Frege

by Anthony Kenny

Although almost unknown in his lifetime, it was Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) who set the agenda for much of twentieth-century philosophy.
His 'concept script' overthrew Aristotle's long-established system of logic and underlies all subsequent developments in the subject. His radically new approach to the foundations of arithmetic, based on fresh definitions of the terms 'zero', 'one' and 'successor', revolutionized our understanding of mathematics. And his important insights into the nature of language and meaning provided the framework for Russell, Wittgenstein and twentieth-century linguistic analysis. In this superb survey of his evolving ideas, Anthony Kenny explains and assesses the full range of Frege's work and reveals why it still forms an ideal introduction to modern analytic philosophy. Even after seventy years, he concludes, Frege remains an absolutely central figure, one of those rare thinkers who wrote 'prose which is accessible and attractive on first acquaintance and yet which repays rereading over a lifetime'.

Genres: Philosophy

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Sir Anthony Kenny is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of religion.

Reviews

[Martina Verdelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un saggio ben realizzato che ripercorre le opere del filosofo Frege, soffermandosi sulle nozioni matematiche e filosofiche, elaborate nel corso degli anni e fornendo utili esempi per meglio spiegare i passaggi logici alla base delle teorie.

[Arthur Drury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the intro I was looking for. Especially good because Kenny knows how to situate Frege in the history of philosophy.