Mathematics and Necessity – Essays in the History of Philosophy

Why did Plato place mathematics at the heart of education for the rulers of his ideal city? Why has mathematics played such a central role in Western philosophy? And how do we acquire knowledge of necessary truths? The answers to such questions offered by distinguished scholars M.V. Burnyeat, Ian Hacking, and Jonathan Bennett make a significant contribution to our understanding of the great thinkers from ancient to modern philosophy.