The Idea of Logic - Historical Perspectives

June 25-26, 2015

Workshop organized by

Juliette Lemaire

Centre Léon Robin
Paris Sorbonne University - France

Amirouche Moktefi

Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia

Throughout most of the history of Western philosophy, there has been a closely related (sub-) discipline called ‘logic’. However, the common name should not conceal the marked differences among what counted as logic at different times. In other words, despite the stable name, logic as a discipline is not characterized by a stable scope throughout its history. True enough, the historical influence of Aristotelian logic over the centuries is something of a common denominator, but even within the Aristotelian tradition there is significant variability. Furthermore, as is well known, in the 19th century logic as a discipline underwent a radical modification, with the birth of mathematical logic. The current situation is of logic having strong connections with multiple disciplines – philosophy, mathematics, computer science, linguistics – which again illustrates its multifaceted nature.

The changing scope of logic through its history also has important philosophical implications: is there such a thing as the essence of logic, permeating all these different developments? Or is the unity of logic as a discipline an illusion? What can the study of the changing scope of logic through its history tell us about the nature of logic as such? What do the different languages used for logical inquiry – regimented natural languages, diagrams, logical formalisms – mean for the practices and results obtained? 

Call for papers

This special UNILOG session will focus on both the diversity and the unity of logic through time. Topics may include:

• Historical analyses on what specific logicians or logic traditions considered to be the nature and scope of logic.
• Historical analyses illustrating differences in scope and techniques with respect to the current conception of logic, but also suggesting points of contact and commonalities between these past traditions and current developments (possibly by means of formalizations)
• Historical and philosophical discussions on the place of logic among the sciences and its applications/relations with other disciplines, now and then.
• Discussions of the logical monism vs. logical pluralism issue in view of the historical diversity/unity of logic over time
• General philosophical reflections on what (if anything) the diversity of scope and practice in the history of logic can tell us about the nature of logic and the role of universal logic as such.

Abstracts for this workshop should be sent to:

moktefi@unistra.fr

Keynote Speaker

Elena Dragalina-Chernaya
University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
"The ontology of logical form: formal ontology vs. formal deontology"

Roman Murawski
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland,
"On the way to modern logic -- the case of Polish logic" of logic"

Contributing Speakers

Madjid Amini, Virginia State University, Petersburg, USA, Logical and non-logical lexicons: Was Tarski right that there are no objective grounds to draw a sharp boundary between them?

Francesco Bellucci, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, Logic as semiotic: Peirce’s philosophy of logic

Gudio Bonino, University of Turin, Italy, Logic and its place in philosophy. T.H. Green and the idealistic view

Elena Ficara, Dpt of Philosophy, University of Paderborn, Germany, Metaphysics as "Natural Logic" in Hegel

Max Gottschlich, Dpt of Philosophy, University of Linz, Austria, The import of formal logic with respect to knowledge: The fundamental question of the ‘Critique of Pure Reason’

Anna-Sophie Heinemann Dpt of Philosophy, Paderborn University, Germany The notion of logical form and its application in Boole and Jevons

Per Lennart Landgren, Oxford University, UK, Logic as physics. On logic and the Aristotelian concept of historia, according to the Paduan philosopher Jacobus Zabarella

José Veríssimo Teixeira da Mata Advisory Board of The Brazilian Chamber of Representatives, Brasilia, Brazil Frege and Aristotle about the logical foundation of mathematical functions, or Aristotle translated by Frege

Daniel Mezzadri, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, Logic, Judgement and Inference. What Frege Should Have Said about Illogical Thought

Amirouche Moktefi, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, Does the problem of elimination belong to the serious business of logic?

Mohammad Shafiei, IHPST/University of Paris 1, Paris, France, Husserl's idea of pure logic: constructive or axiomatic?