Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-xxrs7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T20:14:51.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - The Value of a Function

Gottlob Frege

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Michael Losonsky
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Get access

Summary

Gottlob Frege has been called “the founder of modern mathematical logic,” “the father of ‘linguistic philosophy,’” and “one of the founders of analytic philosophy” (Dummett 1973, 665 and 683; Beaney 1996, 1). Frege, like Leibniz, Humboldt, and Mill before him, focuses on a form of language that runs deeper than its apparent grammatical structure, and he specifically follows Leibniz and Mill in isolating logical form. What distinguishes Frege is his mathematical perspective on language. Drawing on mathematics, Frege constructed a language of logic that he believed also served as a basis for understanding the essential components of all languages, whether natural or artificial. Mill reestablished the tie between logical and linguistic studies, but Frege gave this relation a mathematical character that left a lasting mark in the philosophy and science of logic and language. In doing so, Frege also filtered out what might be thought of as the human dimension of language, namely its psychological properties, and consequently Frege has contributed to the concept of language as an autonomous formal system.

Concept Script

Frege's development began with what is also by far his most significant contribution: his work on the language of logic published in 1879 in “an epoch-making little book” called Begriffsschrift, translated as Concept Script or Conceptual Notation (Kneale and Kneale 1962, 436). It has been compared in significance and scope with Aristotle's contribution to logic.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Value of a Function
  • Michael Losonsky, Colorado State University
  • Book: Linguistic Turns in Modern Philosophy
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810220.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Value of a Function
  • Michael Losonsky, Colorado State University
  • Book: Linguistic Turns in Modern Philosophy
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810220.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Value of a Function
  • Michael Losonsky, Colorado State University
  • Book: Linguistic Turns in Modern Philosophy
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810220.008
Available formats
×