display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers
2 ideas
| 9154 | Frege agreed with Euclid that the axioms of logic and mathematics are known through self-evidence [Frege, by Burge] |
| Full Idea: Frege maintained a sophisticated version of the Euclidean position that knowledge of the axioms and theorems of logic, geometry, and arithmetic rests on the self-evidence of the axioms, definitions, and rules of inference. | |
| From: report of Gottlob Frege (Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations) [1884]) by Tyler Burge - Frege on Apriority Intro | |
| A reaction: I am inclined to agree that they are indeed self-evident, but not in a purely a priori way. They are self-evident general facts about how reality is and how (it seems) that it must be. It seems to me closer to a perception than an insight. |
| 9585 | Since every definition is an equation, one cannot define equality itself [Frege] |
| Full Idea: Since every definition is an equation, one cannot define equality itself. | |
| From: Gottlob Frege (Review of Husserl's 'Phil of Arithmetic' [1894], p.327) | |
| A reaction: This seems a particularly nice instance of the general rule that 'you have to start somewhere'. It is a nice test case for the nature of meaning to ask 'what do you understand when you understand equality?', given that you can't define it. |