Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy (Jun 2020)

The Birth of Semantics

  • Richard Kimberly Heck,
  • Robert C. May

DOI
https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v8i6.3970
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 6

Abstract

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We attempt here to trace the evolution of Frege’s thought about truth. What most frames the way we approach the problem is a recognition that hardly any of Frege’s most familiar claims about truth appear in his earliest work. We argue that Frege’s mature views about truth emerge from a fundamental re-thinking of the nature of logic instigated, in large part, by a sustained engagement with the work of George Boole and his followers, after the publication of Begriffsschrift and the appearance of critical reviews by members of the Boolean school.