Akihiro Kanamori

Georg Cantor (1845-1919) made seminal contributions to the mathematical conceptualization of continuity and continua that would become basic for the development of topology and measure theory in mathematics. His articulations in this direction were part and parcel of his development of set theory out of mathematical analysis and, on a larger canvas, very much part of the rigorization of mathematics in the latter 19th Century. We consider Cantor’s work on the formulation of the real numbers; uncountability and dimension; and continua as formulated in terms of perfect and connected sets as seen in this light. The thematic emphasis will be on the drive of mathematical necessity for the mathematization of metaphysicially based concepts.

Gödel's first steps in set theory, from the summer of 1935 to the end of his stay in Princeton half a year later, are described in the light of his shorthand notebooks. The notes end with an English manuscript titled ‘The freedom from contradiction of the axiom of choice’ that is analyzed in detail. Gödel works out a logical hierarchical construction that systematically incorporates well-orderings, thereby affirming the title of his paper. He also sees an avenue to having his construction affirm the relative consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis, even to a key lemma about condensation along the hierarchy. However, he could not see a way to establishing the lemma until two years later.

Greek, Indian and Arabic Logic marks the initial appearance of the multi-volume Handbook of the History of Logic. Additional volumes will be published when ready, rather than in strict chronological order. Soon to appear are The Rise of Modern Logic: From Leibniz to Frege. Also in preparation are Logic From Russell to Gödel, The Emergence of Classical Logic, Logic and the Modalities in the Twentieth Century, and The Many-Valued and Non-Monotonic Turn in Logic. Further volumes will follow, including Mediaeval and Renaissance Logic and Logic: A History of its Central. In designing the Handbook of the History of Logic, the Editors have taken the view that the history of logic holds more than an antiquarian interest, and that a knowledge of logic's rich and sophisticated development is, in various respects, relevant to the research programmes of the present day. Ancient logic is no exception. The present volume attests to the distant origins of some of modern logic's most important features, such as can be found in the claim by the authors of the chapter on Aristotle's early logic that, from its infancy, the theory of the syllogism is an example of an intuitionistic, non-monotonic, relevantly paraconsistent logic. Similarly, in addition to its comparative earliness, what is striking about the best of the Megarian and Stoic traditions is their sophistication and originality. Logic is an indispensably important pivot of the Western intellectual tradition. But, as the chapters on Indian and Arabic logic make clear, logic's parentage extends more widely than any direct line from the Greek city states. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that for centuries logic has been an unfetteredly international enterprise, whose research programmes reach to every corner of the learned world. Like its companion volumes, Greek, Indian and Arabic Logic is the result of a design that gives to its distinguished authors as much space as would be needed to produce highly authoritative chapters, rich in detail and interpretative reach. The aim of the Editors is to have placed before the relevant intellectual communities a research tool of indispensable value. Together with the other volumes, Greek, Indian and Arabic Logic, will be essential reading for everyone with a curiosity about logic's long development, especially researchers, graduate and senior undergraduate students in logic in all its forms, argumentation theory, AI and computer science, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, linguistics, forensics, philosophy and the history of philosophy, and the history of ideas.

Analytic philosophy, a dominant tradition of twentieth-century philosophy, can be informatively cast as the outgrowth of the investigations of logic and language of Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and in the next generation, of Rudolf Carnap and W.V. Quine. As such, it is a specific historical development, one that featured subtle dialectical interactions among its propounders, interactions that have been reflected or reenacted in later developments. Whatever its heritage, contemporary analytic philosophy continues to use investigations of language and thought to get at fundamental issues at the heart of philosophy: truth, meaning, and knowledge.

Set theory is an autonomous and sophisticated field of mathematics, enormously successful not only at its continuing development of its historical heritage but also at analyzing mathematical propositions cast in set-theoretic terms and gauging their consistency strength. But set theory is also distinguished by having begun intertwined with pronounced metaphysical attitudes, and these have even been regarded as crucial by some of its great developers. This has encouraged the exaggeration of crises in foundations and of metaphysical doctrines in general. However, set theory has proceeded in the opposite direction, from a web of intensions to a theory of extensionpar excellence, and like other fields of mathematics its vitality and progress have depended on a steadily growing core of mathematical structures and methods, problems and results. There is also the stronger contention that from the beginning set theory actually developed through a progression ofmathematicalmoves, whatever and sometimes in spite of what has been claimed on its behalf.What follows is an account of the development of set theory from its beginnings through the creation of forcing based on these contentions, with an avowedly Whiggish emphasis on the heritage that has been retained and developed by current set theory. The whole transfinite landscape can be viewed as the result of Cantor's attempt to articulate and solve the Continuum Problem.

This is the softcover reprint of the very popular hardcover edition. The theory of large cardinals is currently a broad mainstream of modern set theory, the main area of investigation for the analysis of the relative consistency of mathematical propositions and possible new axioms for mathematics. The first of a projected multi-volume series, this book provides a comprehensive account of the theory of large cardinals from its beginnings and some of the direct outgrowths leading to the frontiers of contemporary research. A a oegenetica approach is taken, presenting the subject in the context of its historical development. With hindsight the consequential avenues are pursued and the most elegant or accessible expositions given. With open questions and speculations provided throughout the reader should not only come to appreciate the scope and coherence of the overall enterprise but also become prepared to pursue research in several specific areas by studying the relevant sections.

Azriel Levy did fundamental work in set theory when it was transmuting into a modern, sophisticated field of mathematics, a formative period of over a decade straddling Cohen’s 1963 founding of forcing. The terms “Levy collapse”, “Levy hierarchy”, and “Levy absoluteness” will live on in set theory, and his technique of relative constructibility and connections established between forcing and definability will continue to be basic to the subject. What follows is a detailed account and analysis of Levy’s work and contributions to set theory

Paul Erdős was a mathematicianpar excellencewhose results and initiatives have had a large impact and made a strong imprint on the doing of and thinking about mathematics. A mathematician of alacrity, detail, and collaboration, Erdős in his six decades of work moved and thought quickly, entertained increasingly many parameters, and wrote over 1500 articles, the majority with others. Hismodus operandiwas to drive mathematics through cycles of problem, proof, and conjecture, ceaselessly progressing and ever reaching, and hismodus vivendiwas to be itinerant in the world, stimulating and interacting about mathematics at every port and capital.