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Dummett

Michael Arthur Holroyd Dummett (1925–2011) was a British philosopher whose work spanned logic, philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mathematics. He is best known for developing inferentialist theories of meaning and for his critiques of realism in semantics and mathematics. He taught and wrote at leading British universities and influenced generations of philosophers.

Dummett argued that the meaning of a sentence is given by its place in a system of

In philosophy of mathematics, Dummett defended a form of mathematical anti-realism, aligning with intuitionist and constructivist

Among his notable books are Frege: Philosophy of Language and other works on language, logic, and meaning.

rules
for
the
conduct
of
inferences;
truth
conditions,
rather
than
reference
or
mental
content,
determine
meaning.
His
approach
to
language
drew
on
the
work
of
Frege
and
was
influential
in
truth-conditional
semantics.
He
also
argued
against
verificationism
and
stressed
the
philosophical
importance
of
the
understandability
of
proof
and
justification.
perspectives.
He
held
that
the
meaning
of
mathematical
statements
is
tied
to
our
ability
to
prove
them,
rather
than
to
any
independent
mathematical
object,
and
he
contributed
to
debates
about
the
foundations
of
mathematics
and
the
nature
of
mathematical
truth.
His
writings
shaped
contemporary
discussions
in
semantics,
logic,
and
the
philosophy
of
mathematics,
and
his
ideas
continue
to
be
widely
discussed
in
analytic
philosophy.