The History of Thinkers or the History of Ideas? Michael Dummett's Model

摘要

This study tries to answer the question: can we use in the philosophical historiography a model of “history of ideas” in competition with the traditional model of “history of thinkers”? A positive answer is offered by Michael Dummett. For his conception, the theory of meaning is the foundation of metaphysics and metaphysical reality is analogous to mathematical reality. Dummett's solution for meaning is one holistic and practical-inferential, having two parts: the theory of truth and the theory of assertive force of speech acts. Application of Dummett‘s model of “history of ideas” in Frege's philosophy is proving a fertile research for the history of philosophy.