Logical Syntax of Language

by Rudolf Carnap

This is IV volume of eight in a series on Philosophy of the Mind and Language. For nearly a century mathematicians and logicians have been striving hard to make logic an exact science. But a book on logic must contain, in addition to the formulae, an expository context which, with the assistance of the words of ordinary language, explains the formulae and the relations between them; and this context often leaves much to be desired in the matter of clarity and exactitude. Originally published in 1937, the purpose of the present work is to give a systematic exposition of such a method, namely, of the method of logical syntax.

Genres: Philosophy, Linguistics, Logic, Language, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Rudolf Carnap, a German-born philosopher and naturalized U.S. citizen, was a leading exponent of logical positivism and was one of the major philosophers of the twentieth century. He made significant contributions to philosophy of science, philosophy of language, the theory of probability, inductive logic and modal logic. He rejected metaphysics as meaningless because metaphysical statements cannot be proved or disproved by experience. He asserted that many philosophical problems are indeed pseudo-problems, the outcome of a misuse of language.

Read more : http://www.iep.utm.edu/carnap/

Reviews

[David Menčik · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book of mathematical logic, the book is written in easy to be read manner even when speaking about the most abstract topics such as the difference between formal logic and other philosophy concerning the syntaxical composition of sentences.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. I'm almost convinced.