The volume offers an exposition of the logical and philosophical views by Nikolai Alexandrovich Vasil’ev (1880-1940). Having trained as a doctor and after several stints as a poet, historian, and literary critic, N. A. Vasil’ev decided to dedicate himself to philosophy, in particular logic. Through a careful reflection on the quantifiers and modalities of judgement, he was lead to propose a “logic of concepts,” in which the law of excluded middle does not apply. From here, thanks also to the influences which he drew from readings of Lobachevsky, Vasil’ev proceeded to elaborate an “imaginary logic” — a logic for incomplete and contradictory objects — in which not even the law of contradiction applies. By highlighting the ontological foundations of logic and introducing in this framework the use of fiction, Vasil’ev became the proponent of logical pluralism, according to which formal logic contains elements which reflect our understanding of the world and of the types of objects we deal with. Thence, other logics apply for worlds different to ours, for “imaginary worlds.” Vasil’ev’s theories, increasingly considered precursors of many-valued or paraconsistent logics, intensional logics or theories of impossible worlds, have been reflected in contemporary logic and have even inspired in some cases new research areas. Vasil’ev’s logical and philosophical output is framed within its historical and cultural context, taking into consideration both the situation of logic in Russia, straddling the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and the state of logic in Western Europe in the period. A special attention is dedicated both to the attempts, contemporary to Vasil’ev, to develop non-Aristotelian logics or ideas that present affinities with the imaginary logic, and to the contribution of traditional logic in elaborating non-classical ideas. Near the more famous imaginary logic, also Vasil’ev’s logic of concepts is exposed. This logic, which Vasil’ev did not elaborate in details, allows dealing with incomplete objects just as imaginary logic does with contradictory objects. Both logics have been made objects of interesting interpretations by modern logicians. A chapter of the book offers a wide review of the interpretations of the imaginary logic that have been given over the last hundred years. An extensive bibliography completes the volume.

Thinking about Contradictions. The Imaginary Logic of Nikolai Aleksandrovich Vasil’ev

Raspa Venanzio
2017

Abstract

The volume offers an exposition of the logical and philosophical views by Nikolai Alexandrovich Vasil’ev (1880-1940). Having trained as a doctor and after several stints as a poet, historian, and literary critic, N. A. Vasil’ev decided to dedicate himself to philosophy, in particular logic. Through a careful reflection on the quantifiers and modalities of judgement, he was lead to propose a “logic of concepts,” in which the law of excluded middle does not apply. From here, thanks also to the influences which he drew from readings of Lobachevsky, Vasil’ev proceeded to elaborate an “imaginary logic” — a logic for incomplete and contradictory objects — in which not even the law of contradiction applies. By highlighting the ontological foundations of logic and introducing in this framework the use of fiction, Vasil’ev became the proponent of logical pluralism, according to which formal logic contains elements which reflect our understanding of the world and of the types of objects we deal with. Thence, other logics apply for worlds different to ours, for “imaginary worlds.” Vasil’ev’s theories, increasingly considered precursors of many-valued or paraconsistent logics, intensional logics or theories of impossible worlds, have been reflected in contemporary logic and have even inspired in some cases new research areas. Vasil’ev’s logical and philosophical output is framed within its historical and cultural context, taking into consideration both the situation of logic in Russia, straddling the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and the state of logic in Western Europe in the period. A special attention is dedicated both to the attempts, contemporary to Vasil’ev, to develop non-Aristotelian logics or ideas that present affinities with the imaginary logic, and to the contribution of traditional logic in elaborating non-classical ideas. Near the more famous imaginary logic, also Vasil’ev’s logic of concepts is exposed. This logic, which Vasil’ev did not elaborate in details, allows dealing with incomplete objects just as imaginary logic does with contradictory objects. Both logics have been made objects of interesting interpretations by modern logicians. A chapter of the book offers a wide review of the interpretations of the imaginary logic that have been given over the last hundred years. An extensive bibliography completes the volume.
2017
978-3-319-66085-1
978-3-319-66086-8
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11576/2655305
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