Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Oswald Veblen, Stanislaw Lesniewski and Keith Devlin

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1 idea

5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 1. Logical Form
Sentences of apparent identical form can have different contextual meanings [Devlin]
     Full Idea: "Safety goggles must be worn in the building" is clear enough, but "dogs must always be carried on the escalator" doesn't require us to head off in search of a dog.
     From: Keith Devlin (Goodbye Descartes [1997], Ch. 1)
     A reaction: A nice illustration of how the requirements of logical form will often take us beyond the strict and literal meaning of a sentence, into context, tone, allusion and subjective aspects.