CFP - What is/was logic? Historical perspectives
The upcoming Universal logic (Unilog) congress, taking place in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil (
3-7 April 2013,
http://uni-log.org/start4.html ),
will be hosting a special session on the scope of logic through
history: "What is/was logic? Historical perspectives"
organizers: Catarina Dutilh Novaes and Amirouche Moktefi.
The keynote speaker is
Anita
Feferman.
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 special session
(around 1000 words) should be submitted by email to
history.u...@gmail.com
by November 1st 2012
Further inquiries can
also be directed to this email address or to one of the
organizers.