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The Laws of Logic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

E. D. Klemke
E. D. Klemke*
Affiliation:
Roosevelt University (Chicago)
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Abstract

In Reason and Analysis, Prof. Brand Blanshard criticises the logical empiricist view regarding necessary statements, including the laws of logic. He distinguishes four component theses of this view: (I) Necessary statements—here, the laws of logic—are resolutions or reports of linguistic usage. (II) They are conventions. (III) They are analytic (tautologies). (IV) They say nothing about the world. In this paper I first show that Prof. Blanshard is essentially right in his criticisms of (I), (II), and (IV); but that he has done nothing to show that (III) is incorrect with regard to the laws of logic. Then, second, I attempt to show that even though (I), (II), and (more importantly) (IV) are false, (III) is true. That is, the laws of logic are tautologies, and yet, in a sense to be distinguished, they say something about the world.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , September 1966 , pp. 271 - 277
Copyright
Copyright © 1966 by The Philosophy of Science Association

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References

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