Gottlob Frege
Gottlob Frege (1848–1925) was a German logician, mathematician, and philosopher whose foundational work in logic and the philosophy of language profoundly shaped the conceptual architecture of modern thought. Frege’s innovations—especially his distinction between sense and reference, and his formalization of logic—provided the structural and formal resources that psychoanalysis, particularly in the work of Jacques Lacan, would appropriate to theorize the symbolic order, the signifier, and the logic of the subject.
| Gottlob Frege | |
|---|---|
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Gottlob Frege, c. 1882
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| Identity | |
| Lifespan | 1848–1925 |
| Nationality | German |
| Epistemic Position | |
| Tradition | Analytic philosophy, logicism |
| Methodology | Logic, philosophy of language, mathematics |
| Fields | Logic, philosophy of language, mathematics, semantics |
| Conceptual Payload | |
| Core Concepts | Sense and reference, function and argument, Begriffsschrift, logical form
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| Associated Concepts | Signifier, Symbolic order, Reference, Subject, Metaphor |
| Key Works | Begriffsschrift (1879); Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik (1884); Über Sinn und Bedeutung (1892) |
| Theoretical Cluster | Language, Logic, Subjectivity |
| Psychoanalytic Relation | |
| Frege’s formalization of logic and his distinction between sense and reference provided the groundwork for 20th-century theories of language and meaning, which Lacan appropriated in his theorization of the signifier and the symbolic order. His innovations enabled psychoanalysis to articulate the unconscious as structured like a language, and to theorize subjectivity in relation to logic and signification. | |
| To Lacan | Lacan drew on Frege’s logic and theory of reference, especially in his seminars on the signifier, the subject, and the function of the symbolic. |
| To Freud | Freud did not directly engage Frege, but Frege’s legacy shaped the linguistic and logical frameworks that later psychoanalysis would inherit. |
| Referenced By | Jacques Lacan, Jean-Claude Milner, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek
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| Lineage | |
| Influences | Immanuel Kant, Hermann Lotze, George Boole
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| Influenced | Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jacques Lacan, analytic philosophy, structuralism
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Intellectual Context and Biography
Early Formation
Frege was educated in mathematics, physics, and philosophy at the University of Jena, where he was influenced by the logical and philosophical traditions of Kant and Lotze.[1] His early intellectual milieu was marked by the emergence of mathematical rigor and the search for foundations in logic, as well as the broader German philosophical tradition’s concern with the conditions of knowledge and meaning.
Major Turning Points
Frege’s publication of Begriffsschrift in 1879 marked a decisive break from traditional logic, inaugurating a new, formal language for the expression of pure thought.[2] His subsequent works, including Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik (1884) and Über Sinn und Bedeutung (1892), established the core concepts that would define his legacy. Frege’s later years were marked by relative isolation, but his influence grew posthumously, especially through the analytic tradition and, indirectly, through structuralist and psychoanalytic appropriations.
Core Concepts
Sense and Reference (Sinn und Bedeutung)
Frege’s distinction between Sinn (sense) and Bedeutung (reference) revolutionized the philosophy of language.[3] For Frege, the sense of an expression is its mode of presentation—the way in which a reference is given—while the reference is the actual object or entity to which the expression refers. This distinction clarified how language can refer to the same object in different ways, and how meaning is not exhausted by reference alone.
Function and Argument Structure
Frege introduced the function-argument analysis of propositions, treating sentences as the result of applying a function (predicate) to an argument (subject).[4] This formalism underpins modern logic and enables the precise articulation of logical relations, a move that would later inform structuralist and psychoanalytic theories of language.
Begriffsschrift (Concept Script)
Begriffsschrift is Frege’s formal logical language, designed to express pure thought with mathematical precision.[5] It introduced quantifiers and variables, laying the groundwork for predicate logic and the formal analysis of language—a model for later attempts to formalize the structures of the unconscious and the symbolic.
Logical Form and the Structure of Propositions
Frege’s insistence on the logical form of propositions—distinguishing between the grammatical and logical structure of language—enabled a rigorous analysis of meaning and inference. This focus on form over content would become central to structuralist and psychoanalytic approaches to language and subjectivity.
Relation to Psychoanalysis
Frege’s influence on psychoanalysis is primarily structural and mediated, rather than direct. Freud did not engage Frege’s work, but the Fregean revolution in logic and language set the stage for the linguistic turn that would reshape the human sciences in the 20th century.[6]
Lacan and the Fregean Legacy
Jacques Lacan’s engagement with Frege is both explicit and structural. In his seminars, especially from the 1950s onward, Lacan draws on Frege’s distinction between sense and reference to theorize the signifier and the symbolic order.[7] For Lacan, the signifier is not reducible to its referent; rather, it operates within a differential system of relations, echoing Frege’s insight that meaning is constituted by sense as much as by reference. Lacan’s logic of the subject, his use of formalization, and his emphasis on the symbolic owe much to the Fregean model of logical structure.[8]
Structural and Formal Influence
Frege’s function-argument analysis and his formalization of logic provided the tools for later structuralist and psychoanalytic theories to articulate the unconscious as structured like a language.[9] Through figures such as Roman Jakobson and the structural linguists, Frege’s legacy entered the psychoanalytic field, enabling Lacan and others to theorize the symbolic order, the subject of the signifier, and the logic of desire.
Mediated Influence: From Logic to Language to the Unconscious
Frege’s impact on analytic philosophy (Russell, Wittgenstein) and structural linguistics (Saussure, Jakobson) created the intellectual environment in which psychoanalysis could reconceptualize the unconscious as a system of signifiers.[10] The Fregean distinction between sense and reference, and his analysis of logical form, were crucial for Lacan’s critique of the imaginary and his privileging of the symbolic.
Reception in Psychoanalytic Theory
Frege’s concepts have been variously appropriated, reinterpreted, and debated within psychoanalytic theory. Lacan’s explicit references to Frege appear in his seminars, where he discusses the logic of the subject, the function of the signifier, and the structure of the symbolic.[11] Jean-Claude Milner and Alain Badiou have further developed the Fregean legacy in their own engagements with logic and psychoanalysis, emphasizing the importance of formalization and the autonomy of the symbolic.[12] Slavoj Žižek and Julia Kristeva have drawn on Fregean themes in their analyses of subjectivity, language, and the real.
Debates persist regarding the limits of Fregean formalism for psychoanalysis, especially concerning the irreducibility of the unconscious and the role of affect, but Frege’s structural innovations remain foundational for any rigorous account of the symbolic and the logic of the subject.
Key Works
- Begriffsschrift (1879): Frege’s “concept script” introduced a formal language for logic, enabling the precise articulation of logical relations and laying the groundwork for the analysis of language and meaning that would influence psychoanalysis.
- Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik (1884): In this work, Frege investigates the foundations of arithmetic, arguing for the logical basis of number and introducing distinctions that would inform later theories of subjectivity and symbolic systems.
- Über Sinn und Bedeutung (1892): Frege’s seminal essay on sense and reference, which became central to 20th-century philosophy of language and provided the conceptual resources for psychoanalytic theories of signification.
- Grundgesetze der Arithmetik (1893, 1903): Frege’s attempt to derive arithmetic from logical axioms, exemplifying his commitment to formalization and influencing later structuralist and psychoanalytic approaches to logic and language.
Influence and Legacy
Frege’s impact on psychoanalysis is primarily structural and formal, providing the conceptual tools for theorizing language, meaning, and subjectivity. His distinction between sense and reference, his formalization of logic, and his analysis of the structure of propositions shaped the linguistic and logical turn in the human sciences. Through analytic philosophy, structural linguistics, and the work of Lacan, Frege’s legacy endures in contemporary debates on the symbolic order, the logic of the subject, and the structure of the unconscious. His influence extends beyond psychoanalysis to philosophy, mathematics, linguistics, and contemporary theory, where the Fregean model of formalization remains a touchstone for rigorous conceptual analysis.
See also
References
- ↑ Michael Dummett, Frege: Philosophy of Language (Harvard University Press, 1973).
- ↑ Jean van Heijenoort, From Frege to Gödel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879–1931 (Harvard University Press, 1967).
- ↑ Gottlob Frege, Über Sinn und Bedeutung (1892).
- ↑ Gottlob Frege, Begriffsschrift (1879).
- ↑ Jean van Heijenoort, From Frege to Gödel.
- ↑ John Forrester, Language and the Origins of Psychoanalysis (Palgrave Macmillan, 1980).
- ↑ Seminar XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (1964)
- ↑ Jean-Claude Milner, Introduction à une science du langage (Seuil, 1989).
- ↑ Roman Jakobson, Selected Writings (Mouton, 1971).
- ↑ David Bellos, Jacques Tournier: A Life (Harvill, 1999).
- ↑ Seminar XX: Encore (1972–1973)
- ↑ Alain Badiou, Being and Event (Continuum, 2005).