PHIL 202 Analytic Philosophy: Frege, Russell, and the Early Wittgenstein (Not offered 1999-2000)
Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein (along with G. E. Moore) are often considered the founders of analytic philosophy and are associated with the "linguistic turn" in philosophy. In Russell's book on Leibniz (1900) he wrote "[t]hat all sound philosophy should begin with an analysis of propositions, is a truth too evident, perhaps, to demand a proof." I expect that many students will find that claim not only not evidently true, but plainly false. We will examine why our three authors considered it to be true. We will ask (and try to answer) such questions as: Is there something unique about analytic philosophy? What is analytic philosophy? A constant theme will be the relationship of our three philosophers to the history of philosophy, both to our philosophers' predecessors and successors. Among the predecessors we will discuss are Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant. Among the chief successors are the Logical Positivists, J. L.. Austin, Quine, and Davidson. Our texts will include Gottlob Frege, The Foundations of Arithmetic and Translations from the Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege; Bertrand Russell, Principles of Mathematics; and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Notebooks 1914-1916 and Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Philosophy 202 is an historical introduction to analytic philosophy, concentrating on the founders of the field; Philosophy 204 is a thematic introduction. Students are permitted (even encouraged) to take both 202 and 204. Requirements: three short papers (3-5 pages) and one longer final paper (10-12 pages). Prerequisite: Philosophy 102.