Theory and History of Ontology
by Raul Corazzon - e-mail: raul.corazzon[at]formalontology.it
For an overview see the Index of the Pages, the SITE MAP or the Alphabetical Index of the Philosophers: A-F - G-O - P-Z; You can also download this page as 
Table of Contemporary Ontologists 
(click on the image to see the PDF file)
Index of the Section: "Pathways to Western Philosophy"
General and Introductory Works (a selection of reference works on philosophy)
Formal and Descriptive Metaphysics (a brief guide to the introductory literature on metaphysics)
Formal and Descriptive Ontology (a brief guide to the introductory literature on ontology)
Philosophical Logic and the Philosophy of Logic (readings on some selected arguments)
Analytic Philosophy (introductory and historical works)
Phenomenology (introductory and historical works)
INTRODUCTORY READINGS
Priest Graham. Logic: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2000.
From the Preface: "This book is an introduction to logic, as contemporary logicians now understand the subject. It does not attempt to be a textbook, however. There are numerous such books currently available. The point of this one is to explore the roots of logic, which sink deep into philosophy. Some format logic will be explained along the way.
In each of the main chapters, I start by taking up some particular philosophical problem or logical puzzle. I then explain one approach to it. Often this is a fairly standard one; but in some of the areas there is no standard answer: logicians still disagree. In such cases, I have just chosen one that is interesting. Nearly all the approaches, whether standard or not, may be challenged. I finish each chapter with some problems for the approach that I have explained. Sometimes these problems are standard; sometimes they are not. Sometimes they may have easy answers; sometimes they may not. The aim is to challenge you to figure out what you make of the matter.
Modern logic is a highly mathematical subject. I have tried to write the material in such a way as to avoid nearly all mathematics. The most that is required is a little high-school algebra in the last few chapters. It is true that you will need the determination to master some symbolism that may be new to you; but this is a lot less than is required to have a basic grasp of any new language. And the perspicuity that the symbolism gives to difficult questions makes any trouble one may have in mastering it well worth it. One warning, though: reading a book on logic or philosophy is not like reading a novel. There will be times when you will have to read slowly and carefully. Sometimes you may have to stop and think about things; and you should be prepared to go back and reread a paragraph if necessary.
The final chapter of the book is on the development of logic. In this, I have tried to put some of the issues that the book deals with in an historical perspective, to show that logic is a living subject, which has always evolved, and which will continue to do so. The chapter also contains suggestions for further readings.
There are two appendices. The first contains a glossary of terms and symbols. You may consult this if you forget the meaning of a word or symbol. The second appendix contains a question relevant to each chapter, with which you can test your understanding of its main ideas."
Contents: Preface: IX; List of Illustrations XI; 1. Validity: what follows from what? 1; 2. Truth functions -- Or not? 7; 3. Names and quantifiers: is nothing something? 17; 4. Descriptions and existence: did the Greeks worship Zeus? 24; 5. Self-reference: what is this chapter about?; 31; 6. Necessity and possibility: what will be must be? 38; 7. Conditionals: what is in an If? 47; 8. The future and the past: is time real? 55; 9. Identity and change: is anything ever the same? 63; 10. Vagueness: How do you stop sliding down a slippery slope? 70; 11. Probability: the strange case of the missing reference class 78; 12. Inverse probability: you can't be indifferent about it! 86; 13. Decision theory: great expectations 94; 14. A little history and some further reading 102; Glossary 111.
Hintikka Jaakko and Bachman James. What if...? Toward excellence in reasoning. London: Mayfield Publishing Company 1991.
From the Preface: "Many college and university courses aim at improving students' reasoning. The recorded history of recommendations for achieving this goal stretches back to Aristotle. We venture adding to this history because for several years Jaakko Hintikka and various associates have been developing a comprehensive theory for understanding the nature of reasoning that sheds new light on how students may be encouraged and enabled to achieve creatively disciplined reasoning skills. This theory, the interrogative approach to inquiry, makes it possible to integrate deductive logic and informal reasoning into a unified whole. Its core is what is known as the interrogative model of reasoning.
The interrogative model, which is used consistently throughout the book, offers a uniform framework for studying and teaching both formal logic and argumentation theory, including the analysis, evaluation, and construction of arguments in ordinary English. As in the old Socratic method, reasoning is cast in the form of a sequence of questions and answers, interspersed with logical (i.e., deductive) inferences.
The interrogative model distinguishes definitory rules, which are concerned with reasoning correctly, from strategic rules, which tell how to reason effectively. The former define what is admissible in reasoning, while the latter show students how to make creative use of what is allowed by the definitory rules. Strategic rules thus serve as signposts on the way to excellence in reasoning. By stressing strategic rules this text stays focused on the pursuit of excellence in reasoning.
In the interrogative model all inferences are required to be deductive. This eliminates the problem that an inference might introduce an element of uncertainty. Thus all inferences are strictly truth preserving.
The effect is to locate problems with uncertainty in the process of discovering and gathering information rather than in the inference process. The interrogative model can then deploy many different insights to develop strategies for coping with uncertainty about the information available to the reasoner. The Instructor's Manual directs interested readers to a bibliography of the original research on the interrogative model."
Contents: Preface XI-XIV; Part One: Introduction to the interrogative model of reasoning p. 1; 1. Inquiry as inquiry p. 3; 2. Interrogative games: the structure of the reasoning process p. 29; 3. Interrogative argument analysis p. 48; 4. Argument construction and argumentative essays p. 68; Part Two: Logical inference in detail p. 81; 5. Deductive logic and its role in reasoning p. 83; 6. Representing statements p. 101; 7. Statement logic and the table method p. 117; 8. Complex conclusions in statement logic p. 134; 9. Statement logic in everyday English p. 144; Part Three: Interrogative moves in detail p. 159; 11. Three further aspects of interrogative moves p. 183; 12. Strategies for reasoning with uncertain answers p. 207; 13. Strategies for evaluating oracles p. 220; Part Four: Advanced topics in interrogative reasoning p. 235; 15. First-order predicate logic in English p. 267; 16. Presuppositions of "Wh-" questions p. 277; 17. Advanced strategies in reasoning p. 285; 18. Strategic parallels between deduction and interrogation p. 306; 19. Models of scientific reasoning p. 323; 20. Definition and identification p. 334; Conclusion: p. 359; 21. Argument analysis and evaluation p. 361; Appendixes, Glossary and Index. Appendix A: Argument sketches for exercises in argument analysis, construction, and evaluation p. 375; Appendix B: Recreational questioning games p. 407; Appendix C: Puzzles, problems and mistakes in inquiry p. 411; Glossary p. 429; Clues and solutions for selected exercises p. 437; Index p. 460-465.
Kalish Donald, Montague Richard, and Mar Gary. Logic. Techniques of formal reasoning. New York: Hartcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers 1980. First edition 1964; Second revised edition 1980.
From the preface to the second edition: "This edition, like the preceding one, is an introduction to logic, requiring no prior knowledge of philosophy or mathematics. It does not aim at communicating or justifying results about logical systems but instead at imparting a skill-the ability to recognize and construct correct deductions and refutations. Metamathematical results are sometimes mentioned, but only incidentally and as an aid to understanding.
The subjects treated are the same as in the first edition; they are the sentential calculus, the quantifier calculus, the identity calculus, the description calculus, some automatic proof procedures, and a detailed development of a familiar mathematical theory. The treatment of the latter two subjects remains unchanged, except for the placement of the chapter on automatic procedures. In the present edition, as in the earlier one, the four systems of logic are developed by the simple and intuitive techniques of natural deduction; but here the development is continuous and initially unsupplemented.
(...)
Symbolic rather than English arguments are the central subject matter of our text, as its title suggests. But here as in the earlier edition arguments of English play a motivating role. We say that an English argument is valid (in a particular branch of logic) if and only if it has (within that branch) a valid symbolization. In the earlier edition, in sections titled 'Paradoxical inferences', some intuitively invalid English arguments that appear to have valid symbolizations were considered. Then it was claimed that these English arguments cannot be symbolized and hence do not constitute fallacies, for their symbolizations are blocked by subtle restrictions imposed on the notion of a scheme of abbreviation. This attempt to preserve the adequacy of the characterization of validity of English arguments was a step beyond that taken by most, if not all, introductions to classical logic. And it was the point of departure for the profound investigations of the structure of ordinary language by our late colleague Professor Richard Montague (see Montague Formal philosophy: selected papers by Richard Montague, edited and with an introduction by R. H. Thomason, New Haven and London, 1974 and Barbara H. Partee (editor), Montague grammar, New York, 1976)."
Contents: Chapter I. 'NOT' and 'IF' p. 1; Chapter II. 'AND', 'OR', 'IF AND ONLY IF' p. 50; Chapter III: 'ALL' and 'SOME' p. 117; Chpater IV. 'ALL' and 'SOME' continued p. 201; Chapter V. 'IS' (in one sense) p. 263; Chapter VI. 'THE' 306; Chapter VII. Additional derivational procedures p. 346; Chapter VIII. 'THE' again: A Russellian theory of descriptions p. 392; Chapter IX. Automatic procedures p. 411; Chapter X. Definitions: formal theories p. 438; Chapter XI. Variable-bindings operators p. 475; Bibliography p. 509; Index of proper names p. 515; Index of subjects p. 517.
Sommers Fred and Englebretsen George. An invitation to formal reasoning. The logic of terms. Aldershot: Ashgate 2000.
From the Preface: "It seems to be a fairly widely held belief among contemporary teachers of logic that one must introduce logic via the propositional, and then predicate, calculus. In particular, one would not, even if he or she believed otherwise, properly or fairly serve novice students by offering them instead something like syllogistic logic. Nonetheless, we intend to do just that here: introduce the subject of formal logic by way of a system that is 'like syllogistic logic'. Our system, like old-fashioned, traditional syllogistic, is a term logic. Our version of logic ('term-functor logic', TFL) shares with Aristotle's syllogistic the insight that the logical forms of statements that are involved in inferences as premises or conclusions can be construed as the result of connecting pairs of terms by means of a logical copula (functor). This insight contrasts markedly with that which informs today's standard formal logic ('modem predicate logic', MPL). That version of logic is due to the work of the great nineteenth century innovator in logic, Gottlob Frege. (...) Today the hegemony of MPL is almost complete. Still, there is a price to be paid. MPL is indeed powerful, but it is not simple and the logical forms which it ascribes to statements are remote from their natural language forms. Traditional formal logic lacked the scope enjoyed by MPL by not being able to analyze a number of types of inference. Yet it did at least enjoy the double advantage of (i) being simple to learn and use and (ii) construing the logical forms of statements as close to their natural language forms. Clearly a system of formal logic which has the power of MPL and the simplicity and naturalness of traditional logic would provide the best of both logical worlds.
Beginning in the late 1960s Fred Sommers set himself the task of developing a system of formal logic (viz., TFL) that was powerful natural and simple. The challenge faced by Sommers in accomplishing this was threefold. The first was to extend the power of term logic by incorporating into it the kinds of inferences beyond the powers of traditional logic. Those inferences were of three types: inferences involving statements with relational expressions, inferences involving statements with singular terms, and inferences involving unanalyzed statements. The second challenge was to offer a theory of logical form, or syntax, that was natural in the way that the syntax of MPL was not. The third challenge was to provide a symbolic algorithm (a system of symbols along with rules for manipulating them) much simpler than the one employed by MPL (viz., 'the first-order predicate calculus with identity'). During the past three decades Sommers has perfected just such a system of formal logic. TFL is at least as powerful as MPL, and it is far simpler and more natural."
Lambert Karel and Van Fraassen Bas. Derivation and counterexample. An introduction to philosophical logic. Encino: Dickenson Publishing Co 1972.
Advanced Readings
Philosophical logic. Edited by Strawson Peter Frederick. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1967.
From the Introduction: "Wittgenstein, in the Tractatus [5.49], seems to suggest that the whole of formal logic-or at least the calculus of truth-functions and the predicate-calculus-is really implicit in the single idea of a proposition in general, that it could in principle be excogitated by pure reflection on this idea alone.' Wittgenstein's suggestion does not itself belong to formal logic. It belongs to philosophical logic. For it is, or may be, the beginning of an answer to some typical questions asked in philosophical logic: viz., What is really distinctive of the forms and constants of logic? or, What general elucidatory account can be given of the notion of a logical particle? Each of the notions so far introduced forms the topic of a similar question asked in philosophical logic. What, exactly, is a proposition? What is meant by saying that a proposition is true? What, in general, is the nature of that relation which holds between propositions when one follows from, or is deducible from, another? The attempt to find satisfying answers to these questions forces the philosopher to ask many others, about the nature and functioning of language and of linguistic expressions of many types. For propositions cannot be a subject of study unless they are expressed; and formal logic would have none but a purely mathematical interest unless it were related to actual discourse. So many questions concerning modes of actual discourse, the theory of meaning, the nature and conditions of linguistic communication, come within the scope of the philosophical logician's inquiries."
Contents: Introduction 1; 1. The thought: a logical inquiry by Gottlob Frege 17; 2. Meaning by H. P. Grice 59; 3. Truth by Michael Dummett 49; 4. Singular terms and predication by P. F. Strawson 69; 5. Proper names by John R. Searle 89; 6. Is existence a predicate? (1) by D. F. Pears 97 (2) by James Thomson 103; 7. The a priori and the analytic by Anthony Quinton 107; 8. The meaning of logical connectives (1) The runabout inference ticket by A. N. Prior 129 (2) Tonk, plonk and plink by Nuel D. Belnap 132; 9. Types and ontology by Fred Sommers 138; Notes on the contributors 170; Bibliography 171; Index of names 176.
Philosophical logic. Edited by Davis J.W., Hockney D.J., and Wilson W.K. Dordrecht: Reidel 1969.
Contemporary philosophical logic. Edited by Copi Irving and Gould James. New York: St. Martin's Press 1978.
Handbook of philosophical logic. Edited by Gabbay Dov and Guenthner Franz. Dordrecht: Kluwer 1983. First edition in 4 volumes (1983-1989). Second edition in 18 volumes (2001- forthcoming)
The Blackwell guide to philosophical logic. Edited by Goble Lou. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 2001.
From the Introduction: "What is philosophical logic? Philosophical logic is philosophy that is logic, and logic that is philosophy. It is where philosophy and logic come together and become one. Philosophical logic is not a special kind of logic, some species distinct from mathematical logic, symbolic logic, formal logic, informal logic, modern logic, ancient logic, or logic with any other familiar modifier. There is only logic. Logic is the theory of consequence relations, of valid inferences. As such, it can be investigated and presented in many ways, although the mathematical methods of modern formal or symbolic logic have proved extraordinarily fruitful.
Within logic so construed, there are still, of course, many different sorts - as witnessed by the variety of chapters of this volume. Philosophical logic comprises the sorts of logic that hold greatest interest for philosophers. Philosophical logic develops formal systems and structures to be applied to the analysis of concepts and arguments that are central to philosophical inquiry. So, for example, such traditional philosophical concepts as necessity, knowledge, obligation, time and existence, not to mention reasoning itself, are usefully investigated through modal logic, epistemic logic, deontic logic, temporal logic, free logic, probability logic, nonmonotonic logic, etc. Similarly, logical investigation has contributed immeasurably to our understanding of the structure of language, including the languages of our normal use as well as the formal languages of logic itself, and this resounds throughout philosophy. By the same token, many of the developments within philosophical logic have been motivated by broad philosophical concerns. Intuitionistic logic reflects a particular perspective on the nature of judgment and truth. Many-valued logic grew out of Łukasiewicz's effort to construct a logic that could avoid the conclusions of fatalism or determinism. Other developments within philosophical logic were driven by philosophical concern regarding logic itself. Relevant logic sprang from a critique of the classical consequence relation; so did free logic."
Contents: List of contributors VII; Preface IX; Introduction: Lou Goble 11. Classical logic I - First-order logic: Wilfrid Hodges 9; 2. Classical logic II - Higher-order logic: Stewart Shapiro 33; 3. Set theory: John P. Burgess 55; 4. Gödel's incompleteness theorems: Raymond Smullyan 72; 5. Truth Anil Gupta; 6. Logical consequence: Patricia A. Blanchette 115; 7. Modal logic: M. J. Cresswell 136; 8. Deontic logic: Risto Hilpinen 159; 9. Epistemic logic: J.-J. Ch. Meyer 183; 10. Temporal logic: Yde Venema 203; 11. Intuitionistic logic: Dirk Van Dalen 224; 12. Free logics: Karel Lambert 258; 13. Relevant logics: Edwin D. Mares and Robert K. Meyer 280; 14. Many valued logics: Grzegorz Malinowski 309; 15. Nonmonotonic logic: John F. Horty 336; 16. Probability, logic, and probability logic: Alan Hájek 362; 17. Conditionals: Dorothy Edgington 385; 18. Negation: Heinrich Wansing 415; 19. Quantifiers: Dag Westertähl 437; 20. Logic and natural language: Alice ter Meulen 461; Index 484.
A companion to philosophical logic. Edited by Jacquette Dale. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 2002.
Preface; Acknowledgments; List of Contributors;Introduction: Logic, philosophy, and philosophical logic: Dale Jacquette Part I: Historical development of logic. 1. Ancient Greek philosophical logic: Robin Smith; 2. History of logic: medieval: B.G. Sundholm and E.P. Bos; 3. The rise of modern logic: Rolf George and James Van Evra; Part II: Symbolic logic and ordinary language4. Language, logic, and form: Kent Bach; 5. Puzzles about intensionality: Nathan Salmon; 6. Symbolic logic and natural language: Emma Borg and Ernest Lepore; Part III: Philosophical dimensions of logical paradoxes 7. Logical paradoxes: James Cargile; 8. Semantical and logical paradox: Keith Simmons; 9. Philosophical implications of logical paradoxes: Roy A. Sorensen; Part IV: Truth and definite description in semantic analysis: 10. Truth, the Liar, and Tarski's semantics: Gila Sher; 11. Truth, the Liar, and Tarskian truth definition: Greg Ray; 12. Descriptions and logical form: Gary Ostertag; 13. Russell's theory of definite descriptions as a paradigm for philosophy: Gregory Landini; Part V: Concepts of logical consequence14. Necessity, meaning, and rationality: the notion of logical consequence: Stewart Shapiro; 15. Varieties of consequence : B. G. Sundholm 16. Modality of deductively valid inference : Dale Jacquette; Part VI Logic, existence, and ontology17. Quantifiers, being and canonical notation: Paul Gochet; 18. From logic to ontology: some problems of predication, negation and possibility: Herbert Hochberg; 19. Putting language first: the "liberation" of logic from ontology: Ermanno Bencivenga;Part VII: Metatheory and the scope and limits of logic20. Metatheory: Alasdair Urquhart; 21. Metatheory of logics and the characterization problem: Jan Wolenski; 22. Logic in finite structures: definability, complexity, and randomness: Scott Weinstein; Part VIII: Logical foundations of set theory and mathematics23. Logic and ontology: numbers and sets: José Benardete; 24. Logical foundations of set theory and mathematics: Mary Tiles; 25. Property-theoretic foundations of mathematics: Michael Jubien;Part IX: Modal logics and semantics26. Modal logic: Johan van Benthem; 27. First order alethic modal logic: Melvin Fitting; 28. Proofs and expressiveness in alethic modal logic: Maarten de Rijke and Heinrich Wansing; 29. Alethic modal logics and semantics: Gerhard Schurz; 30. Epistemic logic: Nicholas Rescher; 31. Deontic, epistemic, and temporal modal Logics: Risto Hilpinen;Part X: Intuitionistic, free, and many-valued logics32. Intuitionism: Dirk van Dalen and Mark van Atten; 33. Many-valued, free, and intuitionistic logics: Richard Grandy; 34. Many-valued logic: Grzegorz Malinowski; Part XI: Inductive, fuzzy, and quantum probability logics35. Inductive logic : Stephen Glaister; 36. Heterodox probability theory: Peter Forrest; 37. Why fuzzy logic?: Petr Hájek;Part XII: Relevance and paraconsistent logics 38. Relevance logic: Edwin Mares; 39. Paraconsistency: Bryson Brown; 40. Logicians setting together contradictories: a perspective on relevance, paraconsistency, and dialetheism: Graham Priest; Part XIII: Logic, machine theory, and cognitive science41. The logical and the physical: Andrew W. Hodges; 42. Modern logic and its role in the study of knowledge: Peter A. Flach; 43. Actions and normative positions: A modal-mogical approach: Robert Demolombe and Andrew J.I. Jones;Part XIV: Mechanization of logical inference and proof discovery44. The automation of sound reasoning and successful proof finding: Larry Wos and Branden Fitelson; 45. A computational logic for applicative Common LISP: J. Strother Moore and Matt Kaufmann; 46. Sampling labelled deductive systems: D.M. Gabbay. Resources for further study; Index.
Philosophy of logic. An anthology. Edited by Jacquette Dale. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 2002.
From the Preface: "The essays in this anthology include some of the most important recent scholarship in philosophy of logic. I have deliberately avoided republishing papers that are readily available in other anthologies, or that are more closely related to philosophy of language or philosophy of mathematics, regardless of their influence in contemporary work in logic. My intention has been to make this volume a more unique distinctive resource that will complement rather than duplicate other selections of readings currently available. Although some of the papers are more technical than others, all are intended for and can be read with good understanding by beginning students in philosophy who have completed a first course in symbolic logic.
My choice of papers has been guided by a sense of major issues in philosophy of logic that have shaped recent discussion and contributed to ongoing research programs in theoretical and applied philosophical logic. To this end, I have organized the papers thematically rather than chronologically, to give the best overview of philosophical issues connected with logical analysis and the development of formal systems of symbolic logic. The papers range from general topics in classical logic to specialized investigations of the concept of meaning and truth, the interpretation of quantifiers in predicate logic, the theory of valid inference and logical entailment, and problems of alethic modality, intensionality, and propositional attitude. These are undoubtedly among the central problems of philosophical logic reflecting some of the most intriguing new directions in the field, but they by no means exhaust the possibilities."
Contents: Preface IX; Acknowledgments X; Introduction: Logic and philosophy of logic: Dale Jacquette 1Part I. Classical logicIntroduction to Part I: 91. The laws of logic: Arthur Pap 13; 2, Russell's mathematical logic: Kurt Gödel 21; 3. Which logic is the right logic?: Leslie H. Tharp 35; 4. What can logic do for philosophy?: Karl Popper 46Part II. Truth, propositions, and meaningIntroduction to Part II: 555. Truth and meaning: Donald Davidson 59; 6. Outline of a theory of truth: Saul A. Kripke 70; 7. Tarski's theory of truth: Hartry Field 86; 8. Types and ontology: Fred Sommers 103; 9. Propositions: George Bealer 120Part III. Quantifiers and quantificational theory Introduction to Part III: 14310. Logic and existence: Czeslaw Lejewski 147; 11. A plea for substitutional quantification: Charles Parsons 156; 12. Nominalism and the substitutional quantifier: Ruth Barcan Marcus 161; 13. Interpretations of quantifiers: Thomas Baldwin 169; 14. Language-games for quantifiers: Jaakko Hintikka 183Part IV: Validity, inference, and entailment Introduction to Part IV: 20115. Bolzano's concept of consequence: Rolf George 205; 16. On the concept of logical consequence: Alfred Tarski 210; 17. The pure calculus of entailment: Alan Ross Anderson and Nuel Belnap, Jr. 216; 18. Formal and material consequence: Stephen Read 237; 19. Tarski on truth and logical consequence: John Etchemendy 247Part V: Modality, Intensionality, and propositional attitudeIntroduction to Part V: 27120. What are possible worlds?: John E. Nolt 275; 21. Quantifiers and propositional attitudes: W. V. Quine 285; 22. Counterpart theory and quantified modal logic: David Lewis 292; 23. Interpretation of quantifiers: Dagfin Follesdal 301; 24. A backward look at Quine's animadversions of modalities: Ruth Barcan Marcus 308; 25. Quantifying in: David Kaplan 318; 26. Substitutivity and the quantifying in: Graeme Forbes 338; 27. The intensionality of ontological commitment: Michael Jubien 356Index 362.
Bealer George. Quality and concept. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1982.
Davies Martin. Meaning, quantification, necessity: themes in philosophical logic. London: Routledge 1981.
Engel Pascal. The norm of truth. An introduction to the philosophy of logic. Toronto: Toronto University Press 1992.
From the introduction: "This book is an introduction to the philosophy of logic. But 'philosophy of logic' is an umbrella term which covers a variety of different questions and styles of enquiry. I do not think that there is a single, well established, conception of the subject, and the one offered in this book does not pretend to represent them all. Although I shall not attempt to give a precise definition, it will be useful to indicate where my own treatment and choice of topics differs from other approaches.
By 'logic' I shall mean, in the usual sense, the theory of inferences that are valid in virtue of their form. It is in general admitted that this definition applies only to deductive logic, and that the theory of inductive inferences does not belong to 'formal logic' in the ordinary sense. (...)Our present use of the term 'philosophical logic' is mostly post-Fregean and post-Russellian. Frege called 'logic' not only his own formal system, but also his reflections about the nature of his formalism and about meaning and truth in general. Although Frege himself does not use the term 'philosophical logic', it is clear that these reflections are close to our contemporary understanding of that term. His insistence on the fact that 'logic' in the wide sense is concerned with language in general and should be kept separate from both psychology and the theory of knowledge justifies Dummett's claim that Frege's inquiries belong also to the philosophy of language and that this discipline holds for him the position of a primary philosophy. Russell proposed explicitly the term philosophical logic for a general enquiry into the nature of 'logical forms'. By this he did not mean only a study of the structure of logical languages, but also of the logical structures of natural languages, which would have both epistemological and ontological consequences.'Our present conceptions of philosophical logic bear strongly their Fregean and Russellian heritages. Philosophical logic is taken to be continuous with the philosophy of language, and to use logic as a tool for the analysis of thought. But there are two main versions of what philosophical logic is, which differ in the respective weight or authority that is granted to logical analysis. One of them assigns precise limits to this authority, and can be called informal philosophical logic, whereas the other aims at contorting and extending this authority, and can be called formal philosophical logic.
Contents: Acknowledgements VIII; List of logical symbols XII; Introduction 1;Part 1. Elementary structures 131. Propositions 15; 2. The meaning of propositional connectives 35; 3. Subject and predicate 56; 4. Varieties of quantification 68; Part 2. Truth and meaning 935. Theories of truth 95; 6. Truth, meaning and realism 118; Part 3. Limits of extensionality 1437. Modalities, possibles and essences 145; 8. Reference and propositional attitudes 161; 9. Identity 183; 10. Vagueness 199; Part 4. The domain of logic 21711. The province of logic 219; 12. Logical necessity 254; 13. Logic and rationality 291; Conclusion 321; Notes 324; Bibliography 356; Glossary-Index 371; Name Index 379.
Forbes Graeme. Languages of possibility: an essay in philosophical logic. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 1989.
Grayling Anthony. An introduction to philosophical logic. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 1997. Third revised edition (First edition 1982; second edition 1990).
"The topics to be discussed are: the proposition, analyticity, necessity, existence, identity, truth, meaning and reference. These, at least, are the topics mentioned in chapter headings. In fact the list is more extensive, for in the course of these chapters there are also discussions of possible worlds, realisms of related sorts, anti-realism, and other questions. It is not possible to give an overview of philosophical logic without ranging widely in this way, but it will be clear that because each topic invites, and indeed commands, whole volumes to itself, the discussions I give do not pretend to be more than prefaces to the detailed treatments found in the original literature.
These topics are collected under the unifying label 'philosophical logic' for three principal reasons. It marks their interrelatedness, for a good understanding of any of them requires an understanding of the others. It marks their central importance in all serious philosophical discussion. And it reflects the influence of developments in logic since the late nineteenth century, which have afforded an access of power in dealing with many philosophical problems afresh, not only because we have become technically better equipped for the task, but also because developments in logical machinery have promoted and facilitated a certain methodological style which has proved extraordinarily fruitful in philosophy. That methodological style is analysis.
The invention of symbolic calculi would not have impelled philosophical developments by itself had it not been for the fact, quickly spotted by Frege and Russell, that they immediately prompt a range of philosophical questions, centrally among them questions about the nature of meaning and truth - which is in short to say, language; and language vitally interests philosophers because it provides our route to a philosophical understanding of thought and the world. The greatest single impetus to current preoccupations with philosophical logic comes indeed from interest in language, to understand which we need progress in this area. (pp. 1-2).
Contents: Preface V, 1. Philosophical logic, the philosophy of logic, philosophy and logic 1; 2. The proposition 12; 3. Necessity, analiticity, and the a priori 33; 4. Existence, presuppositions and descriptions 88; 5. Truth: the pragmatic, coherence and correspondence theories 122; 6. Truth: semantics, deflation, indefinability and evaluation 147; 7. Meaning, reference, verification and use 188; 8. Truth, meaning, realism and anti-realism 234; 9. Realism, anti-realism, idealism, relativism 285; Bibliography 324; Index 336.
Haack Susan. Philosophy of logics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1978.
From the Preface: "My concern, in this book, is with the philosophy, rather than the history, of logic. But my strategy has been devised with an eye to the history of the interplay of formal and philosophical issues which I have just sketched. I begin with a consideration of some problems raised by the standard logical apparatus - the interpretation of sentence connectives, sentence letters, quantifiers, variables, individual constants, the concepts of validity, truth, logical truth; I turn, from chapter 9 onwards, to a consideration of the way some of these problems motivate formal innovations, 'extended' and 'deviant' logics, and to the ways in which these new formalisms lead, in turn, to a reevaluation of the philosophical issues; and I conclude, in the final chapter, with some questions - and rather fewer answers - about the metaphysical and epistemological status of logic, the relations between formal and natural languages, and the relevance of logic to reasoning.
And two recurring themes of the book also reflect this historical perspective. What seem to me to be the vital philosophical issues in logic are focussed by consideration (i) of the plurality of logical systems and (ii) of the ways in which formal calculi bear on the assessment of informal argument. More specifically, I shall be urging that, in view of the existence of alternative logics, prudence demands a reasonably radical stance on the question of the epistemological status of logic, and that the interpretation of formal results is a delicate task in which judicious attention to the purposes of formalisation is highly desirable.
I have tried to produce a book which will be useful as an introduction to the philosophical problems which logic raises, which will be intelligible to students with a grasp of elementary formal logic and some acquaintance with philosophical issues, but no previous knowledge of the philosophy of logic. But I haven't offered simple answers, or even simple questions; for the interesting issues in philosophy of logic are complex and difficult. I have tried instead to begin at the beginning, to explain technicalities, and to illustrate highly general problems with specific case studies. To this end I have supplied, for those new to the subject, a glossary of possibly unfamiliar terms used in the text, and some advice on finding one's way about the literature; while, for those anxious to go further, I have included a generous (but I hope not intimidating) bibliography."
Contents: Preface XI, Notation and abbreviations XV; 1. 'Philosophy of logics' 1; 2. Validity 11; 3. Sentence connectives 28; 4. Quantifiers 39; 5. Singular terms; 56; 6. Sentences, statements, propositions 74; 7. Theories of truth 86; 8. Paradoxes 135; 9. Logic and logics152; 10. Modal logic 170; 11. Many-valued logic 204; 12. Some metaphysical and epistemological questions about logic 221; Glossary 243; Advice on reading 253, Bibliography 255; Index 267.
Luntley Michael. Contemporary philosophy of thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 1999.
From the Preface: "The book is intended for upper-level undergraduates and first-year graduate students of philosophy. It is, however, a basic book. Some books in the field provide a survey of advanced results in the philosophy of content. The trouble with them is that the results are only ever as advanced as the methodology employed. In addition, they rarely make transparent that the methodology might be optional, let alone how it stands with regard to competing methodologies. This book is basic, for I do not concentrate on providing advanced results in this theory or that. I concentrate on the basic metaphysical, epistemological and methodological issues that shape theorizing about content. I am as evangelical about my preferred methodology as the next guy, but the account I give is, I hope, fair, even if not balanced.
For a basic book it is pretty long, but I wanted to cover enough to give a fulsome overview of how the whole neo-Fregean story about content hangs together. That meant getting clear about a number of things that, although part of the familiar furniture of the philosophy of thought, had got a bit lost under the accumulated wisdom of several generations. So I get Russell out and dust off his theory of descriptions. (...). I say I defend a neo-Fregean theory of content, but I don't really get to that until the second half of the book. But the account of reference I defend there is best understood against the backdrop of what goes before in the chapters on meaning, truth and logic and against the recurring theme of what constitutes a naturalized theory of content.
If there is one thing that I hope will be come clear in all this, it is that you can never reread the classics too often. The heart of Russell's theory of thought is, I think, right. The same applies to Frege. The trouble is, Russell buried his key insight in a Cartesian epistemology that is, frankly, rather quaint and embarrassing. Frege left us a methodology, but never applied it himself to those aspects of language use that would reveal its great power. Everyone knows Kripke disproved description theories of names, but hardly anyone seems to know who the descriptivists are! Kripke's positive account of names is full of important insights, but whether it really makes sense to call it a causal theory is still contestable. 'New theories of reference' have been 'new' for about thirty years now, but people still characterize them with the metaphor of 'directness'. I argue in chapter 8 that there is an important sense (the important sense, I think) in which these theories provide an indirect account of reference! Here, then, is the other big lesson I hope becomes clear. It has taken us the best part of a hundred years to begin to see the scope available within a Fregean account of thought. And people are still arguing about Russell's theory of descriptions! If you are to understand how contemporary philosophy of thought is going, and if you are to be in a position to contribute to it, there is no substitute for an appreciation both of the broad view and of its contestability."
Contents: Preface IX; 1. Methodologies; 2. Russell's theory of descriptions 31; 3. The semantic theory of truth 60; 4. Truth and meaning 89; 5. Interpretation, minimal truth and the world 118; 6. Meaning, metaphysics and logic 143; 7. The possibility of a naturalized theory of meaning 173; 8. What is a theory of reference? 201; 9. Sense and reference 230; 10. The causal theory of reference and the social character of meaning 259; 11. Content and context 283; 12. Contextual content 318; Notes 347; Bibliography 380; Index 394.
Priest Graham. An introduction to non-classical logic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001.
From the Preface: "Around the turn of the twentieth century, a major revolution occurred in logic. Mathematical techniques of a quite novel kind were applied to the subject, and a new theory of what is logically correct was developed by Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell and others. This theory has now come to be called 'classical logic'. (...)Despite this, many of the most interesting developments in logic in the last forty years, especially in philosophy, have occurred in quite different areas: intuitionism, conditional logics, relevant logics, paraconsistent logics, free logics, quantum logics, fuzzy logics, and so on. These are all logics which are intended either to supplement classical logic, or else to replace it where it goes wrong. The logics are now usually grouped under the title 'non-classical logics'; and this book is an introduction to them.
The subject of non-classical logic is now far too big to permit the writing of a comprehensive textbook, so I have had to place some restrictions on what is covered. For a start, the book is restricted to propositional logic. This is not because there are no non-classical logics that are essentially first-order (there are: free logic), but because the major interest in non-classical logics is usually at the propositional level. (Often, the quantifier extensions of these logics are relatively straightforward.) Within propositional logics, I have also restricted the logics considered here to ones which are relevant to the debate about conditionals ('if ... then ...' sentences). Again, this is not because this exhausts non-classical propositional logics (there is quantum logic, for example), but because taking the topic of conditionals as a leitmotiv gives the material a coherence that it might otherwise lack. And, of course, conditionals are about as central to logic as one can get.
The major semantical technique in non-classical logics is possible-world semantics. Most non-classical logics have such semantics. This is therefore the major semantical technique that I use in the book. In many ways, the book could be thought of as a set of variations on the theme of possible-world semantics. It should be mentioned that many of the systems discussed in the book have semantics other than possible-world semantics - notably, algebraic semantics of some form or other. Those, however, are an appropriate topic for a different book."
Contents: Preface p. XIII-XVI; Mathematical prolegomenon p. XVII-XXI; 1. Classical logic and the material conditional p. 1; 2. Basic modal logic p. 20; 3. Normal modal logics p. 38; 4. Non-normal worlds; strict conditional p. 58; 6. Intuitionistic logic p. 99, 7. Many-valued logics p. 117; 8. First degree entailment p. 139; 9. Basic relevant logic p. 162; 10. Mainstream relevant logics p. 182; 11. Fuzzy logic p. 211; 12. Conclusion: an historical perspective p. 229; References p. 231; Index of names p. 237; Index of subjects p. 239.
Read Stephen. Thinking about logic: an introduction to the philosophy of logic. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995.
From the Introduction: "This book is an introduction to the philosophy of logic. We often see an area of philosophy marked out as the philosophy of logic and language; and there are indeed close connections between logical themes and themes in the analysis of language. But they are also quite distinct. In the philosophy of language the focus is on meaning and reference, on what are known as the semantic connections between language and the world.
In contrast, the central topic of the philosophy of logic is inference, that is, logical consequence, or what follows correctly from what. What conclusions may legitimately be inferred from what sets of premisses? One answer to this question makes play with the notion of truth-preservation: valid arguments are those in which truth is preserved, where the truth of the premisses guarantees the truth of the conclusion. Since truth itself is arguably the third member of a closely knit trio comprising meaning, reference, and truth, the connection with philosophy of language is immediately secured. (...)It is with these issues of truth and correct inference that we are to engage in this book; and central to that engagement, we will find, is paradox. Paradox is the philosophers' enchantment, their fetish. It fascinates them, as a light does a moth. But at the same time, it cannot be endured. Every force available must be brought to bear to remove it. The philosopher is the shaman, whose task is to save us and rid us of the evil demon.
Paradox can arise in many places, but here we concentrate on two in particular, one set united by semantic issues, the other by a fuzziness inherent in certain concepts. In both cases the puzzle arises because natural, simple, and what seem clearly reasonable assumptions lead one very quickly to contradiction, confusion, and embarrassment. There is something awful and fascinating about their transparency, there is an enjoyment in surveying their variety, the rich diversity of examples.
But their real philosophical value lies in the purging of the unfounded and uncritical assumptions which led to them. They demand resolution, and in their resolution we learn more about the nature of truth, the nature of consequence, and the nature of reality, than any extended survey of basic principles can give. Only when those seemingly innocent principles meet the challenge of paradox and come under a gaze tutored by realization of what will follow, do we really see the troubles that lie latent within them.
We start, therefore, at the heart of philosophy of logic, with the concept of truth, examining those basic principles which seem compelling in how language measures up to the world. But I eschew a simple catalogue of positions held by the great and the good. That could be very dull, and perhaps not really instructive either. Rather, I try to weave a narrative, to show how natural conceptions arise, how they may be articulated, and how they can come unstuck. I hope that the puzzles themselves will capture the readers' imaginations, and tempt them onwards to further, more detailed reading, as indicated in the summary to each chapter. The idea is to paint a continuous picture of a network of ideas treated in their own right and in their own intimate relationships, largely divorced from historical or technical detail."
Contents: Introduction 1; 1. Truth, pure and simple: language and the world 5; 2. The power of logic: logical consequence 35; 3. To think but of an If: theories of conditionals 64; 4. The incredulous stare: possible worlds 96; 5. Plato's beard: on what there is and what there isn't 121; 6. Well, I'll be hanged! The semantic paradoxes 148; 7. Bald men forever: the sorites paradoxes 173; 8. Whose line is it anyway? The constructivist challenge 203; Select bibliography 241; Glossary 248; Index 253.
Rescher Nicholas. Topics in philosophical logic. Dordrecht: Reidel 1969.
Restall Greg. An introduction to substructurals logics. London, New York: Routledge 2000.
Rod Girle. Modal logics and philosophy. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press 2000.
Sainsbury Mark. Logical forms. An introduction to philosophical logic. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 2001. Second revised edition (First edition 1991).
"This book is an introduction to philosophical logic. It is primarily intended for people who have some acquaintance with deductive methods in elementary formal logic, but who have yet to study associated philosophical problems. However, I do not presuppose knowledge of deductive methods, so the book could be used as a way of embarking on philosophical logic from scratch.
Russell coined the phrase 'philosophical logic' to describe a programme in philosophy: that of tackling philosophical problems by formalizing problematic sentences in what appeared to Russell to be the language of logic: the formal language of Principia Mathematica. My use of the term 'philosophical logic' is close to Russell's. Most of this book is devoted to discussions of problems of formalizing English in formal logical languages.
I take validity to be the central concept in logic. In the first chapter I raise the question of why logicians study this property in connection with artificial languages, which no one speaks, rather than in connection with some natural language like English. In chapters 2-5 I indicate some of the possibilities and problems for formalizing English in three artificial logical languages: that of propositional logic (chapter 2), of first order quantificational logic (chapter 4) and of modal logic (chapter 5). The final chapter takes up the purely philosophical discussion, and, using what has been learned on the way, addresses such questions as whether there was any point in those efforts at formalizing, what can be meant by the logical form of an English sentence, what is the domain of logic, and what is a logical constant.
In this approach, one inevitably encounters not only questions in the philosophy of logic, but also questions in the philosophy of language, as when one considers how best to formalize English sentences containing empty names, or definite descriptions, or adverbs, or verbs of propositional attitude." (pp. 1-2).
Contents: Preface to the first edition VI; Preface to the second edition VII; Introduction 1; 1. Validity 5; 2. Truth functionality 54; 3. Conditionals and probabilities 122; 4. Quantification 153; 5. Necessity 257; 6. The project of formalization 339; Glossary 392; List of symbols 403; Bibliography 406; Index 419.
Wolfram Sybil. Philosophical logic. An introduction. London: Routledge 1989.
From the First Chapter: "Logic may be said to be the study of correct and incorrect reasoning. This includes the study of what makes arguments consistent or inconsistent, valid or invalid, sound or unsound (on these terms see 1.2.1). It has two branches, known as formal (or symbolic) logic and philosophical logic.
One of the branches of logic, formal logic, codifies arguments and supplies tests of consistency and validity, starting from axioms, that is, from definitions and rules for assessing the consistency and validity of arguments.' At the present time there are two main systems of formal logic, usually known as the propositional calculus and the predicate calculus. The propositional calculus concerns relations of what it terms 'propositions' to each other. The predicate calculus codifies inferences which may be drawn on account of certain features of the content of 'propositions'.
The other branch of logic, philosophical logic, which is my concern here, is very much more difficult to delimit and define. It can be said to study arguments, meaning, truth. Its subject matter is closely related to that of formal logic but its objects are different. Rather than setting out to codify valid arguments and to supply axioms and notations allowing the assessment of increasingly complex arguments, it examines the bricks and mortar from which such systems are built. Although it aims, among other things, to illuminate or sometimes question the formalization of arguments into systems with axioms which have been effected, it is not restricted to a study of arguments which formal logic has codified."
Contents: Preface XIII; 1. Introduction 1. 2. Reference and truth 26; 3. Necessary truth and the analytic-synthetic distinction 80; 4. Aspects of truth 129; 5. Negation 162; 6. Existence and identity 191; 7. Aspects of meaning 229; Appendix: Examination questions 252; Bibliography of works referred to 263; Glossary 270; Index 278.
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Kellerwessel Wulf. A bibliography on reference and some related topics in analytical philosophy. New York: Peter Lang 1996.
From the Preface: "Reference is, like the topics 'theories of truth' and 'theories of meaning', one of the central themes within analytical philosophy. This is indicated by the large number of texts that deal with 'reference' and by the fact that numerous major works of leading analytical philosophers are particularly concerned with this topic. (...)The importance of the theme 'reference' for philosophy can be demonstrated by the following considerations. Since philosophy deals, among other things, with the clarification of the concept of the truth of assertions, there is the following connection to questions of reference: Knowing whether a statement is true or false presupposes knowing what the statement is about, i.e., if the reference of the statement (or part of it) has already been found out. Moreover, the question arises if there are sentences which do not have a truth value (true or false) at all, because a sentence (uttered in 1995) like 'The present king of France is bald' could be judged as neither true nor false because it does not say anything about anybody. At any rate, it does not say anything wrong about anybody. Furthermore, some theories of reference (i.e. those of Donnellan, Kripke and Putnam) have significant consequences for the logical status of various sentences or statements. They change the set of necessarily true statements in comparison to previous opinions about it. Some of the theories of reference, that have so far been developed, also effect some laws of logic and their applicability.
Considering the relevance of the subject 'reference' it seems to be reasonable to give an overall view of this topic in the form of a bibliography - especially because various questions of reference have been discussed. Besides, the literature on this topic is so numerous that it does not seem to be easy to gain an overview - even if it is only to turn to a question of detail. This bibliography might serve to reduce difficulties and/or the lack of information.(...) Finally, there will be some additional information on certain concepts that are used within the bibliography, some terminological explanations, an index of abbreviations, and the necessary keys to the symbols." The bibliography contains 2114 items in English and German.
Ontology and the History of Logic in Western Thought. An Introduction
Table of Ontologists (PDF)
Ontologists of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Living Ontologists (a list of authors with an interest in ontology, with synthetic bibliographies)
Last modified: Tuesday, March 09, 2010