•  10
    Prior and Lorenzen on Quantification
    Grazer Philosophische Studien 41 (1): 151-173. 1991.
  •  124
    W.d. Ross on acting from motives
    Journal of Value Inquiry 22 (4): 299-306. 1988.
    This paper defends a position held by W, D, Ross that it is no part of one’s duty to have a certain motive since one cannot by choice have it here and now.
  •  74
    Indenumerability and substitutional quantification
    Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 23 (4): 358-366. 1982.
    We here establish two theorems which refute a pair of what we believe to be plausible assumptions about differences between objectual and substitutional quantification. The assumptions (roughly stated) are as follows: (1) there is at least one set d and denumerable first order language L such that d is the domain set of no interpretation of L in which objectual and substitutional quantification coincide. (2) There exist interpreted, denumerable, first order languages K with indenumerable domains…Read more
  •  465
    Are All Tautologies True?
    Logique Et Analyse 125 (125-126): 3-14. 1989.
    The paper asks: are all tautologies true in a language with truth-value gaps? It answers that they are not. No tautology is false, of course, but not all are true. It also contends that not all contradictions are false in a language with truth-value gaps, though none are true.
  •  64
    More on Propositional Identity
    Analysis 39 (3): 129-132. 1979.
    We give a semantical account of propositional identity which is stronger than mutual entailment. That is, according to our account: (1) if A = B is true in a model, so are A 'validates' B and B 'validates' A. (2) There exist models m such that A 'validates' B and B 'validates' A are true in m but A = B is not true in m. According to our account the following rule is sound: (3) from (.. A..) = (.. B..) infer A = B. The paper respondes to a criticism of an earlier paper by James Freeman
  •  31
    A semantical account of the vicious circle principle
    Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 20 (3): 595-598. 1979.
    Here we give a semantical account of propositional quantification that is intended to formally represent Russell’s view that one cannot express a proposition about "all" propositions. According to the account the authors give, Russell’s view bears an interesting relation to the view that there are no sets which are members of themselves.
  •  28
    Is English infinite?
    Philosophical Papers 17 (2): 141-151. 1988.
    It is argued that English is finite. By this is meant that it contains only finitely many expressions. The conclusion is reached by arguing: (1) only finitely many expressions of English are tokenable; (2) if E is an expression of English, then E is tokenable.
  •  42
    God and empty terms
    International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 18 (3). 1985.
    This paper is a criticism of Plantinga’s analysis of a version of the ontological argument. He thinks it is obvious that his version is valid and that the only question of interest is whether a key premise is true. The paper lays out two relevant semantical accounts of modal logic. It contends that Plantinga needs to show that one is preferable to the other.
  •  56
    More on propositional identity
    Analysis 39 (3): 129-132. 1979.
    We give a semantical account of propositional identity which is stronger than mutual entailment. That is, according to our account: (1) if A = B is true in a model, so are A 'validates' B and B 'validates' A. (2) There exist models m such that A 'validates' B and B 'validates' A are true in m but A = B is not true in m. According to our account the following rule is sound: (3) from (.. A..) = (.. B..) infer A = B. The paper is a response to a paper by James Freeman to an earlier paper by us.
  •  128
    Mark Steiner criticizes some remarks Wittgenstein makes about Gödel. Steiner takes Wittgenstein to be disputing a mathematical result. The paper argues that Wittgenstein does no such thing. The contrast between the realist and the demonstrativist concerning mathematical truth is examined. Wittgenstein is held to side with neither camp. Rather, his point is that a realist argument is inconclusive
  •  94
    The Lessons of the Liar
    Theory and Decision 11 (1): 55-70. 1979.
    The paper argues that the liar paradox teaches us these lessons about English. First, the paradox-yielding sentence is a sentence of English that is neither true nor false in English. Second, there is no English name for any such thing as a set of all and only true sentences of English. Third, ‘is true in English’ does not satisfy the axiom of comprehension.
  •  19
    Convention T and Basic Law V
    Analysis 62 (4): 289-292. 2002.
  •  99
    Did the greeks discover the irrationals?
    Philosophy 74 (2): 169-176. 1999.
    A popular view is that the great discovery of Pythagoras was that there are irrational numbers, e.g., the positive square root of two. Against this it is argued that mathematics and geometry, together with their applications, do not show that there are irrational numbers or compel assent to that proposition.
  •  72
    Remarks on Peano Arithmetic
    Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies 20 (1): 27-32. 2000.
    Russell held that the theory of natural numbers could be derived from three primitive concepts: number, successor and zero. This leaves out multiplication and addition. Russell introduces these concepts by recursive definition. It is argued that this does not render addition or multiplication any less primitive than the other three. To this it might be replied that any recursive definition can be transformed into a complete or explicit definition with the help of a little set theory. But that is…Read more
  •  163
    Tarski and Proper Classes
    Analysis 40 (4): 6-11. 1980.
    In this paper the authors argue that if Tarski’s definition of truth for the calculus of classes is correct, then set theories which assert the existence of proper classes (classes which are not the member of anything) are incorrect.
  • Chapter 10: Thesis Three
    Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 90 254-283. 2006.
  •  142
    Quantifying over the reals
    Synthese 101 (1). 1994.
    Peter Geach proposed a substitutional construal of quantification over thirty years ago. It is not standardly substitutional since it is not tied to those substitution instances currently available to us; rather, it is pegged to possible substitution instances. We argue that (i) quantification over the real numbers can be construed substitutionally following Geach's idea; (ii) a price to be paid, if it is that, is intuitionism; (iii) quantification, thus conceived, does not in itself relieve us …Read more
  •  4
    Nagel, Internalism, and Relativism
    Journal of Philosophical Research 16 309-319. 1991.
    In this paper we (1) give a new interpretation to Thomas Nagel’s The Possibility of Altruism, and (2) use that account to show how internalism and anti-relativism are compatible, despite appearances to the contrary.
  •  60
    Assertion and belief
    Philosophical Studies 17 (5). 1966.
    This paper is written in opposition of various antecedent discussions of Moore’s paradox. It concludes that one cannot make an honest and primary truth-claim by producing ‘p, but I believe not-p’.
  •  398
    Bound Variables and Schematic Letters
    Logique Et Analyse 95 (95): 425-429. 1981.
    The paper purports to show, against Quine, that one can construct a language , which results from the extension of the theory of truth functions by introducing sentence letter quantification. Next a semantics is provided for this language. It is argued that the quantification is neither substitutional nor requires one to consider the sentence letters as taking entities as values.
  •  10
    Notes and Discussions
    Dialectica 57 (3): 315-322. 2003.
    This paper seeks to explain why the argument from analogy seems strong to an analogist such as Mill and weak to the skeptic. The inference from observed behavior to the existence of feelings, sensations, etc., in other subjects is justified, but its justification depends on taking observed behavior and feelings, sensations, and so on, to be not merely correlated, but connected. It is claimed that this is what Mill had in mind
  • Preface
    Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 90 27-29. 2006.
  •  80
    Williams’ Definition of ‘X is true’
    Analysis 30 (3): 95-97. 1970.
    C. J. F, Williams proposed ‘for some p ___ states that p & p’ as a satisfactory analysis of ‘___ is true’. This paper takes issue with this claim.
  •  100
    Do we need quantification?
    Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 25 (4): 289-302. 1984.
    The standard response is illustrated by E, J. Lemmon's claim that if all objects in a given universe had names and there were only finitely many of them, then we could always replace a universal proposition about that universe by a complex proposition. It is because these two requirements are not always met that we need universal quantification. This paper is partly in agreement with Lemmon and partly in disagreement. From the point of view of syntax and semantics we can replace a universal prop…Read more
  •  88
    Philosophical Logic: An Introduction to Advanced Topics
    with George Englebretsen
    continuum. 2010.
    This title introduces students to non-classical logic, syllogistic, to quantificational and modal logic. The book includes exercises throughout and a glossary of terms and symbols. Taking students beyond classical mathematical logic, "Philosophical Logic" is a wide-ranging introduction to more advanced topics in the study of philosophical logic. Starting by contrasting familiar classical logic with constructivist or intuitionist logic, the book goes on to offer concise but easy-to-read introduct…Read more
  •  28
    Is Any Economic System Unjust?
    Southwest Philosophy Review 5 (2): 17-23. 1989.
    The morality of an economic system characterized as an Adam Smith type system is compared with one characterized by central planning. A prima facie case is made that, while the latter has attributes that satisfy a necessary condition for having moral attributes, the former does not and, as a result, has no moral attributes. But then a deeper look at the situation reveals that the directed systems really do not satisfy the necessary condition either. Both the directed and undirected systems end u…Read more