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The Logician © Avi Sion All rights reserved |
FUTURE
LOGIC: Categorical and
Conditional Deduction and Induction
of
the Natural, Temporal, Extensional and Logical
Modalities.
The science of Logic stands at the interface between the two main
branches of Philosophy, namely Epistemology (the study of knowing) and Ontology
(the study of being). Its task is to determine precisely the way people can and
do get to know the world around them. Its role is both descriptive and
prescriptive. Its means include: observation of common thought-processes and
everyday language, analysis of recurring patterns and components, and evaluation
with reference to rational and empirical criteria. Logic is thus a study of
form, irrespective of content. Future
Logic
is an original, wide-ranging, profound and timeless treatise of formal logic,
intended for both the uninitiated and the specialist.
What do we mean when we say that something is 'necessarily', 'actually'
or 'possibly' so and so? These so-called 'modalities' are attributes of
relations, and they vary in meaning. For each category of modality (like
necessity or possibility), there are several types of modality (the natural, the
temporal, the extensional, the logical, and others), and each of these
modalities serves a distinct purpose, expressing some aspect of reality or the
state of our knowledge about it. Each category and type of modality has its own
peculiar logical properties, and a host of relations to the various others. Future
Logic
demonstrates the centrality of modal concepts in human knowledge and in the
processes leading to it. Starting with precise definitions of the various
categories and types of modality, it develops a systematic study of reasoning
processes involving them, which not only retraces past achievements in the field
but also enables a great many new discoveries.
Modality is significant not only in the study of categorical
propositions, but also in that of conditional propositions. There are as many
forms of conditioning as there are categories and types of modality; and while
some of their logical properties are similar, many are quite different. What
this means in practise, is that we cannot reason properly without awareness of
these differences. The study of conditioning is of fundamental importance to an
understanding of causal relations. Future
Logic
is the first work ever
to develop a thorough formal study of the natural, temporal and extensional
types of conditioning (as well as logical conditioning), including their
production from modal categorical premises.
Our knowledge of things is of very variable certainty: some of it seems
solidly established almost immediately and forever, some of it requires a lot of
work to acquire and seems tentative and open to revision. This observation
suggests a distinction between 'deductive' and 'inductive' logic. Each of these
fields comprises a multitude of specific processes, which require detailed
investigation. While deductive processes have traditionally received much
attention, logicians have done little formal work in relation to inductive
processes, apart from the crucial and relatively recent elucidation of adduction
(the processes of confirmation or elimination of hypotheses). Future
Logic
is the first work ever
to strictly formalize the inductive processes of generalization and
particularization, through the novel methods of factorial analysis, factor
selection and formula revision.
Science (i.e. the special sciences) and logical philosophy have
throughout history fed off each other. The practises of scientists have often
caused theoretical reflections by logicians; indeed, many scientists were
themselves logicians. Likewise, the methodological principles clarified by
logicians have often facilitated and improved the work of scientists. Future
Logic is a revision of the 'scientific method', challenging scientists with new,
more rigorous methodological standards, but also providing them with finer
cognitive tools likely to greatly enrich science. (Hence, the book's title.)
©
Avi Sion, 1990 (Rev. ed. 1996). All rights reserved. |
