TheLogician.net © Avi Sion, 2008.
A Thematic Compilation
The Thematic Compilations are collections of essays on a specified topic drawn from Avi Sion’s past works.
The Laws of Thought
The Laws of Thought is an exploration of the deductive and inductive foundations of rational thought. The author here clarifies and defends Aristotle’s Three Laws of Thought, called the Laws of Identity, Non-contradiction and Exclusion of the Middle – and introduces two more, which are implicit in and crucial to them: the Fourth Law of Thought, called the Principle of Induction, and the Fifth Law of Thought, called the Principle of Deduction. This book is a thematic compilation drawn from past works by the author over a period of twenty three years. (Second edition, 2014.)
The Laws of Thought is now available online at: avisionlawsofthought.bravesites.com
Chapter One – The Foundations of Logic |
Drawn from Future Logic (1990), chapter 2. |
1. The Law of Identity |
2. The Law of Contradiction |
3. The Law of the Excluded Middle |
Chapter Two – Logical Relations |
Drawn from Future Logic (1990), chapter 3 (part of section 3 omitted). |
1. True or False |
2. Branches of Logic |
3. Tools of Logic |
4. Axioms of Logic |
Chapter Three – Credibility |
Drawn from Future Logic (1990), chapter 20 (sections 1-3). |
1. Ground of the Laws |
2. Functions of the Laws |
3. More on Credibility |
Chapter Four – Paradoxes |
Drawn from Future Logic (1990), chapter 31 (sections 1 & 2). |
1. Internal Inconsistency |
2. The Stolen Concept Fallacy |
Chapter Five – Double Paradoxes |
Drawn from Future Logic (1990), chapter 32. |
1. Definition |
2. The Liar Paradox |
3. The Barber Paradox |
Chapter Six |
1. The Tetralemma |
2. Nagarjuna’s Misinterpretation |
3. Neither Real Nor Unreal |
4. Common Way vs. Middle Way |
Chapter Seven |
Drawn from Phenomenology (2003), chapter 1 (sections 1 & 2). |
1. Phenomenology |
2. Knowledge is Based On Appearance |
Chapter Eight |
Drawn from Phenomenology (2003), chapter 2 (sections 2 & 3). |
1. Appearance and Other Large Concepts |
2. Material, Mental, Intuitive, Abstract |
Chapter Nine – Compatibility or Incompatibility |
Drawn from Phenomenology (2003), chapter4 (section 2). |
1. Apprehension |
2. Explications |
3. Negation |
4. Primaries |
Chapter Ten |
Drawn from Phenomenology (2003), chapter 7 (section 3) and chapter 4 (section 5). |
1. Logical Attitudes |
2. Unity In Plurality |
Chapter Eleven |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 1 (sections 1-3). |
1. Dialectical Reasoning |
2. Genesis of Axioms |
3. Paradoxical Propositions |
Chapter Twelve |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 1 (sections 4-6). |
1. Contradiction |
2. Varieties of Contradiction |
3. Double Standards |
Chapter Thirteen |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 1 (sections 7-10). |
1. Special Status of the Laws |
2. Motors of Rational Thought |
3. Cogito, Ergo Sum |
4. Concerning Identity |
Chapter Fourteen |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 2 (section 17). |
1. Appearance, Reality and Illusion |
2. Existence and Non-existence |
Chapter Fifteen |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 3 (section 5), chapter 5 (section 1) and chapter 6 (sections 3 & 4). |
1. Poles of Duality |
2. On the Liar paradox |
3. Non-Aristotelian “Logic” |
4. Postmodern “Logic” |
Chapter Sixteen – On Negation |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 9 (sections 1-4). |
1. Negation in Adduction |
2. Positive and Negative Phenomena |
3. Positive Experience Precedes Negation |
4. Negation is an Intention |
Chapter Seventeen – On Negation |
Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 9 (sections 5-8). |
1. Formal Consequences |
2. Negation and the Laws of Thought |
3. Pure Experience |
4. Consistency is Natural |
Chapter Eighteen – The Principle of Induction |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), Hume’s Problems with Induction, chapter 2. |
1. The Uniformity Principle |
2. The Principle of Induction |
3. Regarding Husserl |
4. The Flexibility of Induction |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 2. |
1. Briefly Put |
2. Antagonism to the Laws |
3. Counterarguments |
4.Our Pedestrian Path |
Chapter Twenty |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 3 & chapter 4. |
1. Ontological Status of the Laws |
2. The Need for a Subject |
3. Fuzzy Logic |
4. Stick to Logic |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 5. |
1. Ups and Downs of Aristotelianism |
2. Aristotle Bashing |
3. Aristotle’s Dynamism |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 6. |
1. How to Validate Logic? |
2. The Inductive Nature of Knowledge |
3. The Crucial Role of Negation |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 7. |
1. Truth vs. Proof |
2. Double Negation |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 8. |
1. Misleading Symbolism |
2. Upping the Ante |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 9. |
1. Mitigating Clarifications |
2. Examples |
3. Doing Rather than Talking |
4. Imprecise Language |
Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), In Defense of Aristotle’s Laws of Thought, chapter 20. |
1. Cognitive Virtues |
2. The Absurdity of the Antitheses |
Chapter Twenty Seven – Understanding the Laws of Thought |
1. Adapting the Laws of Thought |
2. Two More Laws of Thought |
Chapter Twenty Eight – Assaults on Logic |
Drawn from A Fortiori Logic (2013), chapter 12.1 and appendix 7.3 |
1. Zen’s Anti-logic |
2. The Vanity of the Tetralemma |
Chapter Twenty Nine – Modern Logic |
Drawn from A Fortiori Logic (2013), appendices 7.1-2. |
1. Modern Symbolic Logic |
2. The Existential Import Doctrine |
Chapter Thirty – The Liar and Russell Paradoxes (Redux) |
Drawn from A Fortiori Logic (2013), appendices 7.4-5. |
1. The Liar Paradox (Redux) |
2. The Russell Paradox (Redux) |