[Photo]

Kevin C. Klement

Professor and Chair, Philosophy, UMass Amherst

Editor, Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy (JHAP)

Board member, Bertrand Russell Society; editorial board member, Russell (Journal)


Mailing address:

Department of Philosophy
150 Hicks Way, E305 South College
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9274   USA

Contact info:

Email:

klement@umass.edu

Office:

E319 South College

Office Hours (Spring 2024):

Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am–12pm, and by appointment

Mastodon:

@kevinklement@scholar.social

Courses/Teaching

Current courses (Spring 2024)

Past courses

Research and publications

Most of my work has focused on the philosophies of early analytic figures including Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, especially their philosophical logics and their import for contemporary discussions in philosophy of language, intensional logic and the philosophy of mathematics. I am also interested in informal logic, ethics, and the history of logic and analytic philosophy generally.

You can also download my CV.

Most of my publications are available below. If not, email me and I’ll send you a copy. Questions and comments welcome.

Works in progress and forthcoming

  • Peano, Frege and Russell’s Logical Influences
    Forthcoming.
  • Higher-Order Metaphysics in Frege and Russell
    Forthcoming in Higher-Order Metaphysics, edited by P. Fritz and N. Jones. Oxford University Press.
  • Russell’s Retreat from Pythagoras
    Forthcoming.
  • Morality, Schmorality
    Currently only a “published” presentation on this website; future plans undecided.

Published book

  • Frege and the Logic of Sense and Reference
    Routledge 2002.

Published journal articles and book chapters (selected)

  • Logical Form and the Development of Russell’s Logicism
    In Origins and Varieties of Logicism, edited by F. Boccuni and A. Sereni. (Routledge 2022), pp. 147–166.
  • Grundgesetze and the Sense/Reference Distinction
    In Essays on Frege’s Basic Laws of Arithmetic, edited by P. Ebert and M. Rossberg. (Oxford University Press 2019), pp. 142–66.
  • New Logic and the Seeds of Analytic Philosophy: Boole, Frege
    In A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Philosophy, edited by J. Shand. (Wiley Blackwell 2019), pp. 454–79.
  • Russell’s Logicism
    In The Bloomsbury Companion to Bertrand Russell, edited by R. Wahl. (Bloomsbury Academic 2019), pp. 151–78.
  • G. E. Moore’s Unpublished Review of The Principles of Mathematics
    Russell n.s. 38 (2018–19): 131–64.
  • Russell on Ontological Fundamentality and Existence
    In The Philosophy of Logical Atomism: A Centenary Reappraisal, edited by L. Elkind and G. Landini. (Palgrave Macmillan 2018), pp. 155–79.
  • A Generic Russellian Elimination of Abstract Objects
    Philosophia Mathematica 25/1 (2017): 91–115.
  • Three Unpublished Manuscripts from 1903
    Russell n.s. 36 (2016): 5–44.
  • The Constituents of the Propositions of Logic
    In Acquaintance, Knowledge, and Logic: New Essays on Bertrand Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy, edited by D. Wishon and B. Linsky. (CSLI Publications 2015), pp. 189–229.
  • The Russell–Dummett Correspondence on Frege and his Nachlaß
    The Bertrand Russell Society Bulletin no. 150 (2014): 25–29.
  • The Paradoxes and Russell’s Theory of Incomplete Symbols
    Philosophical Studies 169/2 (2014): 183–207.
  • Early Russell on Types and Plurals
    Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 2/6 (2014): 1–21.
  • PM’s Circumflex, Syntax and Philosophy of Types
    In The Palgrave Centenary Companion to Principia Mathematica, edited by N. Griffin and B. Linsky. (Palgrave Macmillian 2013), pp. 218–46.
  • Neo-logicism and Russell’s Logicism
    Russell n.s. 32 (2012–13): 127–59.
  • Frege’s Changing Conception of Number
    Theoria 78 (2012): 146–67.
  • The Functions of Russell’s No Class Theory
    Review of Symbolic Logic 3/4 (2010): 633–64.
  • The Senses of Functions in the Logic of Sense and Denotation
    Bulletin of Symbolic Logic 16/2 (2010): 153–88.
  • Gottlob Frege
    In The Routledge Companion to Nineteenth Century Philosophy, edited by Dean Moyar. (Routledge 2010), pp. 858–86.
  • Russell, His Paradoxes and Cantor’s Theorem [Parts I–II]
    Philosophy Compass 5/1 (2010): 16–28 and 29–41.
  • A Cantorian Argument Against Frege’s and Early Russell’s Theories of Descriptions
    In Russell vs. Meinong: The Legacy of “On Denoting”, edited by N. Griffin and D. Jacquette. (Routledge 2008), pp. 65–77.
  • The Origins of the Propositional Functions Version of Russell’s Paradox
    Russell n.s. 24 (2004–05): 101–32.
  • Does Frege Have Too Many Thoughts? A Cantorian Problem Revisited
    Analysis 65/1 (2005): 44–49.
  • Putting Form Before Function: Logical Grammar in Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein
    Philosopher’s Imprint 4/2 (2004): 1–47.
  • Russell’s 1903–05 Anticipation of the Lambda Calculus
    History and Philosophy of Logic 24 (2003): 15–37.
  • The Number of Senses
    Erkenntnis 58 (2003): 302–23.
  • Russell on ‘Disambiguating With the Grain’
    Russell n.s. 21 (2001–02): 101–27.
  • When is Genetic Reasoning not Fallacious?
    Argumentation 16 (2002): 383–400.
  • Russell’s Paradox in Appendix B of the Principles of Mathematics: Was Frege’s Response Adequate?
    History and Philosophy of Logic 22 (2001): 13–28.
  • Agency, Character and the Real Failure of Consequentialism
    Auslegung 23/1 (2000): 1–34.
  • Is Pacifism Irrational?
    Peace Review 11/1 (1999): 65–70.

Reviews and review essays

  • Review of On the Genealogy of Universals: The Metaphysical Origins of Analytic Philosophy, by Fraser MacBride (Oxford 2018)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2018.
  • Review of Basic Laws of Arithmetic, ed. and trans. by P. Ebert and M. Rossberg (Oxford 2013)
    Studia Logica 104 (2016): 175–80.
  • Review of Russell’s Philosophy of Logical Atomism 1897–1905, by Jolen Galaugher (Palgrave Macmillan 2013)
    Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 3/2 (2015): 1–7.
  • Review of The Oxford Handbook of the History of Analytic Philosophy, ed. by Michael Beaney (Oxford 2013)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2014.
  • Review of Logic as Universal Science: Russell’s Early Logicism and Its Philosophical Context, by Anssi Korhonen (Palgrave Macmillan 2013)
    Russell n.s. 34/1 (2014): 79–84.
  • Review of Russell’s Unknown Logicism, by Sébastien Gandon (Palgrave Macmillan 2012)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2012.
  • Review of Russell, by Gregory Landini (Routledge 2011)
    Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 1/2 (2012): 21–28.
  • A New Century in the Life of a Paradox: Review of One Hundred Years of Russell’s Paradox, ed. by Godehard Link (de Gruyter 2004)
    Review of Modern Logic 11/1‒2 (2007–2008): 7–29.
  • Review of “On Denoting” 1905–2005, ed. by G. Imaguire and B. Linsky (Philosophia 2005)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2006.
  • Review of The Cambridge Companion to Bertrand Russell, ed. by Nicholas Griffin (Cambridge 2003)
    Review of Modern Logic 10/1–2 (2005): 161–70.
  • Review of The Philosophy of Gottlob Frege, by Richard Mendelsohn (Cambridge 2005)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2005.
  • A Faithful Companion: Review of The Cambridge Companion to Bertrand Russell, ed. by Nicholas Griffin (Cambridge 2003)
    The Bertrand Russell Society Quarterly no. 121 (2004): 25–41.
  • Review of Logicism and the Philosophy of Language: Selections from Frege and Russell, ed. by A. Sullivan (Broadview 2003)
    The Bertrand Russell Society Quarterly no. 120 (2003): 39–43.
  • Review of From Frege to Wittgenstein: Perspectives on Early Analytic Philosophy, ed. by Erich Reck (Oxford 2002)
    The Review of Metaphysics 57 (2003): 177–178.

Encyclopedia articles

  • Russell’s Logical Atomism (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Frege, Gottlob (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Propositional Logic (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Paradox, Russell’s (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Paradox, Russell-Myhill (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Validity and Soundness (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Square of Opposition (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Online Editions

I think it is a good idea for academics to produce high-quality open access editions of important public-domain works, which are often available only in much lower quality than books not in the public domain. This is the only way to preserve the integrity of these texts in the centuries to come.

So far I have worked on three such projects, and hope to do more in the future.

Other E-Projects

Logic Penguin

[logic penguin]

Logic Penguin aims to be a flexible, extensible, self-hostable, framework for creating introductory logic exercises, which interfaces with LMS systems like Moodle or Canvas through the LTI protocol. It aims to be compatible with multiple logical systems and notations. It includes a proof-checker, a translation and equivalence checker, truth-tables, and more.

Here is a sample of what it looks like in action:

While I am already employing an early version in my own courses, it still needs a lot of development. You can track my progress on its GitHub repository.

Open Guide Typesetting Framework / Open Guide Editor

The Open Guide Typesetting Framework is a simple but powerful open source framework for open access academic publishing. It can be used to produce and typeset high-quality journal articles, anthology chapters or similar, with multiple output formats (HTML, ePub, LaTeX-generated PDF, or others).

The framework makes use of the pandoc document converter by default, and its academic flavor of markdown, although it can be configured to use other tools instead or additionally. It also provides mechanisms for editors to distribute page proofs to authors and for them to submit comments and corrections.

It includes its own web based markdown and LaTeX editor, the Open Guide Editor, built on codemirror, which provides a live-updating-as-you-type preview of PDF or html output. This editor can be installed and used independently of the framework.

Here is a demonstration of what the editor looks like and how it is used.

Both are recent projects which still may need some testing and bug fixing, They replace previous projects of mine. I created a less powerful web-based framework for academic typesetting (originally for The Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy), "Journal Tools", which also was made freely available and open source. You can find its git repository on Bitbucket. It uses an earlier editor built on an earlier version of codemirror also providing a live-updating web-based markdown and LaTeX editor, K(ev)E(dit). Their code is still available for archival purposes.

The Amazing Fregeifier

The Fregeifier provides tools for leveraging LaTeX-packages for creating complex or unusual mathematical and logical formulas, and including them in other kinds of documents, including html, epub, docx, odt, etc.

The name comes from one obvious use case: Gottlob Frege’s unique logical notation, for which LaTeX tools exist, but is difficult to do inside other file formats.

Currently, there are two tools in the Fregeifier.

  1. A pandoc filter for selecting certain mathematical contexts, usually in a source markdown file, and processing them with a full LaTeX engine, and converting the result to an image that can be used in other formats such as html, epub, docx, odt.

    This allows the usage of Frege’s notation, or any other mathematical symbolism LaTeX can handle, in a markdown document, regardless of the format it is converted to.

  2. A web interface which anyone can use to generate images to include in whatever documents they like. A live, hopefully working, instance of the web interface can be found here:

    https://russellguide.org/fregeifier

The Fregeifier has other uses, such as leveraging Landon Elkind’s principia package for using Russell and Whitehead’s historical notation in other documents.

You can find more information, download the pandoc filter, and view the code for both it and the web interface, in the project’s git repo on GitHub.

KNAP: Kevin's Neovim Auto-Previewer

KNAP is a configurable lua plugin for neovim that allows for custom-defined routines for launching self-updating previews of documents such as LaTeX, markdown, etc., in the PDF viewer or Web Browser of your choice. Visit its git repo on GitHub for installation and usage instructions.

At some point in the past, I wrote similar plugins for the micro editor, and for regular vim, which may still be floating out there on the internet, though I shudder to think of them now …

Philosophical rock

Monads Logo

I maintain the website for The 21st Century Monads; the rockingest of all philosophical rock bands.

Other/Stuff I Like

Open source/free software

The internet was built on the back on free software, but is increasingly being taken over by commercial interests.

When you give yourself over to Apple, Microsoft, Google, et al., you are making a vote for a more corporation-controlled digital world. Take back the web!

The free-license, open source alternatives may take awhile to learn, but they more than make up for it in power, efficiency, adaptability and freedom.

GNU/Linux

Your choices for operating systems for your computer are these:

  1. MacOS: An operating system best known for being defective by design in that (i) it is only licensed to be run on expensive Apple hardware, (ii) it only interoperates well with other Apple devices, and (iii) it is so inefficient that if you haven’t purchased new Apple hardware in the past two years, it is completely unusable. The reason for its popularity in academia remains a mystery, but prevailing theories postulate it is because people are drawn to things in shiny white cases.
  2. MS Windows: An operating system best known for using 60% of its cpu cycles to gather information about you and send it Microsoft, 30% of its cpu cycles running virus and malware scans to make up for its own security deficiencies, and at most 5% for doing the things the user actually intended to do. No one knows what the other 5% does. But your parents probably already know how to use it, which is a big plus.
  3. ChromeOS: An operating system for Chromebooks designed mainly to get children hooked on Google products in much the same way drug dealers give out their first doses of crack to get returning customers. It also makes you feel special by taking note of everything you do and relaying it to Google.
  4. GNU/Linux: A family of operating systems known for their superior stability, reliability, efficiency, security, flexibility, open source codebase, large repositories of free software, respect for privacy, and lack of cost. They power 70% of web servers and all 500 top supercomputers in the world. Distributions of linux are available to meet almost any use case, from beginner friendly systems designed for education to those more suited for the advanced user. Linux is unpopular among academics mainly because smart people who teach for a living sometimes don't like to learn new things when they’ve already gone through the trouble of learning something else.
  5. Others: FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Haiku, RedoxOS, TempleOS, ReactOS, etc. Sure, why not? Have fun.

Useful GNU/Linux links:

LATEX, markdown and related technologies

Other stuff I like