Logic & Language Books - Page 4

Philosophical Investigations/Philosophische Untersuchungen

Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

3 stars only for 50th Anniversary edition 3 out of 5 stars.
58 of 59 people found this review helpful.

Just a few comments on this 50th anniversary--supposedly FINAL--edition of the translation:
1) After 50 years Anscombe STILL did not fix the snafu in section 412 where she forgot to translate a parenthetical. She was informed of this in the 1950's!
2) To change the translation of "Lebensform" from "form of life" to "life-form" after all these years is unnecessary and stupid. It rings too much of biology and Star Trek.
3) To change the pagination, by which all references to Part II and inserts to Part I have been made for 50 years, is an unnecessary bother.
4) The translation has NEWLY-INTRODUCED typos in sections 38, 41, 47, and then I stopped counting. How is this an improvement?
Please bring the older editions back in print!

Editorial Review:

Unavailable for 30 years, this volume presents the original German/English edition of Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations" - one of the most influential philosophical works of the 20th century. The last product of intensive work by Wittgenstein during the period 1929-49, the book explores the concepts: of meaning; of understanding; of propositions; of logic; and of states of consciousness. The fundamental ideas of the "Tractatus" are both expounded and criticized. It should be of particular interest to all students of philosophy.

Meditations on First Philosophy: with Selections from the Objections and Replies (Oxford World's Classics)

Rene Descartes

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here is a brilliant new translation of Descartes's Meditations, one of the most influential books in the history of Western philosophy, including the full texts of the Third and Fourth Objections and Replies, and a selection from the other exchanges. Discovering his own existence as a thinking entity in the very exercise of doubt--in the famous formulation cogito, ergo sum--Descartes goes on to develop new conceptions of body and mind, capable of serving as foundations for a new science of nature. Subsequent philosophy has grappled with Descartes's ideas, but his arguments set the agenda for many of the greatest philosophical thinkers, and their fascination endures. This new translation pays particular attention to Descartes's terminology and style, with its elaborate but beautifully lucid syntax, careful balancing, and rhetorical signposting. The wide-ranging introduction places the work in the intellectual context of the time and discusses the nature of the work, its structure, key issues, and its influence on later thinkers. The book also includes notes, an up-to-date bibliography, a chronology, and an index.

Thought and Language

L. S. Vygotsky

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since it was introduced to the English-speaking world in 1962, Lev Vygotsky's highly original exploration of human mental development has become recognized as a classic foundational work of cognitive science. Vygotsky analyzes the relationship between words and consciousness, arguing that speech is social in its origins and that only as children develop does it become internalized verbal thought. Now Alex Kozulin has created a new edition of the original MIT Press translation by Eugenia Hanfmann and Gertrude Vakar that restores the work's complete text and adds materials that will help readers better understand Vygotsky's meaning and intentions. Kozulin has also contributed an introductory essay that offers new insight into the author's life, intellectual milieu, and research methods. Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1934) studied at Moscow University and acquired in his brief lifespan a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the social sciences, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, literature, and the arts. He began his systematic work in psychology at the age of 28, and within a few years formulated his theory of the development of specifically human higher mental functions. He died of tuberculosis ten years later, and "Thought and Language" was published posthumously in 1934. Alex Kozulin studied at the Moscow Institute of Medicine and the Moscow Institute of Psychology, where he began his investigation of Vygotsky and the history of Soviet psychology. He emigrated in 1979 and is now Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology) at Boston University. He is the author of "Psychology in Utopia: Toward a Social History of Soviet Psychology (MIT Press 1984).

The Conquest of Happiness

Bertrand Russell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

gloriously obvious 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Essentially a self-help book written by the hypereminent philosopher Bertrand Russell. I have not read any other self-help books I don't think but from what I know this one is completely different: well-thought out, insightful and completely lacking in poppy answers. My real pleasure was getting an insight into Russell's way of thinking, his humour, his zest for life, his outlook which may seem simple or naive but is in my opinion far superior to most.

The book is very dated - from the 1930s. However the advice is not - in fact I have nothing but admiration for how far ahead of his time Russell was. Those few actually-dated passages only serve to endear the book more.

Heartily recommended. Contrary to popular belief, it often takes nothing short of genius to state the obvious, especially if an entire society is blinded to it. In the Conquest of Happiness, Russell does exactly that.

Editorial Review:

Bertrand Russell describes the purpose of this book as the putting together of some remarks on the state of happiness which are inspired by common sense, rather than any profound philosophy or deep erudition. It is based on the belief that many people who are unhappy could become happy by well-directed effort.

The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861

David M. Potter

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Decade That Led to Civil War 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election as President of the United States was the catalyst that set off the American Civil War, but this book traces the political processes that led to that result during the just over a decade between the end of the Mexican War in 1848 and the start of the Civil War with the firing on Fort Sumner in 1861.

Today it is easy to look back and regard the entire process as inevitable. What David Potter does in this classic, first published in 1976, is present the politics behind each step that pushed the sections of the country apart over the slavery issue. One apparent mystery has been what drove the astute politician Stephen Douglas to force through legislation tearing up the Compromise of 1820, which had extended a line from Missouri westward, north of which slavery would not be permitted. It was a colossal blunder that opened what had been a more or less settled issue, fanning the flames of sectionalism needlessly.

His Kansas-Nebraska Act opened those territories, north of the line, to a concept of popular sovereignty, in which those supposedly living in the territories would be allowed to vote on the issue. This may have sounded democratic, but it led to a wave of Abolitionist settlers from New England, and pro-slavery visitors from neighboring Missouri, resulting in "Bleeding Kansas", with attacks and massacres from both sides, and very little democracy. Potter shows that Douglas started from a powerful need to organize the territories so a Pacific railroad could be built, preferably from Chicago in his home state of Illinois. That simple point of departure led him into a series of moves that only deepened the sectional divide.

Potter describes how the southern slaveholders won a whole series of meaningless victories that did nothing to extend the slave territories but did intensify feelings against slavery in the North, from the Mexican War and Kansas-Nebraska to the Dred Scott decision and the hanging of John Brown. He traces the rise of the Republican party out of the ruins of the Whigs and the Freesoil Party, and exposes the latter not as advocates of rights for black people, but driven rather by a deep-seated racism aimed at keeping blacks out of the territories. Complicating the 1850's political map of America was the American, or "Know Nothing" party, dedicated to stopping the recent flood of mainly Catholic immigrants from Europe.

He also demonstrates that the Unionist candidates did better than generally believed in the four-sided presidential election of 1860, and that the voting system itself gave the secessionists of late 1860 and early 1861 far greater strength than their actual numbers.

If you want to get deep into the politics that split the powerful Democratic Party and ultimately the nation, this book has what you are looking for.

Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity

Richard Rorty

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this book, major American philosopher Richard Rorty argues that thinkers such as Nietzsche, Freud, and Wittgenstein have enabled societies to see themselves as historical contingencies, rather than as expressions of underlying, ahistorical human nature, or as realizations of suprahistorical goals. This ironic perspective on the human condition is valuable but it cannot advance Liberalism's social and political goals. In fact, Rorty believes that it is literature and not philosophy that can do this, by promoting a genuine sense of human solidarity. Specifically, it is novelists such as Orwell and Nabokov who succeed in awakening us to the cruelty of particular social practices and individual attitudes. Thus, a truly liberal culture would fuse the private, individual freedom of the ironic, philosophical perspective with the public project of human solidarity as it is engendered through the insights and sensibilities of great writers. Rorty uses a wide range of references--from philosophy to social theory to literary criticism--to elucidate his beliefs.

To Mock a Mockingbird

Raymond M. Smullyan

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this entertaining and challenging collection of logic puzzles, Raymond Smullyan -- author of Forever Undecided -- continues to delight and astonish us with his gift for making available, in the thoroughly pleasurable form of puzzles, some of the most important mathematical thinking of our time. In the first part of the book, he transports us once again to that wonderful realm where knights, knaves, twin sisters, quadruplet brothers, gods, demons, and mortals either always tell the truth or always lie, and where truth-seekers are set a variety of fascinating problems. The section culminates in an enchanting and profound metapuzzle in which Inspector Craig of Scotland Yard gets involved in a search for the Fountain of Youth on the Island of Knights and Knaves. In the second part of To Mock a Mockingbird, we accompany the Inspector on a summer-long adventure into the field of combinatory logic (a branch of logic that plays an important role in computer science and artificial intelligence). His adventure, which includes enchanted forests, talking birds, bird sociologists, and a classic quest, provides for us along the way the pleasure of solving puzzles of increasing complexity until we reach the Master Forest and -- thanks to Godel's famous theorem -- the final revelation.

Introduction to Logic

Irving M. Copi, Carl Cohen

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The latest and greatest... 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 23 people found this review helpful.

Logic is not just for Spock; deduction (which, if you read this book, you'll discover is rather different) is not just for Sherlock Holmes. Many if not most students of philosophy over the past 50 years have had their beginning logic training from an edition of this book, 'Introduction to Logic' by Irving M. Copi, now in its twelfth edition, also now with a co-author listed, Carl Cohen.

I first learned logic in a two-semester sequence through the philosophy department at my university from the fifth edition of Copi's text in the early 1980s, supplemented by other material from Copi and a few others on symbolic logic. Logic was required of philosophy majors; it was strongly recommended of majors in sciences and mathematics; it was preferred for students in social sciences. Indeed, the principles of logic contained in Copi's text would not be out of place in most any discipline.

This introductory text is also recommended reading for those preparing for major placement examinations, such as the LSAT and the MCAT. Learning how to think, and recognising typical and non-so-typical flaws in argumentation and reasoning are vital in many professions; the applications for law and medicine are fairly clear.

This new twelfth edition of the text includes a lot of extras, including LogicNotes with Practice Problems, which occasionally comes bundled with the text. The Overviews, marginalia with definitions and clarifications, and Visual Logic features are all things I wish I'd had in the earlier text I used.

The text is divided into different sections, including Language, Induction, and Deduction. Each part is then subdivided into two parts, A and B (logical, isn't it?). Language issues look at aspects such as definitions, informal fallacies in language, the question of meaning, truth and validity, and how to recognise argument forms. Deduction, what Sherlock Holmes always claims to be engaging, is a method whereby the validity of the premises provide the truth of the conclusion. In fact, Holmes usually engages in Inductive reasoning, including arguments by analogy and establishing probabilities, but not certainties. Also, the first two chapters are now separated out to introduce key concepts earlier and more directly.

This book beyond the introductory chapters on language arguments engages in symbolic logic -- rather like mathematics, it uses non-linguistic tools to work out the framework. The pieces of symbolic logic (fairly standard across the discipline, like mathematics) are introduced in various stages as inductive and deductive reasoning are developed. Copi and Cohen look at both classical and modern symbolic logic systems.

Copi and Cohen look at real-life applications, particularly as logic relates to scientific reasoning and social science reasoning. While this is not a mathematics text, it introduces some elements useful in mathematics, particularly in probability and in elements used in statistical reasoning.

This text can be used for self-study, as some of the exercises are worked out in the back. There are also study guides available that have been produced for earlier editions; they are nonetheless useful, as much of the material remains the same from one edition to another.

A great text!

Logic: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Graham Priest

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Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

It'll make your brain hurt......but it's a good hurt! 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I've never studied logic before so this seemed like a good place to start. I don't know how you could possibly get more information into a little book this size! It's possibly the best value in a book that I've ever seen. If there's anything else to the field of logic that isn't here then I don't want to know. But be prepared to spend some time reading it.....you'll need to keep a notepad handy and you'll definitely need to re-read many sections more than once to get the full understanding. BUT....when done I can guarantee you that you'll be glad you did it. This is an excellent little book and is worth more than $10.

Editorial Review:

Logic is often perceived as having little to do with the rest of philosophy, and even less to do with real life. In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject, explaining how modern formal logic deals with issues ranging from the existence of God and the reality of time to paradoxes of probability and decision theory. Along the way, the basics of formal logic are explained in simple, non-technical terms, showing that logic is a powerful and exciting part of modern philosophy.

Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World

Kent M. Keith

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Nothing Earth Shattering 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is what I would label a "to feel good" book. Do these things and you will feel good about yourself. But do you really need a book to tell you how to act? In theory, they're lovely platitudes and you might have a brief period after reading them where you think of how you will put them into practice, if you're not already. A cynic by nature, I dare say that I don't believe all the little tales that went along with them but the tales in no way affect how you will feel toward the "commandments". Print them out if you want so you can read them occasionally to get a nice warm fuzzy feeling but I think your life would have to be void of all meaning for this to have much of an impact on you.

wonderful 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book was first given to me by the widow of the superintendant of the school district that i graduated from. Our superintendant was the most dedicated and gifted educator that you could ever know. At our graduation ceremony he would always read the 10 paradoxical comandments to the graduating class before we received our diplomas. At the time it seemed like just a nice thing to say and offered some inspiring words as we all moved on to the real world. Now that i am a teacher myself the words of this book take on a whole new meaning and i pass these words on to any of my students that are thinking about becoming educators themselves. This book has a lot of personal meaning to me because of the close relationship that i had with my former superintendant, but the book itself goes far beyond that, and i can easily see how these words became the montra for one of the greatest and most dedicated educators that i have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Editorial Review:

An inspiring book about the grace, wisdom, and happiness that come from facing the worst in our world with the best in ourselves.

Unabridged, 2 cassettes, 2 hours