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2011, Synthese
This is a personal, incomplete, and very informal take on the role of logic in general philosophy of science, which is aimed at a broader audience. We defend and advertise the application of logical methods in philosophy of science, starting with the beginnings in the Vienna Circle and ending with some more recent logical developments.
The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Science, 2008
Synthese
Foundations of science, 2004
In this paper I argue for a place for logic in scientific methodology, at the same level as that of computational and historical approaches. While it is well known that a a whole generation of philosophers dismissed Logical Positivism (not just for the logic though), there are at least two reasons to reconsider logical approaches in the philosophy of science. On the one hand, the present situation in logical research has gone far beyond the formal developments that deductive logic reached last century, and new research includes the formalization of several other types of reasoning, like induction and abduction. On the other hand, we call for a balanced Philosophy of Science, one in which both methods, the formal and the historical may be complementary, together providing a pluralistic view of science, in which no method is the predominant one.
2004
Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science aims to reconsider the question of the unity of science in light of recent developments in logic. At present, no single logical, semantical or methodological framework dominates the philosophy of science. However, the editors of this series believe that formal techniques like, for example, independence friendly logic, dialogical logics, multimodal logics, game theoretic semantics and linear logics, have the potential to cast new light no basic issues in the discussion of the unity of science. This series provides a venue where philosophers and logicians can apply specific technical insights to fundamental philosophical problems. While the series is open to a wide variety of perspectives, including the study and analysis of argumentation and the critical discussion of the relationship between logic and the philosophy of science, the aim is to provide an integrated picture of the scientific enterprise in all its diversity.
Springer, Cham, 2013
Despite strenuous efforts by its proponents, the contemporary form of logic, mathematical logic, has generally failed to convince mathematicians, natural scientists and human scientists of its relevance to their work, increasingly so in the last few decades. This contrasts with the reputation logic enjoyed in antiquity, not only as one of the main parts of philosophy, but also as a supplier of instruments for the sciences. The purpose of this book is to explain how the present condition of logic came about and to propose an alternative to it. To this end, the book first gives an overview of how logic and its relation to the scientific method have been conceived in antiquity and in the modern age, because this provides indications for a new approach to the subject. Then the book proposes a new view of logic and its relation to evolution, language, reason, method and knowledge, particularly mathematical knowledge. It also proposes a new view of philosophy and its relation to knowledge, because seeing logic in a wider context helps to place it on a more satisfactory basis. In terms of the proposed new view, logic is primarily a logic of discovery. Accordingly, the book deals with the rules of discovery.
2010
In this tutorial, we present a general discussion on the relevance of the logical analysis of empirical theories, which is identified with the axiomatization of the relevant theories, giving special emphasis to physics. The concept of Suppes Predicate is introduced and some case studies are presented. The role of the 'background'set theory used for defining the predicate is discussed. In the last part, a particular topic involving quantum mechanics plus a metaphysics of non-individual entities is discussed.
Synthese, 2019
This special issue of Synthese is in honor of Gerhard Schurz, our good friend and colleague, who contributed to philosophy in a multitude of novel and interesting ways. The idea to do such a special issue was born at a symposium on the occasion of Gerhard's 60th birthday back then in 2016. As a fun fact, the final publication of the special issue in print might be quite close to his 65th birthday in 2021. So in some sense this special issue can be expected to kill two birds with one stone. Let us start this introduction with a few words on Gerhard's life and work and on the guest editors' own relationship to him. We then zoom in and will say more about this special issue, followed by a brief description of its content.
1999
I The possibility of formulating a logic of discovery appeared to have been discarded given the attitude adopted in this regard by the philosophers who developed the standard conception of science. Beginning several decades ago, nonetheless, reactions against this conception have revived interest in the problem. Nowadays, there is a notable tendency to consider the philosophical relevance of the problem of discovery and, as a consequence, 'proposals have been advanced for characterizing the procedures which lead to scientific discoveries. Disconformity with the classical view resides, mainly, in the belief that its principal proponents have utilized a conception that is too narrow in a rational sense and, thus, have excluded from their analysis those aspects of scientific activity that do not conform to a strict logical examination. It is not simple, however, to establish the terms of this debate. There are various interlocking questions and diverse nuances that emerge. Hence, some authors identify rationality with the existence of rules such as those in deductive or inductive logic 1. Others, in contrast, conceive of rationality in a broader sense that includes the consideration of facts, objectives, values, scientific traditions, etc. A third group of authors shares with the more orthodox thinkers the idea that logic should be interpreted in a restricted sense; but I In the present text, for reasons of space, we are not concerned with research carried out in the field of Artificial Intelligence as related to the problem of scientific discovery. However, we consider that the interesting contributions resulting from the design of computer programs which permit the reconstruction of certain scientific discoveries (cf. Langley e.a. 1987) would not alter, fundamentally, our conclusions.
2010
This chapter presents some aspects of the logic and methodology of science within the framework of the philosophy of science. This, as well as the history of science, the psychology of science, the sociology of science, the anthropology of science, the politics of science, and the economics of science, is part of the so-called metascientific studies or science studies or, more precisely, studies about science, which have science as its object of study, with the aim of understanding both its nature and the way it functions, better. Nevertheless, since it makes a reflection on science from philosophy, it is also a part of it. The present chapter could be considered an introduction to certain subjects which we consider central and basic in metascientific reflection in general and philosophical reflection on science in particular. These subjects are the nature and function of philosophy of science (Section 1), the scientific concepts and the test and evaluation of hypotheses (Section 2), the notions of scientific law and explanation
A Companion to Polish Christian Philosophy of the 20th and 21st Centuries, 2020
Certainly, there is no uniquely Christian methodology of sciences or—all the more—a uniquely Christian logic. That is why this presentation is focused on the results concerning logic and methodology of sciences achieved in the Polish centers of 20th century Christian thought, and it is limited to the places and people of greater significance—usually to the founders of a given center or school. Nevertheless, we shall also provide some information about their co-workers and students— mainly the followers and continuators whose works were important for Christian philosophy, and we shall mention those who apply logic and methodological skills learnt in a given place outside Christian philosophy. Logic is understood in a broad manner: it includes logical semiotics, formal logic and the methodology of sciences, traditional and mathematical logic, as well as studies of historians and philosophers of logic; and the methodology of sciences, apart from the general methodology shared with logic, also includes methodologies of particular disciplines, especially the methodology of philosophy and theology
2010
Abstract. The advent of quantum mechanics in the early 20th Century had profound consequences for science and mathematics, for philosophy (Schrödinger), and for logic (von Neumann). In 1968, Putnam wrote that quantum mechanics required a revolution in our understanding of logic per se. However, applications of quantum logics have been little ex-plored outside the quantum domain. Dummett saw some implications of quantum logic for truth, but few philosophers applied similar intuitions to epistemology or ontology. Logic remained a truth-functional ’science’ of correct propositional reasoning. Starting in 1935, the Franco-Romanian thinker Stéphane Lupasco described a logical system based on the inherent dialectics of energy and accordingly expressed in and applicable to complex real processes at higher levels of reality. Unfortunately, Lupasco’s fifteen major publica-tions in French went unrecognized by mainstream logic and philosophy, and unnoticed outside a Francophone intellectual co...
E-LOGOS, 2020
The paper discusses the unexpected trends in the most modern forms of philosophy and science. The traditional differences in the roles of philosophy and science can be traced back to Kant: natural sciences refer to possible experience; philosophy as metaphysics does not affect experience at all. Today, there are very different trends. Some physical theories (such as string theory) have a highly theoretical character and cannot be proved by empirical experiments. A new approach has been developed in philosophy too: experimental philosophy, which makes use of empirical data to inform research on philosophical questions. Are these approaches just contradictions in terms or rather new styles of reasoning? The goal is not a deep analysis of x-phi or string theory but a reflection on the context between tradition and new trends in philosophy and science which are still rather marginal but may play an important role in the future.
EMPIRISME HUMIEN DANS L'OEUVRE DE JEUNESSE DU PHILOSOPHE JAPONNAIS ÔMORI SHÔZÔ ? Le but de cette communication est d'abord de présenter la logique et la philosophie telles que le philosophe japonais Ômori Shôzô la perçoit. Deuxièmement, nous nous attellerons à la tâche d’ordonner cette vision et par-là dégager les points importants qui constituent sa pensée de jeunesse. Troisièmement, nous comparerons cette pensée avec celle de David Hume. Ômori Shôzô est empiriste et pour lui le défi est d’expliquer qu'en référence avec la nécessité des phrases logiquement vraie, cette nécessité doit être fondée sur l'expérience. Nous voulons préciser ici que Ômori Shôzô est armé de perspicacité par rapport à cette question. Pour nous préparer à ce problème, nous allons décrire des observations banales au sujet du mot 論理学 (ronrigaku – trad. logique, science de la logique). Car il s'agit bien de nous situer dans le langage vernaculaire qui accueille la pensée de Ômori, le japonais. Dans ces limites nous pouvons dégager deux concepts celui de 論理 (ronri – trad. logique) et de 学 (gaku – trad. science). Comme l'idéogramme 学signifie le fait de faire une étude, nous pouvons comprendre que les termes de 論理学font référence à l'étude de la logique. Cette dernière différenciation est au regard de la pensée Ômoricienne extrêmement importante. C'est à partir de cette séparation que nous aborderons la philosophie de la logique telle que présentée par Ômori. Fort de cette analyse nous parlerons donc §1 du sens de la logique pour voir ensuite §2 son sens compris en tant que science. Dans une troisième partie, à partir de la logique comprise en tant que science nous discuterons §3 la provenance de la nécessité que comportent en elles les phrases logiques. Pour finir, §4 nous comparerons ces résultats avec ceux de l' « harmonie préétablie » humienne synonyme de notre tendance machinale à uniformiser le cours de la nature des choses par la nécessité.
2015
-- Citation information: Christian, A., Feldbacher, C. J., Gebharter, A., & Retzlaff, N. (2015). European Philosophy of Science Association, 23-26 September [Conference report]. The Reasoner, 9(11), 95.
Studia Logica, 2010
This special issue on The Contributions of Logic to the Foundations of Physics, is the result of the sixth International Studia Logica Conference Trends in Logic VI held in Brussels on December 11-12, 2008. The conference was organized by the Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science and the Center Leo Apostel at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The main goal of this conference was to present current trends situated at the interface of Logic and the Foundations of Physics. The conference brought together researchers from both fields, giving them a forum to present new developments, exchange ideas, explore and establish new connections between logic and physics. On the one hand, we hosted technical contributions on the use of new methods and techniques coming from logic, computation and information theory to axiomatize and model physical theories and to reason about their concepts, phenomena and/or applications. On the other hand, we hosted contributions coming from the foundations and philosophy of physics dealing with the general conceptual framework and with questions of interpretation. The conference was a success with 56 registered participants, 7 invited lectures and two full parallel sessions of contributed talks spread over two days.
Felsefe Arkivi - Archives of Philosophy
Having drawn the distinction between logic as a discipline and logic as organon, this short paper focuses on the latter, the purpose of which is twofold. First, it highlights the importance of second-order logic and modal logic in ontology. To this aim, the role of second-order logic is illustrated in formalizing realist ontology committing to the existence of properties. It is also emphasized how quantified modal logic helps clarify de re/de dicto distinction that implicitly takes place in ordinary language. Secondly, the paper concentrates on the significance of modal logic in the philosophy of language. In pursuing this goal, we considered Kripke's notions of rigid designator, necessary a posteriori and contingent a priori statements. Given the definition of rigid designator, it is possible to prove in quantified modal logic that an identity between proper names, like "Hesperus" and "Phosphorus", if true, is necessarily true. But the truth of the identity statement "Hesperus = Phosphorus" is known a posteriori. Therefore, there are necessary a posteriori truths. There are also contingent a priori true statements like "The length of stick S at time t 0 = one meter", as there exists a possible world in which this statement is false.
Springer eBooks, 2021
Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science aims to reconsider the question of the unity of science in light of recent developments in logic. At present, no single logical, semantical or methodological framework dominates the philosophy of science. However, the editors of this series believe that formal frameworks, for example, constructive type theory, deontic logics, dialogical logics, epistemic logics, modal logics, and proof-theoretical semantics, have the potential to cast new light on basic issues in the discussion of the unity of science. This series provides a venue where philosophers and logicians can apply specific systematic and historic insights to fundamental philosophical problems. While the series is open to a wide variety of perspectives, including the study and analysis of argumentation and the critical discussion of the relationship between logic and philosophy of science, the aim is to provide an integrated picture of the scientific enterprise in all its diversity. This book series is indexed in SCOPUS.
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