Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz (November 25, 1906 – January 25, 2001) was an

American philosopher This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours" , - ! {{MediaWiki:Toc , - , style="text-al ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...

ian, and author.

Early life and education

Alice Loman Ambrose was born in

Lexington, Illinois Lexington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,090 at the 2020 census. There are two theories regarding the etymology of the city name. One says it was named for the Battle of Lexington, where General Gridley' ...

and orphaned when she was 13 years old. She studied philosophy and mathematics at

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Media Decaturian The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...

(1924–28). After completing her PhD at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

in 1932, she went to

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...

) to study with

G. E. Moore George Edward Moore (4 November 1873 – 24 October 1958) was an English philosopher, who with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and earlier Gottlob Frege was among the founders of analytic philosophy. He and Russell led the turn from ideal ...

and

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is con ...

, where she earned a second PhD in 1938.

Wittgenstein

Having become a close disciple of Wittgenstein, Ambrose later related her association with him in ''Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy and Language'' (1972), a volume co-edited with her husband

Morris Lazerowitz Morris Lazerowitz (October 22, 1907 – February 25, 1987) was Polish-born American philosopher and author. Early life and education Born Morris Laizerowitz in Lodz, Poland, his father, Max and eldest sister emigrated to the United States in 19 ...

. Along with fellow student Margaret MacDonald she secretly (since he did not allow this) made notes during Wittgenstein's lectures, which were later published. She was one of a select group of students to whom Wittgenstein dictated the so-called Blue and Brown Books, which outline the transition in Wittgenstein's thought between his two major works, ''

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus The ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'' (widely abbreviated and cited as TLP) is a book-length philosophical work by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein which deals with the relationship between language and reality and aims to define th ...

'' and ''

Philosophical Investigations ''Philosophical Investigations'' (german: Philosophische Untersuchungen) is a work by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, published posthumously in 1953. ''Philosophical Investigations'' is divided into two parts, consisting of what Wittgens ...

''. Wittgenstein terminated their association abruptly in 1935, when Ambrose decided, with encouragement from G.E.Moore, to publish an article entitled "Finitism in Mathematics" in the philosophical journal ''Mind'' which was intended to give an account of Wittgenstein's position on the subject.

Career

Ambrose began her career at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, when she returned to the United States in 1935. She then took a position in Smith College in 1937, where she remained for the rest of her career. She was awarded the Austin and Sophia Smith chair in Philosophy in 1964 and became Professor Emeritus in 1972. Between 1953 and 1968, she was editor of the ''

Journal of Symbolic Logic The '' Journal of Symbolic Logic'' is a peer-reviewed mathematics journal published quarterly by Association for Symbolic Logic. It was established in 1936 and covers mathematical logic. The journal is indexed by ''Mathematical Reviews'', Zentralb ...

''. She worked chiefly in logic and mathematical philosophy, writing a primer on the subject with her husband which became a widely used textbook and was known as "Ambrose and Lazerowitz". She collaborated with her husband on a number of works: ''Fundamentals of Symbolic Logic'' (1948), ''Logic: The Theory of Formal Inference'' (1961), ''Philosophical Theories'' (1976) and ''Essays in the Unknown Wittgenstein'' (1984). Even after her retirement she continued to teach and guest lecture at Smith,

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mo ...

, the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

, and other universities around the country until her death, at the age of 94, on January 25, 2001. Her personal papers are held at Smith College Archives.

Publications

* * * * * * * * *Ambrose, Alice. (1989) "Moore and Wittgenstein as Teachers," ''Teaching Philosophy'' 12(2): 107-113.

References

External links

Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz and Morris Lazerowitz papers
at the

Smith College Archives Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college with coed graduate and certificate programs, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. The Smith College Archives document the life of the College by collecting mat ...