more from this thinker
|
more from this text
Single Idea 10152
[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 3. Value of Logic
]
Full Idea
People have asked me, 'How can you, a nominalist, do work in set theory and in logic, which are theories about things you do not believe in?' ...I believe that there is a value even in fairy tales and the study of fairy tales.
Gist of Idea
Set theory and logic are fairy tales, but still worth studying
Source
Alfred Tarski (talk [1965]), quoted by Feferman / Feferman - Alfred Tarski: life and logic
Book Ref
Feferman,S/Feferman,A.B.: 'Alfred Tarski: life and logic' [CUP 2008], p.52
A Reaction
This is obviously an oversimplification. I don't think for a moment that Tarski literally believed that the study of fairy tales had as much value as the study of logic. Why do we have this particular logic, and not some other?
The
23 ideas
with the same theme
[relative importance of logic in life and reason]:
|
16728
|
Logicians acknowledge too few things, while others acknowledge too many
[Fitzralph]
|
|
12992
|
Logic teaches us how to order and connect our thoughts
[Leibniz]
|
|
22275
|
Logic gives us the necessary rules which show us how we ought to think
[Kant]
|
|
14780
|
Only study logic if you think your own reasoning is deficient
[Peirce]
|
|
7188
|
Logic tries to understand the world according to a man-made scheme
[Nietzsche]
|
|
7145
|
Logic is not driven by truth, but desire for a simple single viewpoint
[Nietzsche]
|
|
7144
|
Logic must falsely assume that identical cases exist
[Nietzsche]
|
|
16867
|
Logic not only proves things, but also reveals logical relations between them
[Frege]
|
|
14880
|
Logic is just slavery to language
[Nietzsche]
|
|
9179
|
Frege frequently expressed a contempt for language
[Frege, by Dummett]
|
|
21588
|
Logic gives the method of research in philosophy
[Russell]
|
|
6107
|
It is logic, not metaphysics, that is fundamental to philosophy
[Russell]
|
|
10152
|
Set theory and logic are fairy tales, but still worth studying
[Tarski]
|
|
6428
|
Wittgenstein is right that logic is just tautologies
[Wittgenstein, by Russell]
|
|
9028
|
Maybe logical truth reflects reality, but in different ways in different languages
[Quine]
|
|
9244
|
Logic is easy, but what about logic to the point of death?
[Camus]
|
|
8219
|
Logic has an infantile idea of philosophy
[Deleuze/Guattari]
|
|
8246
|
Logic hates philosophy, and wishes to supplant it
[Deleuze/Guattari]
|
|
13479
|
Given that thinking aims at truth, logic gives universal rules for how to do it
[Burge]
|
|
3599
|
Deduction shows entailments, not what to believe
[Williams,M]
|
|
13378
|
It is a mistake to think that the logic developed for mathematics can clarify language and philosophy
[Jubien]
|
|
6858
|
Formal logic struck me as exactly the language I wanted to think in
[Williamson]
|
|
9390
|
Logic guides thinking, but it isn't a substitute for it
[Rumfitt]
|