What Can a Sociologist Say about Logic?

Abstract

The certainty of Logic, not unlike that of Mathematic and God, has classically been protected by a triply reinforced iron cage of certainty, authority, and tradition. This iron cage has made Logic appear invulnerable to social criticism, skepticism, analysis, reading, and deconstruction. But that iron cage is and always has been an illusion. So what do we find when we ignore the “do not enter” signs, what do we learn about what logic is and where it comes from? In this chapter, I have the modest goal of exploring what we sociologists might be able to say about logic. I draw heavily on what we have already said about mathematics, pure mathematics, and about logic. I treat the sociology of logic as an extension of the sociology of pure mathematics.