Wittgenstein, Mathematics and World

by Bob Clark

Overview

This book uses Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophical methodology to solve a problem that has perplexed thinkers for thousands of years: 'how come (abstract) mathematics applies so wonderfully well to the (concrete, physical) world?' The book is distinctive in several ways. First, it gives the reader a route into understanding important features of Wittgenstein’s writings and lectures by using his methodology to tackle this long-standing and seemingly intractable philosophical problem. More than this, though, it offers an outline of important (sometimes little-known) aspects of the development of mathematical thought through the ages, and an engagement of Wittgenstein’s philosophy with this and with contemporary philosophy of mathematics on its own terms. A clear overview of all this in the context of Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics is interesting in its own right; it is also just what is needed to solve the problem of mathematics and world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319639901
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	11/15/2017
Series:	History of Analytic Philosophy
Edition description:	1st ed. 2017
Pages:	215
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bob Clark studied maths at Oxford University, UK, and philosophy at the Open University, KCL, and York. He taught maths in Kenya, California, Leeds and Brussels, and philosophy in Brussels and at York. Addicted to teaching though retired from paid work, he still teaches a regular small ad hoc adult seminar in philosophy.

Table of Contents

Introduction.- Chapter 1: The Problem Posed.- Chapter 2: Fictionalism, Applicability, and Face Value.- Chapter 3: Infinity and Concept-Determination.- Chapter 4: The Hardness of the Logical ‘Must’.- Chapter 5: The Problem Solved.- Appendix 1: Groups, Transformations and Homomorphisms.- Appendix 2: A Representation Theorem.

Editorial Reviews

It is written using concise and clear language, with interesting mathematical examples and with an effort to make the polemics that are engaged in the book as clear as possible. There is a clear route leading one from the formulation of the problem to the final solution, and the reader is led from chapter to chapter to form an overview of the problem and the ingredients for its solution” (Jonas Rafael Becker Arenhart, Mathematical reviews, September, 2018)​

From the Publisher