This book, written by one of philosophy's pre-eminent logicians, argues that many of the basic assumptions common to logic, philosophy of mathematics and metaphysics are in need of change. It is therefore a book of critical importance to logical theory. Jaakko Hintikka proposes a new basic first-order logic and uses it to explore the foundations of mathematics. This new logic enables logicians to express on the first-order level such concepts as equicardinality, infinity, and truth in the same language. The famous impossibility results by Gödel and Tarski that have dominated the field for the last sixty years turn out to be much less significant than has been thought. All of ordinary mathematics can in principle be done on this first-order level, thus dispensing with the existence of sets and other higher-order entities.
- ISBN13 9780521624985
- Publish Date 28 April 1998 (first published 13 July 1996)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 16 October 2023
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 304
- Language English