Albert Liu

Jon Barwise

Dave Barker-Plummer

John Etchemendy

Gerard Allwein

Covers first-order language in method appropriate for first and second courses in logic. CD-ROM consists of a new book, 3 programs,and an Internet-based grading service.

Language, Proof and Logic

Situation Theory and situation semantics are recent approaches to language and information, approaches first formulated by Jon Barwise and John Perry in Situations and Attitudes (1983). The present volume collects some of Barwise's papers written since then, those directly concerned with relations among logic, situation theory, and situation semantics. Several papers appear here for the first time.

The Situation in Logic

This monograph purports to provide a solution to semantical paradoxes like the Liar. The authors base this solution on J. L. Austin's idea of truth, which is fundamental to situation semantics. They compare two models of language, propositions and truth, one based on Russell and the other on Austin, as they bear on the Liar Paradox. In Russell's view, a sentence expresses a proposition, which is true or not. According to Austin, however, there is always a contextual parameter - the situation the sentence is about - that comes between the sentence and proposition. The Austinian perspective proves to have fruitful applications to the analysis of semantic paradox. The authors show that, on this account, the liar is a genuine diagonal argument. This argument can be shown to have profound consequences for our understanding of some of the most basic semantical mechanisms at work in our language. Jon Barwise is, with John Perry, a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford.

The Liar:An Essay on Truth and Circularity

John Perry

Robin Cooper

Center for the Study of Language and Information (U.S.)

Kuniaki Mukai

Situation Theory grew out of attempts by Jon Barwise in the late 1970s to provide a semantics for 'naked-infinitive' perceptual reports such as 'Claire saw Jon run'. Barwise's intuition was that Claire didn't just see Jon, an individual, but Jon doing something, a situation. Situations are individuals having properties and standing in relations. A theory of situations would allow us to study and compare various types of situations or situation-like entitles, such as facts, events, and scenes. One of the central themes of situation theory of meaning and reference should be set within a general theory of information, one moreover that is rich enough to do justice to perception, communication, and thought. By now many people have contributed by the need to give a rigorous mathematical account of the principles of information that underwrite the theory.

Situation Theory and Its Applications: Volume 1

Lawrence Moss

Circular analyses of philosophical, linguistic, or computational phenomena have been attacked on the assumption that they conflict with mathematical rigour. Barwise and Moss have undertaken to prove this assumption false. This volume is concerned with extending the modelling capabilities of set theory to provide a uniform treatment of circular phenomena. As a means of guiding the reader through the concrete examples of the theory, the authors have included many exercises and solutions: these exercises range in difficulty and ultimately stimulate the reader to come up with new results. Vicious Circles is intended for use by researchers who want to use hypersets; although some experience in mathematics is necessary, the book is accessible to people with widely differing backgrounds and interests.

On the Mathematics of Non-Wellfounded Phenomena

Vicious Circles

One effect of information technology is the increasing need to present information visually. The trend raises intriguing questions. What is the logical status of reasoning that employs visualization? What are the cognitive advantages and pitfalls of this reasoning? What kinds of tools can be developed to aid in the use of visual representation? This newest volume on the Studies in Logic and Computation series addresses the logical aspects of the visualization of information. The authors of these specially commissioned papers explore the properties of diagrams, charts, and maps, and their use in problem solving and teaching basic reasoning skills. As computers make visual representations more commonplace, it is important for professionals, researchers and students in computer science, philosophy, and logic to develop an understanding of these tools; this book can clarify the relationship between visuals and information.

Logical Reasoning with Diagrams

The authors explore the logical properties of diagrams, charts, and maps, and the role these play in problem solving and teaching reasoning skills.

Bringing together powerful new tools from set theory and the philosophy of language, this book proposes a solution to one of the few unresolved paradoxes from antiquity, the Paradox of the Liar. Treating truth as a property of propositions, not sentences, the authors model two distinct conceptions of propositions: one based on the standard notion used by Bertrand Russell, among others, and the other based on J.L. Austin's work on truth. Comparing these two accounts, the authors show that while the Russellian conception of the relation between sentences, propositions, and truth is crucially flawed in limiting cases, the Austinian perspective has fruitful applications to the analysis of semantic paradox. In the course of their study of a language admitting circular reference and containing its own truth predicate, Barwise and Etchemendy also develop a wide range of model-theoretic techniques--based on a new set-theoretic tool, Peter Aczel's theory of hypersets--that open up new avenues in logical and formal semantics.

An Essay on Truth and Circularity

The Liar

Department of Mathematics Jon Barwise

In this provocative book, Barwise and Perry tackle the slippery subject of meaning, a subject that has long vexed linguists, language philosophers, and logicians.

Situations and Attitudes

Grundlagen der Situationssemantik

Situationen und Einstellungen

Jerry Seligman

Information is a central topic in computer science, cognitive science and philosophy. In spite of its importance in the 'information age', there is no consensus on what information is, what makes it possible, and what it means for one medium to carry information about another. Drawing on ideas from mathematics, computer science and philosophy, this book addresses the definition and place of information in society. The authors, observing that information flow is possible only within a connected distribution system, provide a mathematically rigorous, philosophically sound foundation for a science of information. They illustrate their theory by applying it to a wide range of phenomena, from file transfer to DNA, from quantum mechanics to speech act theory.

Jon Barwise

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