Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Groundbreaking in its day the aim of this fantastic, if dated book by renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell is nothing less than to demonstrate that all of mathematics is describable by a single system of logic. It does so in a way which, while not simplistic, is still accessible to anyone willing to put in some thought. A foundation in logic and philosophy would certainly be a help when reading this book however.<br><br>This approach was later demonstrated to be impossible, with Kurt Godel's incompleteness theorems proving that for any consistent logical system there are some problems which cannot be solved within that system. Godel's work would not have been the same without these earlier attempts however, so they provide an essential context for understanding these later developments.<br><br>This does not mean that Russell's work is devoid of insight or use for its own sake however, as most of the individual sections as well as the history of mathematical philosophy are very valuable. Those whose interest is piqued by this book may wish to move on to Russell and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica for a more difficult and in depth work.