Frege, (Friedrich Ludwig) Gottlob 1848-1925
German logician, mathematician and philosopher

Born in Wismar, he was educated at the University of Jena, where he spent his whole professional career, becoming professor in 1879. His particular contribution to logic was the theory of quantification. His main works are Begriffschrift (1879), Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik (1884, Eng trans The Foundations of Arithmetic, 1950), and Die Grundgesetze der Arithmetik (2 vols, 1893, 1903). These have all been translated into English, as has a collection of his still influential philosophical essays analysing such basic logical concepts as meaning, sense and reference. He also attempted to derive the whole of arithmetic from logic. He is now regarded as the founding father of modern mathematical logic and the philosophy of language.

Bibliography: Michael Dummet, Frege: Philosophy of Language (1974)