Logic Works

Logic Works
Author: Lorne Falkenstein
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 666
Release: 2021-11-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1000451275

Logic Works is a critical and extensive introduction to logic. It asks questions about why systems of logic are as they are, how they relate to ordinary language and ordinary reasoning, and what alternatives there might be to classical logical doctrines. The book covers classical first-order logic and alternatives, including intuitionistic, free, and many-valued logic. It also considers how logical analysis can be applied to carefully represent the reasoning employed in academic and scientific work, better understand that reasoning, and identify its hidden premises. Aiming to be as much a reference work and handbook for further, independent study as a course text, it covers more material than is typically covered in an introductory course. It also covers this material at greater length and in more depth with the purpose of making it accessible to those with no prior training in logic or formal systems. Online support material includes a detailed student solutions manual with a running commentary on all starred exercises, and a set of editable slide presentations for course lectures. Key Features Introduces an unusually broad range of topics, allowing instructors to craft courses to meet a range of various objectives Adopts a critical attitude to certain classical doctrines, exposing students to alternative ways to answer philosophical questions about logic Carefully considers the ways natural language both resists and lends itself to formalization Makes objectual semantics for quantified logic easy, with an incremental, rule-governed approach assisted by numerous simple exercises Makes important metatheoretical results accessible to introductory students through a discursive presentation of those results and by using simple case studies

An Introduction to Formal Logic

An Introduction to Formal Logic
Author: Peter Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2003-11-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780521008044

Formal logic provides us with a powerful set of techniques for criticizing some arguments and showing others to be valid. These techniques are relevant to all of us with an interest in being skilful and accurate reasoners. In this highly accessible book, Peter Smith presents a guide to the fundamental aims and basic elements of formal logic. He introduces the reader to the languages of propositional and predicate logic, and then develops formal systems for evaluating arguments translated into these languages, concentrating on the easily comprehensible 'tree' method. His discussion is richly illustrated with worked examples and exercises. A distinctive feature is that, alongside the formal work, there is illuminating philosophical commentary. This book will make an ideal text for a first logic course, and will provide a firm basis for further work in formal and philosophical logic.

An Invitation to Formal Reasoning

An Invitation to Formal Reasoning
Author: Fred Sommers
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1351958615

An Invitation to Formal Reasoning introduces the discipline of formal logic by means of a powerful new system formulated by Fred Sommers. This system, term logic, is different in a number of ways from the standard system employed in modern logic; most striking is its greater simplicity and naturalness. Based on a radically different theory of logical syntax than the one Frege used when initiating modern mathematical logic in the 19th Century, term logic borrows insights from Aristotle's syllogistic, Scholastic logicians, Leibniz, and the 19th century British algebraists. Term logic takes its syntax directly from natural language, construing statements as combinations of pairs of terms, where complex terms are taken to have the same syntax as statements. Whereas standard logic requires extensive 'translation' from natural language to symbolic language, term logic requires only 'transcription' into the symbolic language. Its naturalness is the result of its ability to stay close to the forms of sentences usually found in every day discourse. Written by the founders of the term logic approach, An Invitation to Formal Reasoning is a unique introduction and exploration of this new system, offering numerous exercises and examples throughout the text. Summarising the standard system of mathematical logic to set term logic in context, and showing how the two systems compare, this book presents an alternative approach to standard modern logic for those studying formal logic, philosophy of language or computer theory. Fred Sommers is Professor Emeritus, Brandeis University, USA; George Englebretsen is Professor of Philosophy, Bishop's University, Canada.

Formal Logic

Formal Logic
Author: Richard C. Jeffrey
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780872208131

The first beginning logic text to employ the tree method—a complete formal system of first-order logic that is remarkably easy to understand and use—this text allows students to take control of the nuts and bolts of formal logic quickly, and to move on to more complex and abstract problems.This new edition provides additional problems, solutions to selected problems, and two new Supplements: “Truth-Functional Equivalence” reinstates material on that topic from the second edition that was omitted in the third, and “Variant Methods, in which John Burgess provides a proof regarding the possibility of modifying the tree method so that it will always find a finite model when there is one, and another, which shows that a different modification—once contemplated by Jeffrey—can result in a dramatic speed-up of certain proofs.

Logic Matters

Logic Matters
Author: P. T. Geach
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 1980-04-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780520038479

"This is a significant and ofren rather demanding collection of essays. It is an anthology purring together the uncollected works of an important twentieth-century philosopher. Many of the articles treat one or another of the more important issues considered by analytic philosophers during the last quarter-century. Of significant importance to philosophers interested in researching the many topics contained in Logic Matters is the inclusion in this anthology of a rather extensive eight-page name-topic index."--Thomist "The papers are arranged by topic: Historical Essays, Traditional Logic, Theory of Reference and Syntax, Intentionality, Quotation and Semantics, Set Theory, Identity Theory, Assertion, Imperatives and Practical Reasoning, Logic in Metaphysics and Theology. The broad range of issues that have engaged Geach's complex and systematic reasoning is impressive. In addition to classical logic, topics in ethics, ontology, and even the logic of religious dogmas are tackled .... the work in this collection is more brilliant and ingenious than it is difficult and demanding."--Philosophy of Science "Geach displays his mastery of applying logical techniques and concepts to philosophical questions. Compared with most works in philosophical logic this book is remarkable for its range of topics. Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Russell, Wittgenstein, and Quine all figure prominently. Geach's style is remarkably lively considering the rightly argued matter. Although some of the articles treat rather technical questions in mathematical logic, most are accessible to philosophers with modest backgrounds in logic." --Choice