Philosophy of mathematics of Jan Śniadecki

Abstract

The article critically discusses philosophical views of Jan Śniadecki − a well known Polish mathematician and philosopher of the eighteenth century. The paper presents, first of all, some examples to illustrate in specific and selected details of the theory of mathematical knowledge of Jan Śniadecki.

Altough mathematical apriorism has been − and continues to be − an extremely popular doctrine, it has not gone completely unquestioned. J. S. Mill attempted to argue that mathematics is an empirical science. More recently I. Lakatos, P. Kitcher and R. Torretti, in different ways, challenged the apriorist thesis.

The intent of the article is to identify, as clearly as possible, those elements in ontology and epistemology of mathematics of Jan Śniadecki that are common in their approach to the philosophy of mathematics. The contention is that these elements constitute evidence of a shared conception of mathematical empirism, that is significantly different from the modern one.