Abstract

G. Frege is often regarded as having created modern logic and analytic philosophy ex nihilo. This assertion is attributed to M. Dummett and has had a lasting impact not only on the history of philosophy, but also on other disciplines. This article posits that Dummett’s thesis can be traced back to a concise text passage by J. Venn dating back to 1880. Prominent logicians subsequently took this passage out of context, and radicalized it further and further. Despite the presence of notable critics of this thesis since the 1910s, their views have often been marginalized. To this day, the Dummett thesis continues to be a point of contention, as evidenced by disputes surrounding the question of whether Frege plagiarized Stoic logic or not. Furthermore, current research shows that Dummett-like theses are wrong in many ways.