Acta Structuralica

international journal for structuralist research

Book | Chapter

185679

Frege or Dedekind?

towards a reevaluation of their legacies

Erich Reck(University of California Riverside)

pp. 139-170

Abstract

The philosophy of mathematics has long been an important part of philosophy in the analytic tradition, ever since the pioneering works of Frege and Russell. Richard Dedekind was roughly Frege's contemporary and his contributions to the foundations of mathematics are widely acknowledged as well. The philosophical aspects of those contributions have been received more critically however. In the present chapter, Dedekind's philosophical reception is reconsidered. At the chapter's core lies a comparison of Frege's and Dedekind's legacies, within and outside of analytic philosophy. While the comparison proceeds historically, it is shaped by current philosophical concerns, especially by debates about neo-logicist and neo-structuralist views. In fact, philosophical and historical considerations are intertwined thoroughly, to the benefit of both. The underlying motivation is to rehabilitate Dedekind as a major philosopher of mathematics, in relation, but not necessarily in opposition, to Frege.

Publication details

Published in:

Reck Erich (2013) The historical turn in analytic philosophy. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 139-170

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-137-30487-2_7

Full citation:

Reck Erich (2013) „Frege or Dedekind?: towards a reevaluation of their legacies“, In: E. Reck (ed.), The historical turn in analytic philosophy, Dordrecht, Springer, 139–170.