FOM: wider cultural significance: polylogism

Pat Hayes phayes at ai.uwf.edu
Mon Mar 8 12:32:07 EST 1999


Stephen Simpson writes:

>  2m. there are many different logics appropriate for different
>      aspects of mathematics (second-order logic? dynamic logic?
>      temporal logic?) or different f.o.m. programs (intuitionistic
>      logic?)
....
>
>  2w. there are many different logics pertaining to different branches
>      of science and scholarship (the logic of physics?  the logic of
>      law?) or to different groups of people (proletarian logic?
>      bourgois logic?  Aryan logic?  Jewish logic?)

The problem I always have in taking 'polylogism' seriously is when I wonder
what logic is supposed to be used when several topics are mixed together,
and to decide among the various different logics. Suppose Arthur and I are
discussing, say, the square root of the number of working-class Nazis that
would be suitable for a crowd scene in a movie, what logic do we use? And
suppose we discover (never mind how) that we are using different logics,
how can we resolve our differences?

Pat Hayes

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