Irving Fisher’s unpublished 1890 essay ‘Mathematical contributions to Philosophy: Attacking Kant’s theory of Geom. axioms’

During his time as a graduate student of mathematics and economics at Yale University, Fisher commented on the foundations of Kant’s conception of the problem of space. In a short unpublished 1890 essay, Fisher argued that due to its practical application, geometry could not feasibly be a pure science and therefore more accurately should be designated a physical science instead. The current paper unveils a recently completed transcription of the unpublished manuscript for the 1890 essay in its entirety. Its publication provides a wider audience with insight into Fisher’s earliest known scholarly work, in mathematics and philosophy. In addition, it potentially provides a philosophical backdrop to Fisher’s subsequent work in economics, especially on the problem of the rate of interest.