Philip Edward Bertrand Jourdain (16 October 1879 – 1 October 1919) was a British

logician Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

and follower of

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

Background

He was born in Ashbourne in Derbyshire* one of a large family belonging to Emily Clay and his father Francis Jourdain (who was the vicar at Ashbourne). His sister

Eleanor Jourdain Eleanor Frances Jourdain (16 November 1863 – 6 April 1924) was an English academic, Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, 1915 to 1924. She died of a sudden heart attack after being forced to resign her post. Jourdain rose to fame for claim ...

was an English academic and author. Another sister,

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

(1876–1951), was an authority on the history of fine English home-furnishings, and the life-long companion of the novelist

Ivy Compton-Burnett Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, (; 5 June 188427 August 1969) was an English novelist, published in the original editions as I. Compton-Burnett. She was awarded the 1955 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for her novel ''Mother and Son''. Her works co ...

Mathematics and logic

Jourdain was partly disabled by

Friedreich's ataxia Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA or FA) is an autosomal-recessive genetic disease that causes difficulty walking, a loss of sensation in the arms and legs, and impaired speech that worsens over time. Symptoms generally start between 5 and 20 year ...

. He corresponded with

Georg Cantor Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor ( , ; – January 6, 1918) was a German mathematician. He played a pivotal role in the creation of set theory, which has become a fundamental theory in mathematics. Cantor established the importance of ...

and

Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic phil ...

, and took a close interest in the paradoxes related to

Russell's paradox In mathematical logic, Russell's paradox (also known as Russell's antinomy) is a set-theoretic paradox discovered by the British philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell in 1901. Russell's paradox shows that every set theory that contains a ...

, formulating the

card paradox The card paradox is a variant of the liar paradox constructed by Philip Jourdain. It is also known as the postcard paradox, Jourdain paradox or Jourdain's paradox. The paradox Suppose there is a card with statements printed on both sides: Try ...

version of the

liar paradox In philosophy and logic, the classical liar paradox or liar's paradox or antinomy of the liar is the statement of a liar that they are lying: for instance, declaring that "I am lying". If the liar is indeed lying, then the liar is telling the truth ...

.Turnbull archive
accessed 7 December 2007 He corresponded with

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...

, meeting with him in Cambridge to discuss Frege's book

Grundgesetze der Arithmetik ''The Foundations of Arithmetic'' (german: Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik) is a book by Gottlob Frege, published in 1884, which investigates the Philosophy, philosophical foundations of arithmetic. Frege refutes other theories of number and develop ...

, parts of which Jourdain had prepared a translation. He also worked on algebraic logic, and the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

with

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

as a particular study. He was London editor for ''

The Monist ''The Monist: An International Quarterly Journal of General Philosophical Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of philosophy. It was established in October 1890 by American publisher Edward C. Hegeler. History Init ...

''. Near the end of his life Jourdain became increasingly obsessed by trying to prove the

axiom of choice In mathematics, the axiom of choice, or AC, is an axiom of set theory equivalent to the statement that ''a Cartesian product of a collection of non-empty sets is non-empty''. Informally put, the axiom of choice says that given any collectio ...

, and published several incorrect proofs of it. describes Jourdain on his deathbed still arguing with him about his (incorrect) proof of the axiom of choice. Later, the

independence of the axiom of choice In mathematics, the axiom of choice, or AC, is an axiom of set theory equivalent to the statement that ''a Cartesian product of a collection of non-empty sets is non-empty''. Informally put, the axiom of choice says that given any collection o ...

was established.

Works

The following works of Philip Jourdain are available from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

: * 1908
Some Points in the Foundation of Mathematical Physics
in

v 18 * 1911
Some Modern Advances in Logic
in ''The Monist'' v 21 * 1913
The Nature of Mathematics
* 1913
The Nature and Validity of the Principle of Least Action
in ''The Monist'' v 23 * 1914
The Economy of Thought
in ''The Monist'' v 24 * 1918
The Philosophy of B*rtr*nd R*ss*ll with an appendix of leading passages from certain other works
* 1919
Indefinables and Indemonstrables in Mathematics and Theology
in ''The Monist'' v 29 Jordain acted as editor for *1914: Augustus De Morgan:
Essays on the Life and Work of Newton
Jourdain made the following translations: * 1911:

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( , ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was a Moravian-born Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the physics of shock waves. The ratio of one's speed to that of sound is named the Mach ...

br>History and Root of the Principle of Conservation of Energy
* 1915: Ernst Mac
The Science of Mechanics
* 1915:

br>Contributions to the Foundation of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers

References

Ivor Grattan-Guinness Ivor Owen Grattan-Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a historian of mathematics and logic. Life Grattan-Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained his bac ...

(1977) ''Dear Russell—Dear Jourdain: a Commentary on Russell's Logic, Based on His Correspondence with Philip Jourdain''.

Duckworth Duckworth may refer to: * Duckworth (surname), people with the surname ''Duckworth'' * Duckworth (''DuckTales''), fictional butler from the television series ''DuckTales'' * Duckworth Books, a British publishing house * , a frigate * Duckworth, W ...

. ** . * Archibald Edward Heath (1920) "Philip Edward Bertrand Jourdain", ''The Monist'' 30:161–182. *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jourdain, Philip 1879 births 1919 deaths People from Ashbourne, Derbyshire English logicians English philosophers