Mathematics and Mind (Logic and Computation in Philosophy) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195079299 ISBN 13: 9780195079296

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Those inquiring into the nature of mind have long been interested in the foundations of mathematics, and conversely this branch of knowledge is distinctive in that our access to it is purely through thought. A better understanding of mathematical thought should clarify the conceptual foundations of mathematics, and a deeper grasp of the latter should in turn illuminate the powers of mind through which mathematics is made available to us. The link between conceptions of mind and of mathematics has been a central theme running through the great competing philosophies of mathematics of the twentieth century, though each has refashioned the connection and its import in distinctive ways. The present collection will be of interest to students of both mathematics and of mind. Contents include: "Introduction" by Alexander George; "What is Mathematics About?" by Michael Dummett; "The Advantages of Honest Toil over Theft" by George Boolos; "The Law of Excluded Middle and the Axiom of Choice" by W.W. Tait; "Mechanical Procedures and Mathematical Experience" by Wilfried Sieg; "Mathematical Intuition and Objectivity" by Daniel Isaacson; "Intuition and Number" by Charles Parsons; and "Hilbert's Axiomatic Method and the Laws of Thought" by Michael Hallett.

About this title

About the Author:

Alexander George is at Amherst College.

Review:

"The volume contains extremely interesting papers of high quality on the philosophy of mathematics. The book is compact, and a number of central philosophers of mathematics are discussed in detail."--Modern Logic

"It includes several papers worthy of careful study."--Journal of Symbolic Logic

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0195079299
• ISBN 13: 9780195079296
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216
• Editor: George Alexander