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Single Idea 13845

[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 4. Pure Logic ]

Full Idea

I don't believe English is by nature classical or intuitionistic etc. These are abstractions made by logicians. Logicians attend to numerous different objects that might be served by 'If...then', like material conditional, strict or relevant implication.

Gist of Idea

The various logics are abstractions made from terms like 'if...then' in English

Source

Ian Hacking (What is Logic? [1979], §15)

Book Ref

'A Philosophical Companion to First-Order Logic', ed/tr. Hughes,R.I.G. [Hackett 1993], p.250


A Reaction

The idea that they are 'abstractions' is close to my heart. Abstractions from what? Surely 'if...then' has a standard character when employed in normal conversation?


The 18 ideas with the same theme [logic as a completely self-contained subject]:

'Blind thought' is reasoning without recognition of the ingredients of the reasoning [Leibniz, by Arthur,R]
The physical world doesn't need logic, but the mental world does [Russell]
All the propositions of logic are completely general [Russell]
There is no clear boundary between the logical and the non-logical [Tarski]
Logic is a priori because it is impossible to think illogically [Wittgenstein]
Logic seems to work for unasserted sentences [O'Connor]
The various logics are abstractions made from terms like 'if...then' in English [Hacking]
Inferences are surely part of the causal structure of the world [Fodor]
Technical people see logic as any formal system that can be studied, not a study of argument validity [Burgess]
If logic is topic-neutral that means it delves into all subjects, rather than having a pure subject matter [Read]
Formal logic is invariant under permutations, or devoid of content, or gives the norms for thought [Beall/Restall]
Logic studies arguments, not formal languages; this involves interpretations [Beall/Restall]
A train of reasoning must be treated as all happening simultaneously [Recanati]
A pure logic is wholly general, purely formal, and directly known [Linnebo]
A 'pure logic' must be ontologically innocent, universal, and without presuppositions [Linnebo]
Logic is explanatorily and ontologically dependent on rational animals [Hanna]
Logic is personal and variable, but it has a universal core [Hanna]
In modern logic all formal validity can be characterised syntactically [Engelbretsen/Sayward]