RationalBiker Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 I'm looking for some recommendations regarding a good book on Philosophical Logic. Suggestions anyone? Thanks in advance, VES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidOdden Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 I'm looking for some recommendations regarding a good book on Philosophical Logic. Suggestions anyone? Here are two books. One is "An Introduction to Logic", by H.W.B. Joseph. It is weighty and classical. Then tere is Kelley's "The Art of Reasoning" (his name may upset some people). Joseph's book is a very thorough scholarly treatment of classical logic and although it was first printed in 1916 (the writing style is "classic", shall we say), it's back in print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Weiss Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 A good, basic introductory logic is Lionel Ruby's, "Logic: An Introduction". Harry Binswanger reviewed both the Ruby and Joseph logics in the October 2000 issue of TIA which will give you a good overview of their respective merits. http://www.papertig.com/Publishing_TIA_Logic..htm Fred Weiss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearmint Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 What do you mean by philosophical logic? Are you referring more to logical fallacies and critical reasoning, or to the 'symbolic logic' which is generally required to understand much of modern analyric philosophy? If the latter, I would recommend Quine's Methods of Logic which, although outdated, is written in a remarkably clear and entertaining style and treats the subject at a good indtructory level without being either too advanced or too patronizing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted June 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 What do you mean by philosophical logic? In searching the web for books on logic, I notice two distinctions, philosophical logic and mathematical logic. As I haven't read either variety to know the contents, I assumed the one I was interested in was philosophical logic. Perhaps no distinction is necessary. Thanks all for the recommendations! I think Fred's recommendation of Ruby's book might be what I'm looking for now, then perhaps something more advanced later (Joseph's). VES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowzer Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 There are valid applications of mathematical logic, to be sure, but for the most part it is used in philosophy as a tool of obfuscation. Joseph and Ruby would give one more than enough background in philosophical logic but you could move from there to Dr. Peikoff's excellent audio course, Introduction to Logic. There are also many fine books out there by other authors but they are usually written under the heading of "critical reasoning." If you desire still more on the subject I would recommend these texts far ahead of anything on symbolic logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearmint Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 In searching the web for books on logic, I notice two distinctions, philosophical logic and mathematical logic. As I haven't read either variety to know the contents, I assumed the one I was interested in was philosophical logic. Perhaps no distinction is necessary. That's correct in a general sense, but analytic philosophy has slightly blurred the distinction. Symbolic logic is used fairly heavily in analytic philosophy, so its kind of included under the noton of 'philosophical logic', along with the more 'traditional' logic topics such as critical reasoning and suchlike. You'd probably be better off starting with the latter, unless youve got a burning desire to read modern anglo-american philosophy. I'd say the distinction is still valid in that mathematics makes use of far more 'advanced' symbolic logic than that found in philosophy. I doubt there would be a need for any philosophy student to study symbolic logic to this level unless they had a strong interest in (meta)mathematics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted June 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 "critical reasoning." Perhaps that is more in line with what I am seeking. Thanks. So many books, so little time! VES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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