Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Sophocles, Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C and James Woodward

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10 ideas

4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 1. Aristotelian Logic

13913	The four 'perfect syllogisms' are called Barbara, Celarent, Darii and Ferio [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: There are four 'perfect syllogisms': Barbara (every M is P, every S is M, so every S is P); Celarent (no M is P, every S is M, so no S is P); Darii (every M is P, some S is M, so some S is P); Ferio (no M is P, some S is M, so some S is not P).
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], 8)
	A reaction: The four names are mnemonics from medieval universities.

13914	Syllogistic logic has one rule: what is affirmed/denied of wholes is affirmed/denied of their parts [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: It has often been claimed (e.g. by Leibniz) that a single rule governs all syllogistic validity, called 'dictum de omni et null', which says that what is affirmed or denied of any whole is affirmed or denied of any part of that whole.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], 8)
	A reaction: This seems to be the rule which is captured by Venn Diagrams.

4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 2. Syllogistic Logic

13915	Syllogistic can't handle sentences with singular terms, or relational terms, or compound sentences [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: Three common kinds of sentence cannot be put into syllogistic ('categorical') form: ones using singular terms ('Mars is red'), ones using relational terms ('every painter owns some brushes'), and compound sentences.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], 8)

4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 3. Term Logic

13916	Term logic uses expression letters and brackets, and '-' for negative terms, and '+' for compound terms [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: Term logic begins with expressions and two 'term functors'. Any simple letter is a 'term', any term prefixed by a minus ('-') is a 'negative term', and any pair of terms flanking a plus ('+') is a 'compound term'. Parenthese are used for grouping.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], 8)
	A reaction: [see Engelbretsen and Sayward for the full formal system]

5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 4. Pure Logic

13850	In modern logic all formal validity can be characterised syntactically [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: One of the key ideas of modern formal logic is that all formally valid inferences can be specified in strictly syntactic terms.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], Ch.2)

5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 6. Classical Logic

13849	Classical logic rests on truth and models, where constructivist logic rests on defence and refutation [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: Classical logic rests on the concepts of truth and falsity (and usually makes use of a semantic theory based on models), whereas constructivist logic accounts for inference in terms of defense and refutation.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], Intro)
	A reaction: My instincts go with the classical view, which is that inferences do not depend on the human capacity to defend them, but sit there awaiting revelation. My view isn't platonist, because I take the inferences to be rooted in the physical world.

5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 4. Identity in Logic

13851	Unlike most other signs, = cannot be eliminated [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: Unlike ∨, →, ↔, and ∀, the sign = is not eliminable from a logic.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], Ch.3)

5. Theory of Logic / K. Features of Logics / 5. Incompleteness

13852	Axioms are ω-incomplete if the instances are all derivable, but the universal quantification isn't [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
	Full Idea: A set of axioms is said to be ω-incomplete if, for some universal quantification, each of its instances is derivable from those axioms but the quantification is not thus derivable.
	From: Engelbretsen,G/Sayward,C (Philosophical Logic: Intro to Advanced Topics [2011], 7)

14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / g. Causal explanations

14367	An explanation is a causal graph [Woodward,J, by Strevens]
	Full Idea: On Woodward's manipulationist view, an explanation would take the form of a causal graph.
	From: report of James Woodward (Making Things Happen [2003]) by Michael Strevens - No Understanding without Explanation 1
	A reaction: The idea is that causation is all to do with how nature responds when you try to manipulate it. I'm certainly in favour of tying explanation closely to causation.

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / e. Honour

7811	Sophoclean heroes die terrible deaths when they oppose the new Athenian values [Sophocles, by Grayling]
	Full Idea: Sophocles has Ajax (in 'Ajax') and Hercules (in 'Trachiniae') die terrible deaths because of the opposition they represent to the values which are the new values of Periclean Athens.
	From: report of Sophocles (Women of Trachis [c.430 BCE]) by A.C. Grayling - What is Good? Ch.2
	A reaction: Presumably they are tragic heroes, who hence invite our sympathy, like Othello and Hamlet, who also die following an older moral code. It is only tragic if the code they follow has something 'higher' about it.