Mathematik, Logik und Erfahrung

Abstract

IN this modest little volume are signs of intense application and erudition, under conditions (in Vienna) truly ‘impossible' as judged by British standards. There is nothing very new in these pages, suggestive as they are. The first half of the book deals with the empirical validity of mathematic— arithmetic and geometry—whereas the second is concerned with a spirited refutation of ‘conventionalism', and a discussion of the conditions of application of logic. The prospective reader will naturally ask what this particular brand of conventionalism is to which Prof. Kraft devotes so much attention. It seems to be a species of what we should call idealism in natural law. By relegating it to the Hinterland, a healthy relationship is probably established (especially for the intellectual climate in which the author writes) between physics and epistemology ; on the other hand, if everybody went all the way with him, there would be but scant quarters left for the ‘poetry' of science, of which recent years have produced superb examples in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, Prof. Kraft has enriched his subject, and added distinction to its literature.

Mathematik, Logik und Erfahrung

Von Prof. Dr. Victor Kraft. Pp. vii + 129. (Wien: Springer-Verlag, 1947.) 10 francs.