Metaphysical separatism and epistemological autonomy in Frege’s philosophy and beyond

British Journal for the History of Philosophy 30 (6):1096-1120 (2022)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Commentators regularly attribute to Frege realist, idealist, and quietist responses to metaphysical questions concerning the abstract objects he calls ‘thoughts’. But despite decades of effort, the evidence offered on behalf of these attributions remains unconvincing. I argue that Frege deliberately avoids commitment to any of these positions, as part of a metaphysical separatist policy motivated by the fact that logic is epistemologically autonomous from metaphysics. Frege’s views and arguments prove relevant to current attempts to argue for epistemological autonomy, particularly that of ethics.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Frege the Carnapian and Carnap the Fregean.Gregory Lavers - 2016 - In Sorin Costreie (ed.), Early Analytic Philosophy – New Perspectives on the Tradition. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Verlag. pp. 353--373.
Frege, as-if Platonism, and Pragmatism.Robert Arp - 2005 - Journal of Critical Realism 4 (1):1-27.
I. interpreting Frege: A reply to Michael Dummett.Gregory Currie - 1983 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 26 (3):345 – 359.
Frege and numbers as self-subsistent Objects.Gregory Lavers - 2010 - Discusiones Filosóficas 11 (16):97-118.
II. Frege as Idealist and then Realist.Michael D. Resnik - 1979 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 22 (1-4):350-357.
Frege's Notion of Logical Objects.Marco Antonio Caron Ruffino - 1996 - Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles
I. Frege as a Realist.Michael Dummett - 1976 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 19 (1-4):455-468.
Two Soviet Studies on Frege. [REVIEW]W. W. A. - 1966 - Review of Metaphysics 19 (3):579-579.
Frege and the Paradox of Analysis.Michael Nelson - 2008 - Philosophical Studies 137 (2):159-181.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-08-02

Downloads
776 (#30,433)

6 months
139 (#32,357)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Jim Hutchinson
Nazarbayev University

Citations of this work

Frege and the Fundamental Abstraction.Jim Hutchinson - forthcoming - Canadian Journal of Philosophy.

Add more citations

References found in this work

A Darwinian dilemma for realist theories of value.Sharon Street - 2006 - Philosophical Studies 127 (1):109-166.
Uber Sinn und Bedeutung.Gottlob Frege - 1892 - Zeitschrift für Philosophie Und Philosophische Kritik 100 (1):25-50.
The nature of morality: an introduction to ethics.Gilbert Harman - 1977 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Anti-exceptionalism about logic.Ole Thomassen Hjortland - 2017 - Philosophical Studies 174 (3):631-658.

View all 48 references / Add more references