This book explains how the meanings of the symbols of logic are determined by the rules that govern them.

In this challenging and provocative analysis, Dale Jacquette argues that contemporary philosophy labours under a number of historically inherited delusions about the nature of logic and the philosophical significance of certain formal properties of specific types of logical constructions. Exposing some of the key misconceptions about formal symbolic logic and its relation to thought, language and the world, Jacquette clears the ground of some very well-entrenched philosophical doctrines about the nature of logic, including some of the most fundamental seldom-questioned parts of elementary propositional and predicate-quantificational logic. Having presented difficulties for conventional ways of thinking about truth functionality, the metaphysics of reference and predication, the role of a concept of truth in a theory of meaning, among others, Jacquette proceeds to reshape the network of ideas about traditional logic that philosophy has acquired along with modern logic itself. In so doing Jacquette is able to offer a new perspective on a number of existing problems in logic and philosophy of logic.

Alex Oliver and Timothy Smiley provide a new account of plural logic. They argue that there is such a thing as genuinely plural denotation in logic, and expound a framework of ideas that includes the distinction between distributive and collective predicates, the theory of plural descriptions, multivalued functions, and lists.

This 2006 book provides an accessible, yet technically sound treatment of modal logic and its philosophical applications.

Introduction to Logic combines likely the broadest scope of any logic textbook available with clear, concise writing and interesting examples and arguments. Its key features, all retained in the Second Edition, include: • simpler ways to test arguments than those available in competing textbooks, including the star test for syllogisms • a wide scope of materials, making it suitable for introductory logic courses (as the primary text) or intermediate classes (as the primary or supplementary book) • engaging and easy-to-understand examples and arguments, drawn from everyday life as well as from the great philosophers • a suitability for self-study and for preparation for standardized tests, like the LSAT • a reasonable price (a third of the cost of many competitors) • exercises that correspond to the LogiCola program, which may be downloaded for free from the web. This Second Edition also: • arranges chapters in a more useful way for students, starting with the easiest material and then gradually increasing in difficulty • provides an even broader scope with new chapters on the history of logic, deviant logic, and the philosophy of logic • expands the section on informal fallacies • includes a more exhaustive index and a new appendix on suggested further readings • updates the LogiCola instructional program, which is now more visually attractive as well as easier to download, install, update, and use.

This wide-ranging collection of essays explores the nature of logic and the key issues and debates in the metaphysics of logic.