Looking for Logico-Philosophical Articles

Appeared in Volume 7/3, August 1994


pkremer@epas.utoronto.ca 
Philip Kremer
18th March 1994

I am trying to compile a list of *Philosophy* articles that use the tools of logic in some central way. Putnam's "Models and Reality" is a classic example of the kind of article I am looking for: it draws significant conclusions concerning realism and such, on the basis of the Lowenheim-Skolem theorem. I am sure that there are articles that rely on Goedel's theorem to draw conclusions concerning Artificial Intelligence, or the bounds of the knowable, or some such thing.

Another kind of article that I have in mind is something like Hempel's "Aspects of Scientific Explanation", which uses the syntax and proof theory of first-order classical logic to give an account of scientific explanation. This fits into a class of articles that use the formalisms of some branch of logic to articulate a theory in some other domain.

In general, I am looking for articles whose dialectic depends on the use of logic in more broadly philosophical contexts. I suppose that even some of Davidson's work on Tarski's theory of truth fits in -- though less obviously so than the articles I have mentioned.


lehmke@LS1.informatik.uni-dortmund.de 
Stephan Lehmke
18th March 1994

This may be off the subject, but try:

Allen Newell, "The Knowledge Level", AI Journal, 1982, Vol. 18, pp.87-127

There is an article by McCarthy and Hayes, the name of which escapes me, but it was something like "Philosophical Considerations from the Viewpoint of Artificial Intelligence".


paulr@fc.hp.com 
Paul Rolig
21st March 1994

I would suggest looking at "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology" by Ayn Rand, with additions by Leonard Peikoff. It does not reference the formal logic articles you mention, but it makes the case for using reason and rationality as central tools for understanding reality, and presents a coherent treatment of a theory of concepts, knowledge, etc.


ph@anweald.exnet.co.uk 
Patrick Herring
18th March 1994

I found when doing a philosophy degree that the formalisms of mathematical logic were ever-present but un-stated. I was told that philosophers tend to see using a formal system as a waste of time since it is the philosophical foundations of the system that are being discussed. Philosophers don't need to build on the ground they clear and they see such building as 'obvious', though the 'surprising' results in mathematical logic (e.g. Goedel) are still surprising.

What I'm trying to say is that philosophers won't normally use the tools of mathematical logic because philosophy is 'before' mathematical logic. 'Philosophical logic' (eg you mentioned Davidson) is a very big subject.

I would suggest having a look at the newsgroup sci.philosophy.tech