Synopses & Reviews
Meaning and Argument shifts introductory logic from the traditional emphasis on proofs to the symbolization of arguments. Another distinctive feature of this book is that it shows how the need for expressive power and for drawing distinctions forces formal language development.
At each stage of system elaboration and development, the book answers metalogical questions: Why is a particular formalism needed? What must go into such a formalism and why? These questions engage students in a collective inquiry which allows them to see logical studies as a human enterprise aimed at achieving well-understood purposes – clarity and good reasoning.
This volume is ideal as an introduction to formal logic, philosophical logic, and philosophy of language.
Visit the book's website at: http://www.meaningargument.com
Review
"
Meaning and Argument is an excellent logic textbook that not only introduces students to the techniques of English symbolization and the truth-tree method, but it also to a fascinating array of topics in linguistic syntax and semantics, including logical form, anaphora, adverbial modification, descriptions, among others. My first-year logic students have enjoyed Lepore’s book immensely and have found it to be very helpful and accessible. This new and revised edition will be even more beneficial for students and instructors."
Ray Elugardo, University of Oklahoma
“Here is logic as it ought to be presented to philosophers, linguists, and anyone else who is interested in how language is organized. In Ernie Lepore’s hands grammar comes alive. I recommend this book to all who want to learn what logic is, how to use it, and what it is good for.”
Donald Davidson, University of California at Berkeley
“With care, imagination, and infectious enthusiasm, Lepore develops a novel and effective general technique of formalization which complete beginners should be able to grasp and use to deal with virtually any example in a first logic course.” Bob Hale, University of Glasgow
"This is a very nice and very elementary introduction to logic with emphasis on the translation from natural language formulations into their corresponding versions within a formalized language."
Zentralblatt MATH
Synopsis
Meaning and Argument shifts introductory logic from the traditional emphasis on proofs to the symbolization of arguments. It is an ideal introduction to formal logic, philosophical logic, and philosophy of language.
- Distinctive approach in that this text is a philosophical, rather than mathematical introduction to logic
- Concentrates on symbolization and does all the technical logic simply with truth tables and no derivations at all
- Contains numerous exercises and a corresponding answer key
- Extensive Appendix which allows the reader to explore subjects that go beyond what is usually covered in an introductory logic course.
Synopsis
Meaning and Argument shifts introductory logic from the traditional emphasis on proofs to the symbolization of arguments. It is an ideal introduction to formal logic, philosophical logic, and philosophy of language.
Distinctive approach in that this text is a philosophical, rather than mathematical introduction to logic
Concentrates on symbolization and does all the technical logic simply with truth tables and no derivations at all
Contains numerous exercises and a corresponding answer key
Extensive Appendix which allows the reader to explore subjects that go beyond what is usually covered in an introductory logic course.
About the Author
Ernest Lepore is Director of the Centre for Cognitive Science at Rutgers University. He is the author of numerous articles in philosophy of mind and is co-author (with Jerry Fodor) of Holism (Blackwell, 1991). He is editor of Truth and Interpretation (Blackwell, 1989). He is co-editor (with Zenon Pylyshyn) of What is Cognitive Science? (Blackwell, 1999), and co-editor (with Robert Van Gulick) of John Searle and His Critics (Blackwell, 1992), as well as general editor of the series Philosophers and Their Critics, also published by Blackwell.
Table of Contents
\Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
1. A Brief Introduction to Key Terms.
2. Argument Forms and Propositional Logic.
3. Conjunction.
4. Negation.
5. Truth Tables.
6. Disjunction.
7. Conditional.
8. Truth Trees.
9. Property Predicate Logic.
10. Evaluating Arguments in Property Predicate Logic.
11. Property Predicate Logic Refinements.
12. Relational Predicate Logic.
13. Relational Predicate Logic with Nested Quantifiers.
14. Extending the Truth Tree Method to RPL.
15. Negation, Only, and Restrictive Relative Clauses.
16. Relational Predicate Logic with Identity.
17. Verbs and their Modifiers.
Appendix.
Answers for Selected Exercises.
Logical Symbols.
Index.