Thinking about Mathematics

Thinking about Mathematics by Stewart Shapiro

This unique text by Stewart Shapiro looks at a range of philosophical issues and positions concerning mathematics in four comprehensive sections. The first describes questions and issues about mathematics that have motivated philosophers almost since the beginning of intellectual history. Part II is an historical survey, discussing the role of mathematics in such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Mill. The third section covers the three major positions, and battle lines, throughout the twentieth century: that mathematics is logic (logicism), that the essence of mathematics is the rule-governed manipulation of characters (formalism), and a revisionist philosophy that focuses on the mental activity of mathematics (intuitionism). Finally, Part IV looks at contemporary positions and work which brings the reader up-to-date on the discipline. Thinking about Mathematics is accessible to those with little background in either mathematics or philosophy. It is aimed at students and professionals in mathematics who have little contact with academic philosophy and at philosophy students and other philosophers who forgot much of their mathematics.

"Stewart Shapiro admirably provides an accessible introduction to contemporary thinking in mathematics, while avoiding caricature of the technicalitiesHis ease with the subject and lucid style makes this book a succinct introduction to a fascinating intellectual discipline." Times Literary Supplement

Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Ohio State University at Newark and Professorial Fellow, Department of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780192893062
ISBN 10	0192893068
Titel	Thinking about Mathematics
Autor	Stewart Shapiro
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Oxford University Press
Erscheinungsjahr	2000-07-13
Seitenanzahl	328
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar