What’s Wrong with Distribution?

Authors

  • José Martín Castro Manzano Facultad de Filosofía. Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla

Keywords:

Syllogistic, Term logic, Distribution

Abstract

Despite its inferential functions, the concept of distribution of traditional logic has been harshly criticized to the point of being considered useless (Geach) or even contradictory (Miller). In this paper we review some of the objections raised by Miller under the veil of Sommers and Englebretsen’s algebra: the result is an alternative defense of the concept of distribution.

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References

Arnauld, A., Nicole, P. & Buroker, J. (1996). Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole: Logic Or the Art of Thinking. Cambridge University Press.

Englebretsen, G. (1996). Something to Reckon with: The Logic of Terms. Canadá: University of Ottawa Press.

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Kuhn, S.T. (1983). An Axiomatization of Predicate Functor Logic, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 24 (2), 233-241.

Miller, J. (1932). Negative Terms in Traditional Logic: Distribution, Immediate Inference, and Syllogism. The Monist, 42 (1), 96-111.

Miller, J. (2016). The Structure of Aristotelian Logic. Routledge.

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Quine, W.V.O. (1971). Predicate Functor Logic. En J. E. Fenstad, Proceedings of the Second Scandinavian Logic Symposium, Ámsterdam, North-Holland, 309-315.

Sommers, F. (1975). Distribution Matters. Mind, 84 (1), 27-46.

Sommers, F. (1984). The Logic of Natural Language. Nueva York: Oxford University Press.

Sommers, F. (1989). Predication in the Logic Terms, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 31 (1), 106-126.

Sommers, F. & Englebretsen, G. (2017). An Invitation to Formal Reasoning: the Logic of Terms. Londres: Routledge.

Williamson, C. (1971). Traditional Logic as a Logic of Distribution-Values, Logique et Analyse, 14 (56), 729-746.

Hodges, W. (1998). The Laws of Distribution for Syllogisms, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 39(2).

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Published

2020-06-29

How to Cite

Castro Manzano, J. M. (2020). What’s Wrong with Distribution?. Sincronía, 24(78), 90–103. Retrieved from https://revistasincronia.cucsh.udg.mx/index.php/sincronia/article/view/619

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 78 (2020): July-December

Section

PHILOSOPHY

License

Copyright (c) 2020 José Martín Castro Manzano

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