Russell's method of analysis and the axioms of mathematics

Lydia Patton

pp. 105-126

in: Sandra Lapointe, Christopher Pincock (eds), Innovations in the history of analytical philosophy, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

Abstract

Early in the 1900s, Russell recognizes that he and many others had been implicitly using claims like the Axiom of Choice. For such claims, Russell eventually took the position that some axioms are necessary to recovering certain results of mathematics, but may not be proven to be true absolutely. This essay traces historical roots of, and motivations for, Russell's method of analysis and his related views about the status of mathematical axioms. I describe the position that Russell develops as "immanent logicism," in contrast to what Irving has called "epistemic logicism." Immanent logicism allows Russell to avoid the logocentric predicament and to propose a method for discovering structural relationships of dependence within mathematical theories.

Cited authors

Russell Bertrand