Plural Logic: Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged

Oliver, Alex und Timothy Smiley:

ISBN 10: 0199570426 / ISBN 13: 9780199570423

Editore: Oxford University Press, 2013

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336 Seiten Innen sehr sauberer, guter Zustand. Leineneinband, mit den üblichen Bibliotheks-Markierungen, Stempeln und Einträgen, innen wie außen, siehe Bilder. B06-03-03A||A85 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 680 2., überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage,. Codice articolo 72773

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Titolo: Plural Logic: Second Edition, Revised and ...

Casa editrice: Oxford University Press

Data di pubblicazione: 2013

Legatura: 24 x 16 cm

Condizione: Gut

Condizione sovraccoperta: sovraccoperta

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto:

Alex Oliver and Timothy Smiley provide a natural point of entry to what for most readers will be a new subject. Plural logic deals with plural terms ('Whitehead and Russell', 'Henry VIII's wives', 'the real numbers', 'the square roots of -1', 'they'), plural predicates ('surrounded the fort', 'are prime', 'are consistent', 'imply'), and plural quantification ('some things', 'any things'). Current logic is singularist: its terms stand for at most one thing. By contrast, the foundational thesis of this book is that a particular term may legitimately stand for several things at once; in other words, there is such a thing as genuinely plural denotation. The authors argue that plural phenomena need to be taken seriously and that the only viable response is to adopt a plural logic, a logic based on plural denotation. They expound a framework of ideas that includes the distinction between distributive and collective predicates, the theory of plural descriptions, multivalued functions, and lists. A formal system of plural logic is presented in three stages, before being applied to Cantorian set theory as an illustration.

Technicalities have been kept to a minimum, and anyone who is familiar with the classical predicate calculus should be able to follow it. The authors' approach is an attractive blend of no-nonsense argumentative directness and open-minded liberalism, and they convey the exciting and unexpected richness of their subject. Mathematicians and linguists, as well as logicians and philosophers, will find surprises in this book.

Recensione:

In their clear and combative style, they introduce the relevant notions and offer rebuttals to arguments that would oppose their own positions. . . . Oliver and Smiley's book is full of careful and precise developments, as well as witty arguments. . . . provides a good survey of plural logic and the most important issues connected to it (David A. Nicolas, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews)

A veritable tour de force. (Lloyd Humberstone, Australasian Journal of Philosophy)

Throughout the book the exposition is clear; the arguments cogent; the formalism as transparent as can be. Proofs are relegated to appendices. This is a rewarding book. It deserves study in any course in philosophical or mathematical logic, and a place in every logicians library (Louis F Goble, zbmath)