Combining Philosophers

Ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Gavin Hesketh and Bertrand Russell

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2 ideas

4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 2. Syllogistic Logic
The mortality of Socrates is more certain from induction than it is from deduction [Russell]
     Full Idea: We would do better to go straight from the evidence that some men have died to the mortality of Socrates, than to go via 'all men are mortal', for the probability that Socrates is mortal is greater than the probability that all men are mortal.
     From: Bertrand Russell (Problems of Philosophy [1912], Ch. 7)
     A reaction: Russell claims that deduction should stick to a priori truth, and induction is best for the real world. Interesting. To show that something is a member of a set (e.g. planets) you need an awful lot of knowledge of the set.
The Darapti syllogism is fallacious: All M is S, all M is P, so some S is P' - but if there is no M? [Russell]
     Full Idea: Some moods of the syllogism are fallacious, e.g. 'Darapti': 'All M is S, all M is P, therefore some S is P', which fails if there is no M.
     From: Bertrand Russell (Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy [1919], XV)
     A reaction: This critique rests on the fact that the existential quantifier entails some existence, but the universal quantifier does not.