The five-volume Collected Works of Kurt Gödel, published by Oxford University Press between 2001 and 2013, serves as a primary example of Solomon Feferman’s scholarly contributions to the history of logic. As a mathematician and philosopher based at Stanford University, he navigated the complex intersections of proof theory, computability theory, and set theory over a decades-long career.
Academic Foundation
Born in 1928 in New York City, Feferman moved with his family to Los Angeles, graduating from high school at age 16. He earned a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology in 1948. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955, he completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1957. His doctoral studies were conducted under the supervision of Alfred Tarski.
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In 1956, Feferman joined the Departments of Mathematics and Philosophy at Stanford University. He spent the majority of his professional life at this institution, eventually reaching the position of Patrick Suppes Professor of Humanities and Sciences. His career included periods as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, a visiting professor at MIT, and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College in Oxford.
Logic and Predicativism
Feferman developed a reputation as a proponent of predicativism, maintaining an anti-platonist perspective within the philosophy of mathematics. Inspired by the writings of Hermann Weyl, he sought to clarify mathematical foundations. This work led him to introduce the Feferman–Schütte ordinal, a metric used to measure the strength of certain predicative systems.
Editorial and Historical Projects
Beyond his technical research, Feferman engaged in extensive historical documentation regarding the development of logic. He acted as the editor-in-chief for the Collected Works of Kurt Gödel. In 2004, he collaborated with his wife, Anita Burdman Feferman, to publish the biography Alfred Tarski: Life and Logic. These projects focused on contextualizing the lives and intellectual outputs of prominent figures in the field.
Fast facts
- Born: 1928, New York City
- Died: 26 July 2016, Stanford
- Doctoral advisor: Alfred Tarski
- Primary institution: Stanford University
- Key award: Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy (2003)
- Professional status: Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2013)
- Academic degree: Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley (1957)
- Education: California Institute of Technology (1948)
Questions readers ask
What was Feferman’s stance on the philosophy of mathematics?
He was a vocal proponent of predicativism and held an anti-platonist perspective.
Which major editorial project did he lead?
He served as the editor-in-chief of the five-volume Collected Works of Kurt Gödel.
Achievements
- Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy — 2003
- Held posts at Stanford University Philosophy Department and Stanford University
- Fields: mathematical logic, mathematics and philosophy
