vislumbrados por una de las mentes mas brillantes de la historia del pensamiento y que aun sigue siendo uno de los pensadores menos leidos en lengua castellana. ... Read more

Product Description
Le présent livre, destiné à des non-spécialistes, constitue une introduction à la fois claire et précise à l'oeuvre décisive de Gottlob Frege. Markus Stepanians y explicite le sens de la combinaison fascinante élaborée par le père de la philosophie analytique entre la philosophie des mathématiques, la philosophie de la logique et celle du langage. A ce titre, la traduction française du livre de Markus Stepanians offre au lecteur francophone une occasion rare de prendre toute la mesure de l'une des pensées les plus originales du vingtième siècle. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by Anthony Kenny, a leading figure in contemporary philosophy, this volume guides the reader through a concise and accessible explanation and assessment of Frege's radical and lasting contributions to our understanding of language, meaning, and the foundations of arithmetic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Narrative approach to learning symbolic logic
Apart from a couple of typos that will make some of the explanations of Frege's system difficult for those not already familiar with symbolic systems, this is another excellent effort by Anthony Kenny. Unlike his book on Wittgenstein that was much more of a biography, this book really concentrates on the symbolic system. This will be a good read for students studying advanced symbolic or mathematical logic.

A Classic
This book is the best introduction to the development of Frege's thought that I've read.Kenny covers each major work of Frege in detail with clear explanations of the argument and purpose of each work. There is a brief biographical sketch in the beginning and the book finishes with a summary of Frege's achievements.

Good, non-scholarly introduction
This is a good introduction to Frege's philosophy for the general reader and undergraduates.It is fairly accurate, though very uncritical, and doesn't go into too much detail or use too much philosophical jargon (at least not without explaining it).This is a good feature for those unfamiliar with Frege, but if you are already familiar with Frege or analytic philosophy and/or have a good basic knowledge of formal logic, this book will probably not be worth you time. But, let me emphasize once again, if you are just getting started, this is a very good book to start with. ... Read more

Product Description
This revised second edition of Frege's "Conception of Numbers as Objects" extends the discussion of the first edition in a number of directions. A detailed critical appraisal of Hartry Feild's Nominalism is included, and a response to Field's critical study of the first edition which appeared in the Canadian Journal of Philosophy in 1984. Discussions have been added of Frege's response to Russell's Paradox, and of the prospects for extending the variety of logicism canvassed in the first edition beyond formal number theory. A more fully formalised version of the second-order system sketched in the concluding part of the first edition is provided together with a proof of its consistency. New appendices have been added concerning the application of arithmetic, logicistically construed, and of the worries, voiced by several reviewers of the first edition, concerning the impredicativity of Frege's definition of the Ancestra and of the axiom, N=, stating the condition for the identity of numbers in terms of one-to-one correspondence between concepts. Collectively, the additions deepen and strengthen the case for a neo-Fregean philosophy of mathematics.Advanced undergraduate and graduate students of philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of language, and professional philosophers. ... Read more

Product Description
Analytic philosophy--arguably one of the most important philosophical movements in the twentieth century--has gained a new historical self-consciousness, particularly about its own origins. Between 1880 and 1930, the most important work of its founding figures (Frege, Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein) not only gained attention but flourished. In this collection, fifteen previously unpublished essays explore different facets of this period, with an emphasis on the vital intellectual relationship between Frege and the early Wittgenstein. ... Read more

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This text argues that we must depart considerably from Frege's own views if we are to work towards an adequate conception of natural language. ... Read more