Differential Logic

[Jon Awbrey]

Differential Logic • Overview
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2026/02/03/differential-logic-overview-b/

A reader once told me “venn diagrams are obsolete” and of course
we all know how unwieldy they become as our universes of discourse
expand beyond four or five dimensions. Indeed, one of the first
lessons I learned when I set about implementing Peirce’s graphs
and Spencer Brown’s forms on the computer is that 2‑dimensional
representations of logic quickly become death traps on numerous
conceptual and computational counts.

Still, venn diagrams do us good service at the outset in visualizing the
relationships among extensional, functional, and intensional aspects of
logic. A facility with those connections is critical to the computational
applications and statistical generalizations of propositional logic commonly
used in mathematical and empirical practice.

All things considered, then, it is useful to make the links between
various styles of imagery in logical representation as visible as
possible. The first few steps in that direction are set out in
the sketch of Differential Logic to follow.

Resources —

Logic Syllabus
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/logic-syllabus/

Survey of Differential Logic
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2025/05/03/survey-of-differential-logic-8/

Survey of Animated Logical Graphs
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2025/05/02/survey-of-animated-logical-graphs-8/

Regards,

Jon

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