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Het complexe verhaal van de wiskunde in de Tractatus
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte, Volume 115, Issue 2, May 2023, p. 196 - 208
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- 01 May 2023
Abstract
The complex story of mathematics in the Tractatus
In this paper some thoughts are presented about the treatment of mathematics in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus of Ludwig Wittgenstein. After introducing a metaphor for the mathematical ‘building’, we look at the scattered ideas about mathematics in the Tractatus itself. Although the general consensus is that Wittgenstein rejects the entire ‘building’, there are recent insights that suggest that a more coherent view of ‘Tractarian’ mathematics can be presented, if we are willing to leave behind a foundational form of thinking. What this means will be outlined in some detail. The concluding general assessment is that the final word on the status of mathematics in the Tractatus is still pending.