The Method of Applied Logic: Some Philosophical Considerations

Abstract

For a generation now, through his philosophical writings, Nicholas Rescher has been devoting his extraordinary intellectual talents and energy to a remarkably wide range of philosophical problems. Especially central among his areas of interest has been logic, a field to which he has made extensive contributions.¹ Within logic, Rescher has dealt with many technical topics, but mostly with ones falling somewhat outside the busy mainstream of modern mathematical logic; modal logic, many-valued logic, and temporal logic are among the non-standard regions of logic in which he has worked. To the more formal and technical side of these branches of logic he has made numerous contributions, but his aim has not been merely to study formalisms for their own sake; he has sought to use formal methods in order to answer philosophical questions, always interpreting and appraising the philosophical significance of the formalisms being dealt with. If we say that a logician’s spirit animates Rescher’s work in other areas of philosophy, we must balance this by saying that in his work within logic itself a philosopher’s spirit is strongly present.