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Wittgenstein and Brouwer

Mathieu Marion

pp. 103-127

Abstract

In this paper, I present a summary of the philosophical relationship betweenWittgenstein and Brouwer, taking as my point of departure Brouwer's lecture onMarch 10, 1928 in Vienna. I argue that Wittgenstein having at that stage not doneserious philosophical work for years, if one is to understand the impact of thatlecture on him, it is better to compare its content with the remarks on logics andmathematics in the Tractactus. I thus show that Wittgenstein's position, in theTractactus, was already quite close to Brouwer's and that the points of divergence are the basis to Wittgenstein's later criticisms of intuitionism. Among the topics of comparison are the role of intuition in mathematics, rule following, choice sequences, the Law of Excluded Middle, and the primacy of arithmetic over logic.

Publication details

Published in:

Kennedy Juliette, Sandu Paul-Gabriel (2003) History of logic. Synthese 137 (1-2).

Pages: 103-127

DOI: 10.1023/A:1026230917748

Full citation:

Marion Mathieu (2003) „Wittgenstein and Brouwer“. Synthese 137 (1-2), 103–127.