An Investigation of the Laws of Thought: On Which Are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities (Classic Reprint) - Couverture souple

Arnold, Frances Austin

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1330385020 ISBN 13 : 9781330385029

Editeur : Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Explore the foundations of logic and probability in Boole’s landmark study of the mind’s reasoning powers.

This edition presents the work’s aim to uncover the fundamental laws by which we think and reason. It shows how these laws can be expressed in a symbolic language and used to build a calculus for logic, with a practical path toward applying mathematical ideas to probability. The author threads together history, philosophy, and the science of thought to illuminate how language, number, and mind connect in reasoning.

Readers will encounter the careful effort to ground logical methods in observation, critique competing viewpoints, and outline a rigorous approach to both demonstrative and probable knowledge. The book offers not only theoretical insights but also a view of how intelligence shapes our understanding of truth and method.

• Foundations of logic and the origin of a symbolic calculus for reasoning


• Connects logic with probabilities and practical applications


• Discussion of how human faculties are organized and how they govern thinking


• Historical context showing how the study influenced later mathematical logic

Ideal for readers of philosophy, mathematics, and the history of ideas who want a clear view of how formal reasoning emerged from the study of the mind.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Mathematics - Pure Mathematics - Logic - Philosophy

An Investigation of the Laws of Thought

On which are founded the mathematical theories of logic and probabilities

By George Boole

The Laws of Thought, more precisely, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought on Which are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities, was an influential 19th century book by George Boole, the second of his two monographs on algebraic logic. It was published in 1854. Boole was Professor of Mathematics of then Queen's College, Cork in Ireland.

The following work is not a republication of a former treatise by the Author, entitled, “The Mathematical Analysis of Logic.” Its earlier portion is indeed devoted to the same object, and it begins by establishing the same system of fundamental laws, but its methods are more general, and its range of applications far wider. It exhibits the results, matured by some years of study and reflection, of a principle of investigation relating to the intellectual operations, the previous exposition of which was written within a few weeks after its idea had been conceived.

That portion of this work which relates to Logic presupposes in its reader a knowledge of the most important terms of the science, as usually treated, and of its general object. On these points there is no better guide than Archbishop Whately’s “Elements of Logic,” or Mr. Thomson’s “Outlines of the Laws of Thought.” To the former of these treatises, the present revival of attention to this class of studies seems in a great measure due. Some acquaintance with the principles of Algebra is also requisite, but it is not necessary that this application should have been carried beyond the solution of simple equations. For the study of those chapters which relate to the theory of probabilities, a somewhat larger knowledge of Algebra is required, and especially of the doctrine of Elimination, and of the solution of Equations containing more than one unknown quantity.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Excerpt from An Investigation of the Laws of Thought: On Which Are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities

The following work is not a republication of a former treatise by the Author, entitled The Mathematical Analysis of Logic. Its earlier portion is indeed devoted to the same object, and it begins by establishing the same system of fundamental laws, but its methods are more general, and its range of applications far wider. It exhibits the results, matured by some years of study and reflection, of a principle of investigation relating to the intellectual operations, the previous exposition of which was written within a few weeks after its idea had been conceived.

That portion of this work which relates to Logic presupposes in its reader a knowledge of the most important terms of the science, as usually treated, and of its general object. On these points there is no better guide than Archbishop Whately's Elements of Logic, or Mr. Thomson's Outlines of the Laws of Thought. To the former of these treatises, the present revival of attention to this class of studies seems in a great measure due. Some acquaintance with the principles of Algebra is also requisite, but it is not necessary that this application should have been carried beyond the solution of simple equations. For the study of those chapters which relate to the theory of probabilities, a somewhat larger knowledge of Algebra is required, and especially of the doctrine of Elimination, and of the solution of Equations containing more than one unknown quantity.

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Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Forgotten Books
• Date d'édition: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1330385020
• ISBN 13: 9781330385029
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 444
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible