Formal Ontology and Logical Syntax
Formal Ontology and Logical Syntax
Traditional formal logic as developed by Fred Sommers is compared and contrasted with the modern quantified predicate logic that we owe to Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell; the latter is argued to be implicitly committed to a two-category ontology of particulars and universals. A system of sortal logic is described, which exhibits some features of traditional formal logic and some of modern quantified predicate logic, such as its deployment of a symbol for identity. It is argued that this system represents more perspicuously than other systems the ontological distinctions of the four-category ontology, and that this counts as a distinct advantage in its favour.
Keywords: categories, Gottlob Frege, identity, ontology, quantified predicate logic, Bertrand Russell, sortal logic, Fred Sommers, traditional formal logic
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