Single Idea 18903

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 2. Logical Connectives / c. not]

Full Idea

If there is one idea that is the keystone of the edifice that constitutes Sommers's united philosophy it is that terms are the linguistic entities subject to negation in the most basic sense. It is a very old idea, tending to be rejected in modern times.

Gist of Idea

Sommers promotes the old idea that negation basically refers to terms

Source

report of Fred Sommers (Intellectual Autobiography [2005]) by George Engelbretsen - Trees, Terms and Truth 2

Book Reference

'The Old New Logic', ed/tr. Oderberg,David S. [MIT 2005], p.26


A Reaction

Negation in modern logic is an operator applied to sentences, typically writing '¬Fa', which denies that F is predicated of a, with Fa being an atomic sentence. Do we say 'not(Stan is happy)', or 'not-Stan is happy', or 'Stan is not-happy'? Third one?

Related Ideas

Idea 18896 Aristotle places terms at opposite ends, joined by a quantified copula [Aristotle, by Sommers]

Idea 18904 'Predicable' terms come in charged pairs, with one the negation of the other [Sommers, by Engelbretsen]

Idea 11214 We learn 'not' along with affirmation, by learning to either affirm or deny a sentence [Rumfitt]

Idea 18906 Negating a predicate term and denying its unnegated version are quite different [Engelbretsen]