This volume of the collected works of J.L. Shaw contains twelve papers that fall in the intersection of logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language. Professor Shaw's methodology in these papers is that of comparative philosophy. With an emphasis on classical Indian analytical philosophy and late 19th and 20th century Western analytical philosophy, Professor Shaw compares such traditions as the Nyaya, Navya Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vedanta, and Buddhism with each other and with Western thinke...

This book has grown out of an attempt to harmonize two different tendencies, one in psychology, the other in physics, with both of which I find myself in sympathy, although at first sight they might seem inconsistent. On the one hand, many psychologists, especially those of the behaviourist school, tend to adopt what is essentially a materialistic position, as a matter of method if not of metaphysics. They make psychology increasingly dependent on physiology and external observation, and t...

In "The Critique of Practical Reason," Immanuel Kant meticulously explores the foundations of moral philosophy, presenting a thorough analysis of the nature of practical reason. Written in 1788 as the second of his critically acclaimed works, this treatise expounds upon the principles of ethics through a rigorous examination of human autonomy and the concept of duty. Kant's distinctive style, characterized by dense, yet eloquent prose, invites readers to engage deeply with his argumentatio...

In "Some Remarks on Logical Form," Ludwig Wittgenstein revisits and substantially qualifies the austere picture of language developed in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The essay examines the relation between propositions, elementary propositions, and the structures of reality they represent, with particular attention to the difficulty of analyzing systems of color exclusion and other forms of incompatibility. Its compressed, argumentative prose retains the Tractatus's architectonic am...

In 'Menexenus,' Plato presents a thought-provoking dialogue that explores themes of rhetoric, memory, and virtue through a fictionalized eulogy delivered by Socrates. This work, characterized by its ironic tone and layered argumentation, critiques the art of persuasion prevalent in Athenian society while simultaneously serving as a homage to fallen soldiers. The dialogue invites readers to grapple with the ethical implications of oratory and the responsibilities of citizenship, illustratin...

In its chase after idols this age has not wholly forgotten the gods, and reason and faith in reason are not left without advocates. Some years ago, at Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr. G.E. Moore began to produce a very deep impression amongst the younger spirits by his powerful and luminous dialectic. Like Socrates, he used all the sharp arts of a disputant in the interests of common sense and of an almost archaic dogmatism. Those who heard him felt how superior his position was, both in ri...

What is truth? Michael Lynch defends a bold new answer to this question. Traditional theories of truth hold that truth has only a single uniform nature. All truths are true in the same way. More recent deflationary theories claim that truth has no nature at all; the concept of truth is of no real philosophical importance. In this concise and clearly written book, Lynch argues that we should reject both these extremes and hold that truth is a functional property. To understand truth we must...

Bertrand Russell changed Western philosophy forever. He tackled many puzzles--how our minds work, how we experience the world, and what the true nature of meaning is. In "Introducing Bertrand Russell "we meet a passionate eccentric, active in world politics, who had outspoken views on sex, marriage, religion, and education.

In Vagueness and Degrees of Truth, Nicholas Smith develops a new theory of vagueness: fuzzy plurivaluationism. A predicate is said to be vague if there is no sharply defined boundary between the things to which it applies and the things to which it does not apply. For example, 'heavy' is vague in a way that 'weighs over 20 kilograms' is not. A great many predicates - both in everyday talk, and in a wide array of theoretical vocabularies, from law to psychology to engineer...

Since the advent of the Semantic Web, interest in the dynamics of ontologies (ontology evolution) has grown significantly. Belief revision presents a good theoretical framework for dealing with this problem; however, classical belief revision is not well suited for logics such as Description Logics.Belief Revision in Non-Classical Logics presents a framework which can be applied to a wide class of logics that include – besides most Description Logics such as the ones behin...