Thinking About Logic: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Logic

Description

In this book, Stephen Read sets out to rescue logic from its undeserved reputation as an inflexible, dogmatic discipline by demonstrating that its technicalities and processes are founded on assumptions which are themselves amenable to philosophical investigation. He examines the fundamental principles of consequence, logical truth and correct inference within the context of logic, and shows that the principles by which we delineate consequences are themselves not guaranteed free from error. Central to the notion of truth is the beguiling issue of paradox. Its philosophical value, Read shows, lies in exposing the invalid assumption on which the paradox is built. Thinking About Logic also discusses logical puzzles which introduce questions relating to language, the world, and their relationship. Title Copyright Contents Introduction 1 Truth, Pure and Simple: Language and the World The Correspondence Theory of Truth Reductionism Theories of Truth Minimalist Theories of Truth Summary and Guide to Further Reading 2 The Power of Logic Logical Consequence The Classical Conception Compactness Matter and Form Relevance Summary and Guide to Further Reading 3 To Think But of an If: Theories of Conditionals The Conversationalist Defence Conditional Probability The Similarity Account Summary and Guide to Further Reading 4 The Incredulous Stare: Possible Worlds Modal Platonism Actualism The Necessary and the A Priori Summary and Guide to Further Reading 5 Plato’s Beard: On What There Is and What There Isn’t Descriptions Free Logic Supervaluations Summary and Guide to Further Reading 6 Well, I’ll be Hanged! The Semantic Paradoxes The Truth Hierarchy True Contradictions Semantic Closure Summary and Guide to Further Reading 7 Bald Men Forever: The Sorites Paradox Vagueness Analysis of the Sorites Fuzzy Logic Tolerance Summary and Guide to Further Reading 8 Whose Line Is It Anyway? The Constructivist Challenge The Infinite Intuitionism The Logical Argument The Linguistic Argument Summary and Guide to Further Reading Select Bibliography Glossary Index