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Aristotle invented logic, developing syllogistic logic and laws of non-contradiction. The Stoics and Medievals further developed logic. In the 19th century, Boole invented mathematical logic using algebra to symbolize syllogisms. Frege then invented classical symbolic logic using lines for logical operators. Russell and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica systematized propositional and quantificational logic, becoming the standard formulation. Non-classical logics later arose to supplement classical logic.

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428 views12 pages

History PDF

Aristotle invented logic, developing syllogistic logic and laws of non-contradiction. The Stoics and Medievals further developed logic. In the 19th century, Boole invented mathematical logic using algebra to symbolize syllogisms. Frege then invented classical symbolic logic using lines for logical operators. Russell and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica systematized propositional and quantificational logic, becoming the standard formulation. Non-classical logics later arose to supplement classical logic.

Uploaded by

Issa Chavez
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The History of Logic

Aristotle (384–322 BC) invented logic.


• Predecessors: Fred Flintstone, geometry, sophists,
pre-Socratic philosophers, Socrates & Plato.
• Syllogistic logic, laws of non-contradiction and
excluded middle, modal logic.
• Some logic in a “wider sense”: definitions,
fallacies, inductive reasoning, etc.
• Parallels in “Buddhist logic.”
• The basis for the “traditional logic” that dominated
until the early 20th century.
Pages 351–354
The Stoics developed a rival logic.
• A propositional logic, focusing on “and,” “or,” and
“if-then” (controversies).
• Much about modal logic and determinism.
• Philosophy had three parts: physics, ethics, and
logic.
• Eventually merged with the “traditional logic”
based on Aristotle.

Pages 351–354
The Medievals developed logic further.
• Boethius: modal logic and translations of Aristotle.
• Arab logic and rediscovery of Aristotle’s writings.
• Refined the details: Barbara-Celarent, rules for
valid syllogisms, university textbooks.
• Modal logic, problem of universals, etc.
• Much use of logic in philosophy (e.g. Thomas
Aquinas); we still use many Latin terms in logic
(like “modus ponens” and “a priori”).

Pages 354–356
Renaissance to 19th century logic
• The Enlightenment (e.g. Kant) brought little
progress in logic.
• Leibniz proposed a symbolic logic that would
reduce reasoning to a kind of calculation.
• Hegel and Marx proposed a dialectical logic.
• Others (like De Morgan) proposed new ways to
symbolize logical operations.

Pages 357–358
George Boole (1815–64) invented
“mathematical logic.”
• Letters stand for sets. So “H” might stand for the
set of humans” – and “HM” might stand for the set
of entities that are both humans and mortals. Then
“all humans are mortals” is “H = HM.”
• We can symbolize a syllogism as a series of
equations and validate it algebraically:
All humans are mortal. H = HM
All Greeks are humans. G = GH
Á All Greeks are mortal. Á G = GM
Pages 357–358
• “Boolean algebra” can be interpreted to be about
sets or about statements. For example:

-A The set of non-As Not-A


A∩B The intersection of sets A and B A and B
A∪B The union of sets A and B A or B

• Similar laws cover both interpretations, like


“A∩B = B∩A” and “-(A∩B) = (-A∪-B).”
• Boole wanted mathematicians to take over logic.
But logic today is studied in philosophy, mathe-
matics, and computer science departments.

Pages 357–358
Gottlob Frege (1848–1925) invented
“classical symbolic logic.”
• This overcame the gap between Aristotelian and
Stoic logic in a higher synthesis.
• Frege used lines for “not,” “if-then,” and “all”:
Not-A If A then B For all x

Not all A is non-B


=
(Some A is B)

Pages 358–360
• Frege tried to show that arithmetic was reducible to
logic: every arithmetic truth can be formulated
using just notions of logic and proved using just
axioms and inference rules of logic.
• One of Frege’s axioms said that every condition on
x (like “x is a cat”) picks out a set. But then “x is
not a member of itself” (x ∉ x) picks out a set R
containing just those things that are not members of
themselves. Then:
For all x, x ∈ R if and only if x ∉ x.
Therefore, R ∈ R if and only if R ∉ R.

Pages 358–360
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) tried to
put classical logic on a firmer basis.
• Principia Mathematica (1910–1913, co-authored
with Alfred North Whitehead) used a better
notation and tried to avoid “Russell’s Paradox.”
• This became the standard formulation of classical
symbolic logic – which gradually replaced
traditional logic to became the new orthodoxy.

Pages 358–360
After Principia
• Wittgenstein created truth tables, which gave a
semantic test of validity.
• Principia’s systematization of propositional and
quantificational logic was later shown to be sound
and complete.
• Kurt Gödel in 1931 showed, against Frege and
Russell, that arithmetic was not reducible to any
sound and complete axiomatic system.
• Classical logic played a big role in the birth of
modern computers.
Pages 360–362
Non-classical logics arose.
• Supplementary non-classical logics include modal,
deontic, belief, and temporal logics.
• Deviant non-classical logics include multi-valued
and paraconsistent logic.

Pages 360–362
Logic “in a broad sense” is much pursued.
• Informal logic covers various non-formal skills that
we need to appraise reasoning.
• Inductive logic is about forms of reasoning in
which we extrapolate from observed patterns to
conclude that a given conclusion is probably true.
• Metalogic is the study of formal systems.
• Philosophy of logic deals with wider philosophical
issues raised by logic (like “What is truth?” and
“Are there abstract entities?”).

Pages 360–362

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