All Questions
Tagged with symbolic-logic philosophy-of-language
16
questions
4
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1
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237
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Was Tarski the first to discuss the logically of the truth predicate?
Tarski famously discussed, formally, the logically of the truth predicate, in The Concept of Truth in Formalised Languages (1935).
Was he the first to do so?
Thank you for any scholarly reference.
- 8,363
4
votes
1
answer
89
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Unusual change of meaning of word "any" in negative sentences form "for all" to "there exists". Predicate logic
Question. Why does the word "any" in negative sentences changes its meaning from "for all" to "there exists"?
Origin of the question. I have a question about translating ...
- 151
3
votes
3
answers
101
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Is it a rule of formal languages that all occurences of a symbol must 'refer' to the same object?
A rule of subsitution is that we replace all free occurences of a symbol x with free occurences of a symbol y to subsitute y for x in a formula φ.
Hence the sentence 'x=x' is inherently true for all x ...
- 1,191
2
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2
answers
101
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How does 'use-mention' apply to formulas?
When we use 'terms' such as words it is generally clear however, if we have a formula:
And I write:
'x+1=2 is true for x=1' is this 'using' or 'mentioning'?
If a formula contains variables, it has no ...
- 1,191
1
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0
answers
112
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How can sequences/expressions occur in other sequences/expressions?
I know I specifically wrote a question about Wetzel, however I do not want to invalidate previous answers.
In Quine's 'Mathematical Logic' he discusses occurences of 'expressions' in other '...
- 1,191
1
vote
1
answer
103
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Wetzel's 'occurences'
I was reading this often quoted article by Linda Wetzel (1993) where she discusses the 'occurence' of expressions in others and Quine's issues with the idea, she describes an expression as a sequence ...
- 1,191
0
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0
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79
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Are there only two levels in languages, meaning and symbols?
Say in my language I have a 'variable x', in my language the symbol x represents a (variable) number, so at a level of meaning it is an object, and at a level of symbols 'x' is simply a set of lines ...
- 1,191
0
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1
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Phrases such as 'x is an unspecified object' [closed]
Would a phrase like 'x is an unspecified object' be part of my meta-language? As x is a variable, such an expression is not meaningful in relation to any object in my interpretation, however we ...
- 1,191
2
votes
2
answers
155
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Why are undefined references and variables not specifically differentiated?
In my opinion, this topic is more philosophical than mathematical, but if it is not, I will ask it on another forum.
My understanding
I'm talking about non-reserved symbols here. Not about 0, 1 or π.
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2
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3
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394
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What is the nature of the term 'variable', and is it used differently in math, computer science, and logic?
Say I'm given an expression and talk about x changing what do we really mean by this linguistically? What inferences can be drawn about the nature of variables from their practical usage?
When we talk ...
- 1,191
6
votes
3
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188
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How to model "forget about" in first order logic?
The other day, my housemate said "Don't forget to not leave the spoon at the bottom of the container". I understood what he meant: "Do not leave the spoon at the bottom of the ...
- 233
0
votes
1
answer
86
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The form of elementary propositions in TLF
In Tractatus Wittgenstein states that:
4.22 An elementary proposition consists of names. It is a nexus, a concatenation, of names.
Suppose now that L is a first order language. As far as I ...
- 194
2
votes
2
answers
156
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Do computer languages instantiate only predicate calculus?
All the computer languages I'm familiar with, be they imperative or declarative have the same core mechanics (arithmetic and logic).They have the same loops, conditionals etc. Whatever the language it ...
- 29
1
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0
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149
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What does philosophy say about the normativity of simulated thought within the analytical tradition?
Given the coherence theory of truth, new propositions must observe previous theory and logic (i.e. every thinking step must be consistent with rules of logic); many analytic philosophies believe it is ...
- 1,139
4
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1
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Is there a formalized logic for adpositional connectives?
Certain words in natural language are more amenable to logical formalization. The conjunction "and" or weak conditional "unless" are easily applied to break statements into their constituent atomic ...
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