"Nine Chapters of Logical Philosophy"

Author: Zhang Qingyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: Logic Philosophy, which generally includes two aspects. One is the general philosophical problems about logic as a science: the objects of logic, the scope of logic, the relationship between logic and other sciences, and so on. The other is the philosophical problems raised in the study of logic itself and in meta-logic research: the meaning of certain logical concepts, the handling of logical paradoxes, and so on. This book discusses these two aspects of content.
Excerpt: Introduction What is Logic Philosophy? Logic philosophy, by name, is not only related to logic but also to philosophy. This is obviously not difficult to understand. However, if we ask how it is related, whether it can be clearly stated, it is probably not that easy. Nevertheless, since this book is to be discussed around such a topic, it cannot avoid this question. Therefore, we must first discuss what logic philosophy is. In English, there are generally three expressions corresponding to what we call logic philosophy here: one is philosophical logic, another is the philosophy of logic, and the third is logical philosophy. The earliest one is the first, and the latter two came later. From the literature, the first two are used most frequently. Therefore, these two terms are worth serious consideration. Regarding these two expressions, people have different views. Moreover, even for one of these expressions, such as expression, people's views are also different. These different views not only reflect people's different understandings of logic philosophy but also reveal the problems in what is named logic philosophy. Here, we first introduce the main views and attitudes at home and abroad related to the concept of logic philosophy, and then clearly elaborate our own views on logic philosophy. It is generally acknowledged that Russell first used the concept of "philosophical logic." However, the frequent appearance of this term and its close synonym "philosophy of logic" came after the 1960s. Over the past few decades, not only have some monographs and collections been published under the names "logic philosophy" or "philosophical logic," but several professional journals have also been published under these titles. Therefore, at least on the surface, logic philosophy or philosophical logic has officially entered people's research scope and become an object or field of study. However, if we carefully read the literature, we will find that things are not that simple. First, there are different understandings of philosophical logic or logic philosophy, and so far, a consensus has not been reached. Second, some people admit that the term "philosophical logic" or "logic philosophy" has problems, but for certain purposes and convenience, they still use it. Additionally, some people simply use the terms "philosophical logic" or "logic philosophy" without providing any explanation or clarification. Among these three cases, the first case is relatively clear, because as long as one looks at the different views of different authors, one can understand the differences; the other two cases are less clear. However, even though the authors or editors do not provide a clear explanation, from their specific arguments or selected articles, we can still roughly discern or grasp their basic intentions and ideas. Therefore, in order to explain clearly what logic philosophy is, we first carry out these two tasks. Section Vague Usage We first look at some literature that does not provide a specific explanation or a clear explanation of philosophical logic. In November 10–12, 1967, an academic discussion meeting titled "Philosophical Logic" was held in London, UK. Two years later, the papers presented at the meeting were published in a collection under the same title. It is worth noting that in addition to the papers presented and discussed at the meeting, the collection also included several additional papers, and the added papers were Davidson's "Truth and Meaning." This paper is an important document in the philosophy of language and was recently published, with a significant impact. Since the editor did not explain, we cannot know the editor's understanding of "logic philosophy." "Truth" undoubtedly falls within the scope of logic research, but whether "meaning" belongs to the scope of logic research is worth considering. Placing this paper together with other papers in the collection, such as Hintikka's "Semantics of Propositional Attitudes" and von Wright's "On the Normative and Ontological Aspects of Logic," it is naturally classified under the scope of philosophical logic. This approach reflects the editor's very broad attitude toward logic philosophy. In 1971, Putnam published a paper titled "Logic Philosophy." The article is divided into eight sections and has no preface. section "What Is Logic" begins with: "Let us first ask what logic is and then try to see why there should be philosophical problems about logic." (Putnam, 1998, p. 404) Through the analysis of several logical reasoning rules or logical laws, Putnam draws a conclusion that there is not much change in logical reasoning rules or laws, and logicians also have consistent views on them. These are the main parts of logic, the "permanent doctrines" in logic (ibid., p. 406). However, in terms of how to accept them, the explanations and attitudes of logicians are different. Based on this conclusion, he says: "Clearly, there are some philosophical problems related to logic, and at least one reason for this is clear: it is difficult to reach any universally accepted statement about the general principles that logicians seem to universally accept to some extent. If we delve deeper into this difficulty, then the deeper philosophical problems related to logic will become clearer." (ibid.) Next, he discusses the debate between nominalism and realism, the relationship between logic and mathematics, and some problems related to set theory brought about by nominalism. From his article, it can be seen that what he calls logic philosophy mainly refers to the study of various issues related to logic...