Philosophy of logic is the branch of philosophy that studies the scope and nature of logic. It investigates the philosophical problems raised by logic, including how logic is to be defined, how different logical systems are connected to each other, the nature of the fundamental concepts used by logic, and its relation to other disciplines. Various characterizations of the nature of logic are found in the academic literature: logic is often seen as the study of correct reasoning, valid inference, or logical consequence, a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises in a topic-neutral manner, independent of the specific subject matter discussed. The philosophy of logic also investigates the nature and philosophical implications of logic's fundamental concepts, including the problem of truth, the nature of premises and conclusions, and the metaphysical status of the laws and objects of logic; a central dispute in the field is between realists, who hold that logic is based on facts that have mind-independent existence, and anti-realists such as conventionalists, who hold that the laws of logic are based on the conventions governing the use of language.
Facts
Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own accountWhat is logic, and how is it to be defined: as the study of valid inference, of logical truth, or of some more fundamental notion that unifies the many rival formal systems calling themselves logics? 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether the laws of logic are objective features of reality that are discovered, the position of logical realism, or whether they instead reduce to human psychology or to the linguistic conventions of a community, the anti-realist positions of psychologism and conventionalism. 1 Disputed
Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountLogical monism versus logical pluralism: whether exactly one logic is the single correct account of valid inference or whether several distinct logical systems can each be correct for different areas of discourse. 1 Connections
Associated With
Frege's Begriffsschrift (1879) founded modern formal/mathematical logic and, with it, the philosophical study of logic as a discipline distinct from Aristotelian syllogistic.
Quine's Philosophy of Logic (1970) and "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (1951), challenging the analytic-synthetic distinction logic had rested on, are core texts of the field.
Sources
1. Philosophy of Logic (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIntroduction
Philosophy of logic is the branch of philosophy that studies the scope and nature of logic. It investigates the philosophical problems raised by logic, such as the presuppositions often implicitly at work in theories of logic and in their application.
Types of logics section
Monism is the thesis that only one logic is correct while pluralism allows different alternative logical systems to be correct for different areas of discourse.
Metaphysics of logic section, on logical realism
Logical realists hold that the laws of logic are objective, i.e. independent of humans and their ways of thinking. On this view, the structures found in logic are structures of the world itself.
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