On The Philosophy Of Logic

by Fisher,Jennifer

• ISBN13: 9780495008880
• ISBN10: 0495008885
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-06
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

Jennifer Fisher's ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF LOGIC explores questions about logic often overlooked by philosophers. Which of the many different logics available to us is right? How would we know? What makes a logic right in the first place? Is logic really a good guide to human reasoning? An ideal companion text for any course in symbolic logic, this lively and accessible book explains important logical concepts, introduces classical logic and its problems and alternatives, and reveals the rich and interesting philosophical issues that arise in exploring the fundamentals of logic. THE WADSWORTH PHILOSOPHICAL TOPICS SERIES (under the general editorship of Robert Talisse, Vanderbilt University) presents readers with concise, timely, and insightful introductions to a variety of traditional and contemporary philosophical subjects. With this series, students of philosophy will be able to discover the richness of philosophical inquiry across a wide array of concepts, including hallmark philosophical themes and themes typically underrepresented in mainstream philosophy publishing. Written by a distinguished list of scholars who have garnered particular recognition for their excellence in teaching, this series presents the vast sweep of today's philosophical exploration in highly accessible and affordable volumes. These books will prove valuable to philosophy teachers and their students as well as to other readers who share a general interest in philosophy.

Table of Contents

Logic
Introduction: What is Logic?	p. 1
Formal Logic-an Introduction	p. 5
Reasoning, Inference, Arguments, and Logic	p. 5
A Little History: Aristotelian Logic	p. 7
Modern Logic: Frege's Insight	p. 14
An Overview of Classical Logic	p. 20
Truth Tables	p. 20
Rules of Inference and Valid and Invalid Argument Forms	p. 26
Interlude
What is Truth?	p. 36
The Problem with Truth	p. 36
Three Theories of Truth	p. 40
Correspondence Theories	p. 40
Coherence Theories	p. 41
Deflationary Theories	p. 43
Truth and Logic	p. 44
Philosophy of Logic
Three Distinctions	p. 46
Syntax and Semantics	p. 46
Form and Content	p. 49
Logical Consequence and Logical Truth	p. 53
Quantifiers and Identity	p. 59
Quantifiers, Vacuous Names, and the Problem of Non-Being	p. 59
Identity and Definite Descriptions	p. 69
Modal Logic	p. 74
Necessity and Possibility	p. 74
Other Modalities	p. 78
Possible Worlds	p. 80
But is it Logic?	p. 84
Bivalence	p. 91
Fatalism and Future Contingents	p. 91
Vagueness	p. 96
The Conditional	p. 106
The Problematic Material Conditional	p. 106
Conditional Logics and Possible Worlds	p. 111
Relevance Logic	p. 116
Relevance Logics and the Failure of Disjunctive Syllogism	p. 119
Two Logical Truths	p. 125
Intuitionism, Realism, and the Law of the Excluded Middle	p. 125
Paraconsistent Logics, Dialetheism, and the Principle of Non-Contradiction	p. 132
How True Are logical Truths?	p. 137
Quantum Logic	p. 139
Physics and Quantum Mechanics	p. 139
Quantum Logic	p. 144
Problems with Quantum Logic	p. 148
Interlude
Which Logic is Right?	p. 153
Not Tonk	p. 153
Making Sense of the Title Question of this Chapter	p. 156
Some Traditional Philosophical Questions Raised by Logic
The Metaphysics of Logic	p. 162
Making Sense of Logical Facts	p. 162
Psychologism	p. 163
Conventionalism	p. 164
Rationalism	p. 167
Giving Up Trying to Make Sense of Logical Facts	p. 170
The Epistemology of Logic	p. 176
A Traditional Distinction	p. 176
Justifying Logic	p. 178
Revising Logic	p. 181
A More Positive Note	p. 185
Rationality and Logic	p. 190
The Wason Selection Task (Again)	p. 190
The Irrelevance of Logic	p. 195
Beyond Logic	p. 201
Why Bother?	p. 203
Further Readings	p. 207
Glossary	p. 214
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