The Development of Logic [Hardcover]

William Kneale (Author), Martha Kneale (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198241836 | ISBN-13: 978-0198241836 | Publication Date: December 31, 1962 | Edition: 1St Edition

The primary purpose of this book has not been to recount all that past scholars have said about the science, but rather to record the first appearances of those ideas which seem most important in the logic of our own day.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 770 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1St Edition edition (December 31, 1962)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198241836
• ISBN-13: 978-0198241836
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,051,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Historic Achievement!, November 27, 2005

By 

Agahi Sama (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Development of Logic (Paperback)

A colossus of a book with an enourmous treasury of information! Sure, as some of the other reviewers have complained, it's not equally strong on every logician or epoch, but who could reasonably expect that?
A definite must read for any student of logic, not only because it is packed with interesting information and illuminating exposition but also because many sections are quite engagingly written. In addition to being surprisinlgy suitable for "cover to cover"-reading the massive index enables one to use it as a historic encyclopedia of logic.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven but worth while, February 7, 2003

By 

galloamericanus "galloamericanus" (Podunk, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Development of Logic (Paperback)

Very strong on Frege, although because it was written in 1962,it cannot reflect the ample scholarship of the past 40 years.
Meticulous about the logic of the classical era. Deprecates
Lukasiewicz's attempt to formalize the syllogism (Arthur Prior's Formal Logic does a better job on this technical topic.)
They do NOT do justice to how Leibniz is the most exciting logician between Aristotle and Boole.
Good on Boole, because Wm Kneale contributed importantly to the postwar Boole revival.
Slights the important contributions of Charles Sanders Peirce, although again, his importance has become much clearer since this book was written.
Surprisingly lukewarm about Principia Mathematica.
Fairly clear about topics (eg, recursive arithmetic) other texts make difficult.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A major flaw, February 7, 2003

By 

galloamericanus "galloamericanus" (Podunk, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Development of Logic (Paperback)

A major flaw is K&K's silence about Whately's Logic of 1826. This book , which went into many editions over nearly 100
years, was instrumental in the revival of logic in the English speaking world. Reading Whately made logicians out of De Morgan, C S Peirce, William Hamilton.
For the history of logic after 1840 or so, K&K is superseded by Grattan-Guiness's The Search for Mathematical Roots.