Beth’s Philosophical Intentions. An Introduction

Behind the study of logic and the philosophy of science one finds various quite different interests at work – elitist, mathematical, scientific, philosophical, practical, or religious. Beth belonged to the small group of logicians who respected all of these points od departure, perhaps with exception of the elitist brand. Beth’s basic intentions as a thinker are disclosed in his correspondance with the Swiss philosopher M. Aebi, forerunner in one of Beth’s favourite fields of interest; in fiery discussions with anti-democratic European and indifferent American philosophers; in the testimony of his colleague A. Heyting. Beth’s critiques and analyses of older forms of thought are corroborated by written outputs of several extremist minds.