Leonard Bloomfield - Linguistics and mathematics

This paper considers various aspects of Leonard Bloomfields (18871949) interest in contemporaneous mathematics. Specifically, some of the sources from which he obtained his mathematical knowledge are discussed, as are his own proposals for a linguistics-based solution to the foundations crisis which preoccupied leading mathematicians during the first half of the 20th century. In addition, his attitude towards the role of meaning in linguistic theory is reassessed in the light of his knowledge of Hilbertian Formalism.