Abstract

In this compact volume the author gives a sprightly introduction to modern symbolic logic, at no time side-stepping philosophical problems concerning the nature of formal logic. The first chapter is a brief comparison of traditional syllogistic logic and modern "logistic"; the next three chapters deal with the nature of logic as illustrated through various elementary logical systems: logic as ontology, logic as theory of language, logic as methodology of deductive sciences. Hasenjaeger then examines richer systems—many-sorted, those with definite descriptors, etc.—and then the paradoxes. A chapter follows concerning logic developed in a combinatory style and its connections with the idea of a generative theory of formal structures—structures as calculi of concepts. The last chapter discusses formal logic as a branch of probability theory and inductive logic. This well-presented book would serve well in a study of the philosophy of mathematics and logic.—P. J. M.