The ``Zeitschrift für die Grundlagen der gesamten Mathematik''. The failure of a journal project from the year 1908 (Q873915): Difference between revisions

The author analyses thoroughly the failure of founding the journal ``Zeitschrift für die Grundlagen der gesamten Mathematik'' in 1908. He sketches the efforts of various mathematicians to gain a better representation of the result in the discussion of the foundation of mathematics including it in the context of the disciplinary genesis of mathematical logic. There were two ways for reaching this aim by a journal project, First, to establish a complete new journal, and second, to revive the older journal ``Transactions of the Friesian School'' (Abhandlungen der Fries'schen Schule). The establishment of the new journal was initiated by Gerhard Hessenberg (1874--1925), Hugo Dingler (1881--1954) and Ernst Zermelo (1871--1953). An important point of their conception of the new journal was the fact that it was addressed to mathematicians and thus excluded philosophical articles. The author describes and analyses the discussion between Hessenberg, as the representative of the three initiators, and the publisher and shows that the last point mentioned above was the main reason for the failure of the project. Finally, the author briefly describes the creation of journals of mathematical logic and of the foundations of mathematics in the twenties of the 20th century.