Mathematics as a transcendental science

Carl J. Posy

pp. 107-131

in: Thomas M. Seebohm, Dagfinn Føllesdal, Mohanty (eds), Phenomenology and the formal sciences, Berlin, Springer, 1991

Abstrakt

We are hearing a great deal at this conference about phenomenology and its connection with ontology, logic and mathematics. I want to put some of this into historical perspective by talking about Kant and Brouwer, two thinkers who are known for their analyses of consciousness, and for taking these analyses from phenomenology to the ontology, and ultimately to the logic of ordinary empirical discourse and of mathematics. Specifically I want to use the case studies of Kant and Brouwer in order to precisely formulate just how one can connect phenomenology with ontology, and, once that connection is made, how it in turn effects matters of logic. For it seems to me that these connections are not always well understood in contemporary discussions of Kant and Brouwer, and of these issues in general.