Berkeley's 'Analyst' : rigour and rhetoric
This thesis argues for a new interpretation of The Analyst based on Berkeleyâs mature theory of meaning and its role in his views on religion and mathematics. I argue that we should read the Body of The Analyst as consisting in an argumentum ad hominem against âfreethinkersâ who alleged that a mathematical/logicist criterion of intelligibility showed significant parts of religion to be unintelligible and irrational. By showing that the same standards (standards inspired by mathematics and logic) demonstrate the logical instability of calculus, he provides a reductio argument against this freethinking methodology. The text has typically been read as constituting a significant change in Berkeleyâs position on the philosophy of mathematicsâone involving a newly conciliatory outlook on the foundations and axioms of classical mathematics and an abandonment of the sweeping semantic pragmatism advanced by Euphranor at the end of Alciphron and the instrumentalism that defines much of his previous approach to mathematics and science. I argue that this ostensible endorsement of the foundations of traditional mathematics is merely a necessary condition of an internal argument Berkeley wishes to use to demonstrate
Moriarty, Clare Marie
Berkeley's 'Analyst' : rigour and rhetoric. This thesis argues for a new interpretation of The Analyst based on Berkeleyâs mature theory of meaning and its role in his views on religion and mathematics. I argue that we should read the Body of The Analyst as consisting in an argumentum ad hominem against âfreethinkersâ who alleged that a mathematical/logicist criterion of intelligibility showed significant parts of religion to be unintelligible and irrational. By showing that the same standards (standards inspired by mathematics and logic) demonstrate the logical instability of calculus, he provides a reductio argument against this freethinking methodology. The text has typically been read as constituting a significant change in Berkeleyâs position on the philosophy of mathematicsâone involving a newly conciliatory outlook on the foundations and axioms of classical mathematics and an abandonment of the sweeping semantic pragmatism advanced by Euphranor at the end of Alciphron and the instrumentalism that defines much of his previous approach to mathematics and science. I argue that this ostensible endorsement of the foundations of traditional mathematics is merely a necessary condition of an internal argument Berkeley wishes to use to demonstrate
berkeley analyst rigour rhetoric argues new_interpretation analyst base berkeley mature theory mean role view religion mathematics argue read body analyst consist allege mathematical criterion intelligibility show significant_part religion unintelligible irrational showing standard standard inspire mathematics logic logical instability calculus provide argument methodology text typically read constitute significant_change berkeley position philosophy_mathematics involve newly outlook foundation classical mathematics abandonment sweeping semantic pragmatism advance end defines much previous mathematics science argue endorsement foundation traditional mathematics merely necessary_condition internal_argument berkeley wish use