Philosophy 520:  -- Introduction to Philosophical Logic  Fall 2002

Bas C. van Fraassen

Tue 12:30-3:20pm

 

    An introduction to modal logic, as well as some many-valued and para-consistent logics. While there will be considerable emphasis on philosophical motivation and applications, exercises will be assigned to explore both the proof theory and semantics, including basic metatheorems. 

            A textbook (manuscript in progress: Possibilities And Paradox, An Introduction To Modal And Many-Valued Logic, with Jc Beall) will be made available. 

View the draft:
Table of Contents
BIBLIOGRAPHY

         In addition to the text book, philosophical papers using the techniques and concepts under discussion will also be part of the course content, and will be made available along the way.

 

Outline of the main topics:

-- a unified approach to modal and many-valued logic

-- logics and languages:  semantic concepts, consequence relations

-- the normal modal logics, proof techniques  and intuitive semantics

-- variations:  non-normal modalities, intuitionistic logic, logic of conditionals

-- philosophical motivations for many-valued logic

-- relevance logic, tautological entailment,  and the logic of paradox

-- metatheory:  expressive and deductive completeness, finite model property, decidability

 

The following have so far been requested for Electronic Course Reserve :

  • B. Jack Copeland, "The Genesis of Possible World Semantics" , Journal of Philosophical Logic, 31 , pp. 99-137
  • Bas C. van Fraassen, "The Logic of Conditional Obligation" , Journal Philosophical Logic, 1 , pp. 417-438.
  • G. H. von Wright, "Truth as modality. A contribution to the logic of sense and nonsense" , Modality, Morality and Other Problems of Sense and Nonsense, pp. 142-150.
  • Hannson, B. and P. Gaerdenfors, "A guide to intensional semantics" , Modality, Morality and Other Problems of Sense and Nonsense, 151-167
  • Herman Weyl, "The Ghost of Modality" , Philosophical Essays in Memory of Edmund Husserl, pp. 278-303 (Book edited by M. Farber)
  • Fred Seymour Michael, "Entailment and bivalence" , Journal of Philosophical Logic, vol 31 #4 August , 2002
  • J. Hintikka, "Modality and quantification" , Models for Modalities, 57-70
  • J. Hintikka, "Semantics for propositional attitudes" , Models for Modalities, 87-111
  • N. Rescher, "Many-valued logic" , Topics in Philosophical Logic, pp. 54-125, 6278.761
  • N. Rescher, "The logic of existence" , Topics in Philosophical Logic, pp. 138-161
  • R. H. Thomason, "Modal logic and metaphysics" , The Logical Way of Doing Things, ed. K. Lambert = = = = = =