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Full Idea
What would a 'laws of thought' logic that cast light on natural language deductive thinking be like? Such a logic must be variable-free, conforming to normal syntax, and its modes of reasoning must be transparent, to make them virtually instantaneous.
Gist of Idea
Logic which maps ordinary reasoning must be transparent, and free of variables
Source
Fred Sommers (Intellectual Autobiography [2005], 'How We')
Book Ref
'The Old New Logic', ed/tr. Oderberg,David S. [MIT 2005], p.8
A Reaction
This is the main motivation for Fred Sommers's creation of modern term logic. Even if you are up to your neck in modern symbolic logic (which I'm not), you have to find this idea appealing. You can't leave it to the psychologists.
Related Ideas
Idea 5772 The idea of a variable is fundamental [Russell]
Idea 17699 Variables are auxiliary notions, and not part of the 'eternal' essence of logic [Schönfinkel]
| 18904 | 'Predicable' terms come in charged pairs, with one the negation of the other [Sommers, by Engelbretsen] |
| 18895 | Logic which maps ordinary reasoning must be transparent, and free of variables [Sommers] |
| 19053 | Logic would be more natural if negation only referred to predicates [Dummett] |
| 13916 | Term logic uses expression letters and brackets, and '-' for negative terms, and '+' for compound terms [Engelbretsen/Sayward] |
| 18907 | Term logic rests on negated terms or denial, and that propositions are tied pairs [Engelbretsen] |