Number and measure: Hermann von Helmholtz at the crossroads of mathematics, physics, and psychology

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 34 (3):515-573 (2003)
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Abstract

In 1887 Helmholtz discussed the foundations of measurement in science as a last contribution to his philosophy of knowledge. This essay borrowed from earlier debates on the foundations of mathematics, on the possibility of quantitative psychology, and on the meaning of temperature measurement. Late nineteenth-century scrutinisers of the foundations of mathematics made little of Helmholtz’s essay. Yet it inspired two mathematicians with an eye on physics, and a few philosopher-physicists. The aim of the present paper is to situate Helmholtz’s contribution in this complex array of nineteenth-century philosophies of number, quantity, and measurement.Author Keywords: Helmholtz; Measurement; Arithmetic; P. Du Bois-Reymond; H. and R. Grassmann; J. von Kries.

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Citations of this work

Measurement in Science.Eran Tal - 2015 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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References found in this work

A set of independent axioms for extensive quantities.Patrick Suppes - 1951 - Portugaliae Mathematica 10 (4):163-172.
La mesure du temps.H. Poincaré - 1898 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 6 (1):1 - 13.
Circularity and reliability in measurement.Hasok Chang - 1995 - Perspectives on Science 3 (2):153-172.
Measurement.Ernest Nagel & C. G. Hempel - 1931 - Erkenntnis 2 (1):313-335.
The origins of the representational theory of measurement: Helmholtz, Hölder, and Russell.Joel Michell - 1993 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 24 (2):185-206.

View all 13 references / Add more references