Alfred Tarski Quotes

Poland, Mathematician
January 14, 1901 – October, 26, 1983.

Alfred Tarski (/ˈtɑːrski/), born Alfred Teitelbaum, was a Polish-American logician and mathematician of Polish-Jewish descent. Educated in Poland at the University of Warsaw, and a member of the Lwów–Warsaw school of logic and the Warsaw school of mathematics, he immigrated to the United States in 1939 where he became a naturalized citizen in 1945. Tarski taught and carried out research in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1942 until his death in 1983.

If a mathematician wishes to disparage the work of one of his colleagues, say, A, the most effective method he finds for doing this is to ask where the results can be applied. The hard pressed man, with his back against the wall, finally unearths the researches of another mathematician B as the locus of the application of his own results. If next B is plagued with a similar question, he will refer to another mathematician C. After a few steps of this kind we find ourselves referred back to the researches of A, and in this way the chain closes.

Alfred Tarski
It is perhaps worth while saying that semantics as conceived in this paper (and in former papers of the author) is a sober and modest discipline which has no pretensions to being a universal patent-medicine for all the ills and diseases of mankind, whether imaginary or real. You will not find in semantics any remedy for decayed teeth or illusions of grandeur or class conflicts. Nor is semantics a device for establishing that everyone except the speaker and his friends is speaking nonsense.

Alfred Tarski

The sentence 'snow is white' is true if, and only if, snow is white.

Alfred Tarski
- True
- Snow
- White
Logic is justly considered the basis of all other sciences, even if only for the reason that in every argument we employ concepts taken from the field of logic, and that ever correct inference proceeds in accordance with its laws.

Alfred Tarski
- Logic
- Laws
- Proceeds
You will not find in semantics any remedy for decayed teeth or illusions of grandeur or class conflict.

Alfred Tarski
It may be unpopular and out-of-date to say-but I do not think that a scientific result which gives us a better understanding of the world and makes it more harmonious in our eyes should be held in lower esteem than, say, an invention which reduces the cost of paving roads, or improves household plumbing.

Alfred Tarski
There can be no doubt that the knowledge of logic is of considerable practical importance for everyone who desires to think and infer correctly.

Alfred Tarski
- Doubt
- Logic
- Importance