Between Philosophy and Mathematics

Abstract

This article studies some central developments in the propagation and teaching of mathematical logic in 1930s China. Focusing on the emergence of a twofold disciplinary approach to mathematical logic, namely as a discipline studied and disseminated by Chinese philosophers on the one hand and mathematicians on the other, this paper explores one of the key turning points in the development of the academic notion of mathematical logic in China. Apart from casting some light on the teaching of mathematical logic in the framework of both philosophical as well as mathematical spheres of inquiry, this article also provides some preliminary insights into the circumstances surrounding the first systematic introduction of mathematical logic into the modern standardized system of education, which gradually took shape over the late-1920s and early 1930s in China.