Handbook of Philosophical Logic: Volume I: Elements of Classical Logic (Synthese Library) (Volume 1): 164 - Tapa blanda

The aim of the first volume of the present Handbook of Philosophical Logic is essentially two-fold: First of all, the chapters in this volume should provide a concise overview of the main parts of classical logic. Second, these chapters are intended to present all the relevant background material necessary for the understanding of the contributions which are to follow in the next three volumes. We have thought it to be of importance that the connections between classical logic and its 'extensions' (covered in Volume 11) as well as its most important 'alternatives' (covered in Volume Ill) be brought out clearly from the start. The first chapter presents a clear and detailed picture of the range of what is generally taken to be the standard logical framework, namely, predicate (or first-order quantificational) logic. On the one hand, this chapter surveys both propositionai logic and first-order predicate logic and, on the other hand, presents the main metalogical results obtained for them. Chapter 1. 1 also contains a discussion of the limits of first-order logic, i. e. it presents an answer to the question: Why has predicate logic played such a formidable role in the formalization of mathematics and in the many areas of philo­ sophical and linguistic applications? Chapter 1. 1 is prerequisite for just about all the other chapters in the entire Handbook, while the other chapters in Volume I provide more detailed discussions of material developed or hinted at in the first chapter.

This second edition of the Handbook of Philosophical Logic reflects great changes in the landscape of philosophical logic since the first edition. It gives readers an idea of that landscape and its relation to computer science and formal language and artificial intelligence. It shows how the increased demand for philosophical logic from computer science and artificial intelligence and computational linguistics accelerated the development of the subject directly and indirectly. This development in turn, directly pushed research forward, stimulated by the needs of applications. New logic areas becameestablished and old areas were enriched and expanded. At the same time, it socially provided employment for generations of logicians residing in computer science, linguistics and electrical engineering departments which of course helped keep the logic community to thrive. The many contributors to this Handbook are active in these application areas and are among the most famous leading figures of applied philosophical logic of our times.