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Aristotle and Frege on Method in the Philosophy of Mathematics

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Aristotle discusses the philosophy of mathematics in the final books of the Metaphysics and approaches questions and problems in this subject from a metaphysical perspective. This way of undertaking the philosophy of mathematics is informed by his understanding of the nature and ends of science, according to which metaphysics is the broadest theoretical science concerned with being itself. We will motivate the further use of this approach by considering the problems Frege encounters as a result of his method of investigating the philosophy of mathematics, which begins from a more logico-mathematical perspective. These problems, broadly speaking, concern the degree to which Frege must take on metaphysical commitments despite wanting to show that mathematics deductively follows form logic; at the same time, these problems can also be explained and understood from an Aristotelian point of view which also offers a solution through the adoption of a more metaphysical method. Consequently, the philosophy of mathematics should be studied in a manner closer to Aristotle's and Frege's.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Philosophy
Department dc:contributor.department
Philosophy
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2025

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Sirks, Sean Christian
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Klagge, James C.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Sud, Rohan
  • Patton, Lydia K.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:43405
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/130401

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Sirks, Sean Christian. Aristotle and Frege on Method in the Philosophy of Mathematics. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2025. https://hdl.handle.net/10919/130401