Overview

Despite his tragic death at the age of 26, Frank Ramsey (1903-1930) remains one of the most intriguing minds of the twentieth century. His thought had a profound influence of both Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, and many strands of contemporary analytic philosophy find their origin in Ramsey's ideas. Frank Ramsey: Truth and Success introduces Ramsey's main doctrines and assesses their contemporary significance. In particular, Jerome Dokic and Pascal Engel are interested in Ramsey's thoughts on truth and belief, and his pragmatic thesis that the truth of one's beliefs guarantees the success of one's actions. From this, it is a short step to what may be called ""Ramsey's Principle"": the content of a belief is constituted by the success of one's actions. This principle finds its current expression in the work of philosophers who offer evolutionary conceptions o mental states, according to which the success conditions of a belief are constituted by its biological functions. Frank Ramsey: Truth and Success provides a much-needed introduction to the work of this undervalued thinker, and makes an important and profound contribution to our understanding of Ramsey's work and his place in twentieth century philosophy. It will be of interest to all students of logic, metaphysics and the history of philosophy.

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9780415287197

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Reviews

'A short introduction to Ramsey is very welcome. There is a good market for this book.' - Hanko Glock, University of Reading 'The proposal seems to me excellent, this is a profound and original combination of contributions to the philosophy of truth, of mind, of language, decision theory and probability theory.' - Hugh Mellor, Cambridge University 'Frank Ramsey is as important as any other British philosopher of the last century.' - David Papineau, The Philosophers' Magazine - 'For since beginning to occupy myself with philosophy again, sixteen years ago, I have been forced to recognize grave mistakes in what I wrote in that first book. I was helped to realize these mistakes - to a degree which I myself am hardly able to estimate - by the criticism which my idea encountered from Frank Ramsey, with whom I discussed them in numerable conversations during the last two years of his life.' - Ludwig Wittgenstein, preface to Philosophical Investigations -

'In the twenty-six short years of his life, F.P.Ramsey sowed the seeds of all the most important ideas in twentieth-century philosophy. Pascal Engel and Jerome Dokic have done an excellent job of explaining Ramsey's contribution, and showing what he might have achieved had he lived.' - David Papineau, Kings College, London 'Of the people at Cambridge who studied the Tractatus in its first year of publication, Ramsey was undoubtedly the most perceptive. Although still an undergraduate, he was commissioned to write a review of Wittgenstein's work for the philosophical journal, Mind. The review remains to this day one of the most reliable expositions, and one of the most penetrating criticisms, of the work.'-Ray Monk, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius 'Frank Ramsey is as important as any other British philosopher of the last century.' -David Papineau, The Philosophers' Magazine 'For since beginning to occupy myself with philosophy again, sixteen years ago, I have been forced to recognize grave mistakes in what I wrote in that first book. I was helped to realize these mistakes - to a degree which I myself am hardly able to estimate - by the criticism which my idea encountered from Frank Ramsey, with whom I discussed them in numerable conversations during the last two years of his life.' - Ludwig Wittgenstein, preface to Philosophical Investigations 'Of the people at Cambridge who studied the Tractatus in its first year of publication, Ramsey was undoubtedly the most perceptive. Although still an undergraduate, he was commissioned to write a review of Wittgenstein's work for the philosophical journal, Mind. The review remains to this day one of the most reliable expositions, and one of the most penetrating criticisms, of the work.'-Ray Monk, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius 'In the twenty-six short years of his life, F.P.Ramsey sowed the seeds of all the most important ideas in twentieth-century philosophy. Pascal Engel and Jerome Dokic have done an excellent job of explaining Ramsey's contribution, and showing what he might have achieved had he lived.' - David Papineau, Kings College, London

'Frank Ramsey is as important as any other British philosopher of the last century.' -David Papineau, The Philosophers' Magazine 'For since beginning to occupy myself with philosophy again, sixteen years ago, I have been forced to recognize grave mistakes in what I wrote in that first book. I was helped to realize these mistakes - to a degree which I myself am hardly able to estimate - by the criticism which my idea encountered from Frank Ramsey, with whom I discussed them in numerable conversations during the last two years of his life.' - Ludwig Wittgenstein, preface to Philosophical Investigations 'Of the people at Cambridge who studied the Tractatus in its first year of publication, Ramsey was undoubtedly the most perceptive. Although still an undergraduate, he was commissioned to write a review of Wittgenstein's work for the philosophical journal, Mind. The review remains to this day one of the most reliable expositions, and one of the most penetrating criticisms, of the work.'-Ray Monk, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius 'In the twenty-six short years of his life, F.P.Ramsey sowed the seeds of all the most important ideas in twentieth-century philosophy. Pascal Engel and Jerome Dokic have done an excellent job of explaining Ramsey's contribution, and showing what he might have achieved had he lived.' - David Papineau, Kings College, London

Author Information

Jerome Dokic is ""maitre de conferences"" in Philosophy at the University of Rouen, and a member of the Institut Jean Nicod in Paris. He is the author of L'esprit en movement: essai sur la dynamique cognitive (2001) and has published various articles on the philosophy of language and mind. Pascal Engel is professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He is the author of The Norm of Truth: an introduction to the philosophy of logic (1991) and the editor of New Enquiries into Meaning and Truth (1991) and Believing and Accepting (2000).

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