B.Phil. Seminar Volker Halbach and Tim Williamson
Logic and Philosophy of Logic

Hilary term 2020, Monday, 11am-1pm, Ryle Room

At the beginning of each class we will introduce the topic by presenting an article or book chapter, which all participants will be expected to have read in advance. This will be followed by a discussion.

Topics to be discussed in the seminar may include logical validity, The following plan is preliminary and we are happy to adapt it to the preferences of the participants.

Is logic the study of validity? Alternative logics and applied mathematics Vagueness and semantic compositionality A heuristic for conditionals and its consequences  

Week 1 (20 January): Is logic the study of validity?

Reading: Hjortland, Ole Thomassen. 2017: ‘Anti-exceptionalism about logic’, Philosophical Studies, 174: 631–658. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11098-016-0701-8.pdf 

Week 2 (27 January): Alternative logics and applied mathematics

Alternative logics and applied mathematics

Reading: Williamson, Timothy. 2018: ‘Alternative logics and applied mathematics’, Philosophical Issues, 28: 399-424. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/phis.12131 

Week 3 (3 February): Vagueness and semantic compositionality

Reading: Williamson, Timothy. ‘Reply to Yli-Vakkuri’ and ‘Notes on vagueness and heuristics’. 

Week 4 (10 February): A heuristic for conditionals and its consequences

Reading: Williamson, Timothy, Excerpts from Timothy Williamson, Suppose and Tell: The Semantics and Heuristics of Conditionals, Oxford University Press, to appear May 2020

Week 5 (17 February): Logical Consequence

This week we will look at logical consequence more generally. We review the model-theoretic definition of logical consequence and discuss the general desiderata for an analysis of logical consequence. Hanson's article below provides a good overview of the problems faced by the various approaches to logical consequence.

Reading: Hanson, William H., 1997, “The Concept of Logical Consequence,” The Philosophical Review, 106 (3): 365–409

Week 6 (24 February): Modal Predicates

Reading: Volker Halbach, Modal Predicates

Week 7 (2 March): Bealer's argument for ante rem universals

The predicate approach to modalities is applied to a classical problem of metaphysics.

Reading: George Bealer. Universals. Journal of Philosophy, 90: 5–32, 1993.

Week 8 (9 March): Ramsifying Our Way Out of the Sorites (and Other Problems)

We look at Hannes Leitgeb's attempt to solve the problems of vagueness:

Reading: Hannes Leitgeb, Ramsification and Semantic Indeterminacy

The paper is a draft. Please do not quote the draft without permission from the author. Simon Nagler's slides are here.