Notes on Logic

Synthese

This paper contains many interrelated sections, most of which are complete. Those, that are incomplete, are `works-in-progress' and their updated versions are intended for appearance ASAP, hopefully monthly. This premature publication is due to the recent news broadcast of research findings (the black hole Sagittarius A and dark matter) of the Nobel prize winners

2019

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was a prolific, versatile and prominent British philosopher/mathematician who has been active in every major area of philosophy except aesthetics. While simultaneously having been notably prolific in the fields of metaphysics, philosophy of language, ethics and epistemology, Russell came to be widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s foremost logicians to such an extent that his name has become inseparable from any mention of mathematical logic. The principal goal of this present exposition will be the introduction of and expounding upon the intricate details of Russell’s lifelong logical output, as well as briefly sketching the historical progression and the contextual overview of the then-contemporary logic leading up to Russell’s efforts.

2012

To my wife, Gill, without whose encouragement and support it could not have been completed Contents Acknowledgements vi In working on the matters discussed in this book, I have received help, advice, criticism and encouragement from many students, friends and colleagues. I would particularly like to thank my colleagues in the Department of Logic and Metaphysics at St Andrews for allowing me to take study leave in 1987, during which time this book was completed. I was also fortunate to be invited to the Australian National University to a three-month Visiting Fellowship during this time. I am especially grateful to Michael MacRobbie for arranging for the invitation, and for providing me with such a stimulating research environment. I am indebted to the Australian National University, the British Academy, the British Council and the University of St Andrews for financial assistance which made the visit possible.

2008

Dialogue, 1970

Essay on the Principles of Logic: A Defense of Logical Monism, 2023

Michael Wolff's new preface to my translation of his Essay on the Principles of Logic: A Defense of Logical Monism.

2007

Alfred Tarski (1901–1983) is one of the two greatest logicians of the twentieth century, the other being Kurt Gödel (1906–1978). Each began his career in Europe, respectively in Warsaw and Vienna, and came to America shortly before the Second World War. In contrast to the otherworldly Gödel, Tarski was ambitious and practical. He strove for, and succeeded at, building a school of logic at the University of California, Berkeley, that attracted students and distinguished researchers from all over the world. Tarski was the leader of the " semantic turn " in mathematical logic. This means that he achieved a shift from a view focused on formal systems, axioms, and rules of deduction to a view focusing on the relations between formal systems and their possible interpretations by usual mathematical theories such as real numbers or Cartesian geometry. Hence he gave precise definitions of semantic concepts that had been used informally before. The most important of those concepts a...

This is the inaugural lecture for the Chair of Metaphysics at the University of Amsterdam.

Modern Logic, 1993