Institut de Recherche sur l'Enseignement des Mathématiques de Paris

The freedom proper to mathematical investigation was an important concern of nineteenth and twentieth century writings in the foundations of mathematics. I will survey some of this literature with an eye to identifying how freedom in mathematics was understood by writers of this period, what conditions were generally taken to govern its legitimate exercise and what value its preservation was commonly, believed to have. I will also consider the significance of these issues for us today.