Completing the Gödel-Zermelo correspondence (Q802533): Difference between revisions

In this note the author welcomely completes my paper [ibid. 6, 294-304 (1979; Zbl 0416.01008)], which contained an exchange of letters between Gödel and Zermelo over the former's new incompletability theorem, by presenting the text of Zermelo's initiating letter, not available to me when my paper was prepared. The letter is presented in facsimile and in German translation. In it Zermelo stated his dislike of the 'finitistic prejudice' in logic, which he was then trying to break with a discussion of infinitely long proofs. However, his ideas, while published at the time, were only vaguely developed, and the prejudice was to remain dominant until after the War, when in fact Zermelo's pioneering efforts were not well remembered.