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Single Idea 16867

[filed under theme 5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 3. Value of Logic ]

Full Idea

A proof does not only serve to convince us of the truth of what is proved: it also serves to reveal logical relations between truths. Hence we find in Euclid proofs of truths that appear to stand in no need of proof because they are obvious without one.

Gist of Idea

Logic not only proves things, but also reveals logical relations between them

Source

Gottlob Frege (Logic in Mathematics [1914], p.204)

Book Ref

Frege,Gottlob: 'Posthumous Writings', ed/tr. Hermes/Long/White etc [Blackwell 1979], p.204

A Reaction

This is a key idea in Frege's philosophy, and a reason why he is the founder of modern analytic philosophy, with logic placed at the centre of the subject. I take the value of proofs to be raising questions, more than giving answers.

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]