When we ask for the meaning of a statement we are talking about language, and are using a metalanguage; and when we ask for the meaning of “meaning” we are using a metametalanguage, so it is not surprising that the question is difficult to …integer, for example, “3” can be defined as the class of all classes “similar” to the class consisting of the words “Newton,” “Gauss,” and “Bardot.”) The point of this representation is that it makes reference to linguistic operations alone…
Gottlob Frege
philosopher · 1858–1932 · 3 mentions across 2 readings
In this course
Frege's formalization of logic and theory of reference ground the course's engagement with how meaning and symbolic systems operate—foundational to understanding how machines parse and process language. His work on the distinction between sense and reference appears as a touchstone for discussions about representation, particularly in how linguistic operations can be decoupled from external reference, enabling the abstraction that underpins computational systems. The course uses Frege's legacy (mediated through Russell's famous paradox letter) to trace the genealogy of formal systems that both enable and constrain how AI systems understand meaning.
Background
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic philosophy, concentrating on the philosophy of language, logic, and mathematics. Though he was largely ignored during his lifetime, Giuseppe Peano (1858–1932), Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), and, to some extent, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) introduced his work to later generations of philosophers. Frege is widely considered to be one of the greatest logicians since Aristotle, and one of the most profound philosophers of mathematics ever.
Wikipedia →Mentioned in 2 readings
Appears alongside
People mentioned in the same passages — sorted by co-occurrence weight.
Bertrand Russell 3Antoine Lavoisier 1Charles Kay Ogden 1Charles Sanders Peirce 1Colin Cherry 1Ivor Armstrong Richards 1Max Black 1Brigitte Bardot 1Carl Friedrich Gauss 1Isaac Newton 1Paul Halmos 1Akos Egyed 1Alfred Tarski 1Brown 1Carl Craver 1Gordon Globus 1Grover Maxwell 1Herbert A. Simon 1Irving Savodnik 1J. A. Scott Kelso 1J. M. Spivey 1Jean van Heijenoort 1Jonathan Schaffer 1Leonard Linsky 1Michael A. Arbib 1Murray Gell-Mann 1Nenad Medvidovic 1Plotinus 1Robert C. Richardson 1Roberto Poli 1