Srećko Kovač

Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb
  • Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb
    Retired faculty
University of Zagreb
Alumnus, 1992
Zagreb, Croatia
Areas of Interest
Logic and Philosophy of Logic
  •  15
    We approach the traditional problem of the relationship between opinion and truth, objects and appearances, from the standpoint and tools of logic of belief, combining an informal and technical approach. We describe and comment on some logics of individual concepts and modes of representation, and address the question of how to explain the possibility of a contradictory de re belief integrated with the corresponding non-contradictory de dicto belief. The QB logic is proposed, where the semantic …Read more
  •  19
    Svojstva klasične logike [Properties of Classical Logic]
    Hrvatski studiji Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. 2013.
    The content for an advanced logic course is presented, which includes the properties of first-order logic language, soundness and completeness of the first-order logic deductive system, Peano arithmetic, Gödel's incompleteness theorems, higher-order logic and its properties. As a reminder, a brief description of first-order logic is included.
  •  64
    Logical opposition and collective decisions
    In Jean-Yves Béziau & Dale Jacquette (eds.), Around and Beyond the Square of Opposition, Springer. pp. 341--356. 2012.
    The square of opposition (as part of a lattice) is used as a natural way to represent different and opposite ways of who makes decisions, and in what way, in/for a group or a society. Majority logic is characterized by multiple logical squares (one for each possible majority), with the “discursive dilemma” as a consequence. Three-valued logics of majority decisions with discursive dilemma undecided, of veto, consensus, and sequential voting are analyzed from the semantic point of view. For insta…Read more
  •  418
    Modal collapse in Gödel's ontological proof
    In Miroslaw Szatkowski (ed.), Ontological Proofs Today, Ontos Verlag. pp. 50--323. 2012.
    After introductory reminder of and comments on Gödel’s ontological proof, we discuss the collapse of modalities, which is provable in Gödel’s ontological system GO. We argue that Gödel’s texts confirm modal collapse as intended consequence of his ontological system. Further, we aim to show that modal collapse properly fits into Gödel’s philosophical views, especially into his ontology of separation and union of force and fact, as well as into his cosmological theory of the nonobjectivity of the …Read more
  •  144
    A close interrelationship between logic and religious faith is confirmed in many places of the Bible. In the paper, special attention is paid to the dialogue of Jesus and a Samaritan woman (John 4). In a proposed outline of a logical formalization, religious faith is described as a pragmatic function through which the linguistic and logical content is contextually realized. In the continuation of the paper, Gödel's ontological proof is commented, which in a logically rigorous way describes the o…Read more
  •  52
    Mate Meršić (Merchich, 1850-1928) sees the origin of Zeno’s paradox ‘Achilles’ in the ambiguities of the concept of the infinity. According to him (and to the tradition started by Gregory St. Vincent), those ambiguities are resolved by the concept of convergent geometric series. In this connection, Meršić proposes a general ontological theory with the priority of the finite over the infinite, and, proceeding from Newton’s concept of fluxion, he develops a modal interpretation of differential cal…Read more
  •  150
    The basic principles of Cipra's metaphysics (according to his book "Metamorphoses of Metaphysics") are analyzed with respect to Cipra's request for the revision of classical logical principles (of identity, excluded middle and contradiction). In Cipra's metaphysics, the principle of identity holds for being, necessity and past only, the principle of excluded middle does not hold for coming-to-be, possibility and present, and the principle of contradiction does not hold for the actuality, reality…Read more
  •  300
    First-order belief and paraconsistency
    Logic and Logical Philosophy 18 (2): 127-143. 2009.
    A first-order logic of belief with identity is proposed, primarily to give an account of possible de re contradictory beliefs, which sometimes occur as consequences of de dicto non-contradictory beliefs. A model has two separate, though interconnected domains: the domain of objects and the domain of appearances. The satisfaction of atomic formulas is defined by a particular S-accessibility relation between worlds. Identity is non-classical, and is conceived as an equivalence relation having the …Read more
  •  17
    This book is an introduction to elementary logic (classical propositional and first-order logic), comprising brief summaries of the basics of elementary logic, with the emphasis on typical questions and procedure descriptions and with a large number of corresponding exercises and problems. Solutions are given for each problem and exercise, often with commentaries. The first part, Basics of Logic, deals with (a) formal language, models, Venn diagrams for sentences, and translation from natural i…Read more
  •  24
    Marijan Cipra (22. 8. 1940. – 2. 5. 2008.)
    Filozofska Istrazivanja 28 (2): 445-448. 2008.
    Obituary for Marijan Cipra, a most prominent Croatian philosopher. In his essential book "Metamorfoze metafizike" ("Metamorphoses of Metaphysics", 1978), he proposed a metaphysical foundations of the historical development of philosophy, based particularly on his in-depth study of Greek philosophy.
  •  144
    In What Sense is Kantian Principle of Contradiction Non-classical?
    Logic and Logical Philosophy 17 (3): 251-274. 2008.
    On the ground of Kant’s reformulation of the principle of con- tradiction, a non-classical logic KC and its extension KC+ are constructed. In KC and KC+, \neg(\phi \wedge \neg\phi), \phi \rightarrow (\neg\phi \rightarrow \phi), and \phi \vee \neg\phi are not valid due to specific changes in the meaning of connectives and quantifiers, although there is the explosion of derivable consequences from {\phi, ¬\phi} (the deduc- tion theorem lacking). KC and KC+ are interpreted as fragments of an S5-b…Read more
  •  181
    Gödel, Kant, and the Path of a Science
    Inquiry: Journal of Philosophy 51 (2): 147-169. 2008.
    Gödel's philosophical views were to a significant extent influenced by the study not only of Leibniz or Husserl, but also of Kant. Both Gödel and Kant aimed at the secure foundation of philosophy, the certainty of knowledge and the solvability of all meaningful problems in philosophy. In this paper, parallelisms between the foundational crisis of metaphysics in Kant's view and the foundational crisis of mathematics in Gödel's view are elaborated, especially regarding the problem of finding the “…Read more
  •  159
    The first beginnings of modern logic in Croatia are recognizable as early as in the middle of the 19th century in Vatroslav Bertić. At the turn of the 20th century, Albin Nagy, who was teaching in Italy, made contributions to algebraic logic and to the philosophy of logic. At that time, a distinctive author Mate Meršić stood out, also working on algebraic logic. In the Croatian academic philosophy, until the publication of Gajo Petrović's textbook (1964) and the contributions by Heda Festini, a …Read more
  •  177
    Contradictions, Objects, and Belief
    In Jean-Yves Béziau & Alexandre Costa-Leite (eds.), Perspectives on Universal Logic, Polimetrica. pp. 417-434. 2007.
    We show how some model-theoretical devices (local reasoning, modes of presentation, an additional accessibility relation) can be combined in first-order modal logic to formalize the consequence relation that includes de dicto and de re contradictory beliefs. Instead of special ``sense objects'', appearances of objects in an agent's belief are introduced and presented as ordered pairs consisting of an object and an individual constant. A non-classical identity relation is applied. A relation S on…Read more
  •  18
    Impossibilities, identities, and belief
    Bulletin of Symbolic Logic 12 (3): 1079-8986. 2006.
  •  129
    Different forms and transformations of philosophy in the modern world are analyzed according to the view of the Croatian philosopher Vanja Sutlić (1925-1989). A key aspect is the "realization of philosophy" in "work science", which encompasses the entire "world of work" established in modern times. This universal and real science is also an important precondition for "historical thinking". The uniformity of this science, problematized by Sutlić, can be found today in refined logical and semantic…Read more
  •  151
    Meršić o Hilbertovoj aksiomatskoj metodi [Meršić on Hilbert's axiomatic method]
    In E. Banić-Pajnić & M. Girardi Karšulin (eds.), Zbornik u čast Franji Zenku, . pp. 123-135. 2006.
    The criticism of Hilbert's axiomatic system of geometry by Mate Meršić (Merchich, 1850-1928), presented in his work "Organistik der Geometrie" (1914, also in "Modernes und Modriges", 1914), is analyzed and discussed. According to Meršić, geometry cannot be based on its own axioms, as a logical analysis of spatial intuition, but must be derived as a "spatial concretion" using "higher" axioms of arithmetic, logic, and "rational algorithmics." Geometry can only be one, because space is also only on…Read more
  •  185
    The book is a collection of papers addressing the role of logic in forming and developing philosophy. In particular, on the ground of modern development of logic, it is shown that philosophy can be established (and, in fact, to a large extent is established) as a modern science. The following problems are addressed: general relationship between philosophy and science (especially from a logical viewpoint); the use of logic in ordinary language; names and descriptions; Quine's pragmatic extensiona…Read more
  • Što je istina? (review)
    Filozofska Istrazivanja 25 (4): 975-977. 2005.
    A review of the Croatian translation of the book Edo Pivčević, "What is truth", Aldershot: Ashgate [now part of Routledge], 1997.
  •  10
    Priručnik uz "Logiku" (Manual for the textbook "Logic")
    Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada. 2004.
    The booklet provides teachers and others who use the textbook "Logic" by Srećko Kovač with basic theoretical and philosophical ideas about logic as a discipline, as well as practical instructions on how to use the textbook.
  •  132
    Some weakened Gödelian ontological systems
    Journal of Philosophical Logic 32 (6): 565-588. 2003.
    We describe a KB Gödelian ontological system, and some other weak systems, in a fully formal way using theory of types and natural deduction, and present a completeness proof in its main and specific parts. We technically and philosophically analyze and comment on the systems (mainly with respect to the relativism of values) and include a sketch of some connected aspects of Gödel's relation to Kant.
  •  108
    A brief overview of the main Croatian philosophers of the 19th century is given (regardless of whether they worked in or outside of Croatia). Special attention is paid to Šimun Čučić (logic, metaphysics, ethics) and Franjo pl. Marković (logic, aesthetics). The philosophy of other authors is briefly summarized on the ground of the existing research results.
  •  67
    Quine's Platonism and Antiplatonism
    Synthesis Philosophica 14 (1-2): 45-52. 1999.
    Quine rejects intensional Platonism and, with it, also rejects attributes (properties) as designations of predicates. He pragmatically accepts extensional Platonism, but conceives of classes as merely auxiliary entities needed to express some laws of set theory. At the elementary logical level, Quine develops an “ontologically innocent” logic of predicates. What in standard quantification theory is the work of variables is in the logic of predicates the work of a few functors that operate on pre…Read more
  • Bertram Kienzle (Hrsg.): Zustand und Ereignis (review)
    Synthesis Philosophica 11 469-470. 1996.
  •  59
    Stadler i Bauer o formalnoj logici
    Filozofska Istrazivanja 15 (3): 599-614. 1995.
    U tekstu se obrađuju Stadlerovo i Bauerovo shvaćanje i zasnivanje formalne logike. Formalna je logika u oba slučaja postavljena u duhu novoskolastičke filozofije druge polovice 19. stoljeća. Subjektivna je strana mišljenja (samosviest, djelatba) spojena s njegovom objektivnom stranom (objektivna vriednost), a logička se načela temelje na ontologijskim. Stadler se i Bauer oddvajaju od onodobnoga formalizma i logicizma, kao i od psihologizma i voluntarizma. Pritom je Bauer izrazitije ušao u razpra…Read more
  •  23
    Faust Vrančić und der Aristotelismus in der Logik
    Studia Historiae Philosophiae Croaticae 2 229-252. 1993.
    Faust Vrančić's (Faustus Verantius, 1551-1617) logic is analyzed in comparison to Renaissance Aristotelianism in logic with regard to the problem of determining logic, the subject of logic, and understanding the method. Vrančić's logic is compared to Markantun de Dominis' understanding of logic and to the understanding of logic in Jacopo Zabarella and in the Jesuit Renaissance tradition (P. Fonseca, F. Toletus, F. Suárez). In addition, the concept of science is discussed. "Censura logicae" publ…Read more
  •  131
    The reception of Kant began in Croatia at the turn of the 19th century with the writings of J.B. Horváth, whose textbooks were in use at that time in Croatia and Hungary. Unlike Horváth's decidedly negative attitude toward Kant, Šimun Čučić (Simeon Chuchich), in his systematic work Philosophia Critice Elaborata (1815), adopted some aspects of Kantian philosophy. This includes, for example, the formalistic conception of logic, Kantian apriorism and subjectivism, the formalistic approach to the mo…Read more
  •  92
    Nazivlje u nastavi logike
    Metodicki Ogledi 4 (1): 23-32. 1993.
    U članku se promatraju osnovne karakteristike razvojne dinamike hrvatskoga logičkoga nazivlja od izlazka Pacelove Logike za gimnazije, prve sustavne logike na hrvatskome jeziku, 1868. godine, pa sve do Petrovićeve Logike, također za srednja učilišta, iz 1964., koja je još uviek u uporabi. Nazivlje je u tu svrhu razvrstano u nekoliko tipičih skupina. Općenito, uočava se porast zastupljenosti latinizama (i grecizama) na štetu hrvatskih naziva. U analizi nazivlja autor se ograničuje na knjige namie…Read more