Overview
- Takes an accessible approach: written by an experienced educator and academic who is able to make complex concepts instantly relatable
- Provides an introduction to the history of mathematics and its applications, as well as engaging with Wittgenstein's own work
- Presents a highly original philosophical argument, including a defence of Wittgenstein's relationship with mathematical philosophy and engagement with contemporary fictionalism
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: History of Analytic Philosophy (History of Analytic Philosophy)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
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.
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Authors and Affiliations
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.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Wittgenstein, Mathematics and World
Authors: Bob Clark
Series Title: History of Analytic Philosophy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63991-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-63990-1Published: 23 November 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-87692-4Published: 31 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-63991-8Published: 14 November 2017
Series ISSN: 2634-5994
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6001
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 215
Number of Illustrations: 9 b/w illustrations
Topics: Philosophy of Mathematics, Mathematics in the Humanities and Social Sciences, History of Philosophy