Abstract

Received accounts of nineteenth-century thought make little or no room for the substantial contributions of the Bohemian philosopher Bernard Bolzano . This thesis constitutes a sustained attempt to show that this omission is a serious mistake, that Bolzano is more rightly treated as one of the major figures of western philosophy. To his contemporaries, Bolzano was known primarily as a teacher, religious leader, and social reformer. Outside of central Europe, though, he became known primarily through his logical and mathematical writings. The thesis focuses primarily on the latter, showing in detail how Bolzano's methodological work advanced revolutionary changes in both mathematics and logic, with effects which would be felt throughout philosophy.