Logic and philosophy of mathematics in the early Husserl (Q1048732)

Edmund Husserl is generally known as the philosopher who introduced the phenomenological method in philosophy. We associate his name with Heidegger and other phenomenological thinkers. Yet, he was trained as a mathematician and the first ten years of his academic life, 1891-1901, were devoted to the foundations of mathematics. Against the background of what was happening at the time, his work from that period is remarkable. He developed a philosophy of arithmetic in which he discussed the concepts of number and set. It contains valuable insights and he has, for example, what is essentially the notion of a partially recursive function. In his logical work he developed definitely modern ideas: the concept of a formal language and a formal system. Stefania Centrone must be commended for her thorough treatment of a little known decade in the intellectual life of an important philosopher. Moreover, her book is a welcome contribution to our further understanding of a very exciting period in the history of the foundations of mathematics.