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Single Idea 8686

[from 'The Laws of Thought' by George Boole, in 5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 2. History of Logic ]

Full Idea

Boole (followed by Frege) began to turn logic from a branch of philosophy into a branch of mathematics. He brought an algebraic approach to propositions, and introduced the notion of a quantifier and a type of probabilistic reasoning.

Gist of Idea

Boole made logic more mathematical, with algebra, quantifiers and probability

Source

report of George Boole (The Laws of Thought [1854], 3.2) by Michèle Friend - Introducing the Philosophy of Mathematics

Book Reference

Friend,Michèle: 'Introducing the Philosophy of Mathematics' [Acumen 2007], p.52


A Reaction

The result was that logic not only became more mathematical, but also more specialised. We now have two types of philosopher, those steeped in mathematical logic and the rest. They don't always sing from the same songsheet.