Everything that Linguists have Always Wanted to Know about Logic . . . But Were Ashamed to Ask [Paperback]

James D. McCawley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226556115 | ISBN-13: 978-0226556116 | Publication Date: November 1, 1993 | Edition: 2nd

McCawley supplements his earlier book—which covers such topics as presuppositional logic, the logic of mass terms and nonstandard quantifiers, and fuzzy logic—with new material on the logic of conditional sentences, linguistic applications of type theory, Anil Gupta's work on principles of identity, and the generalized quantifier approach to the logical properties of determiners.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James D. McCawley is the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Linguistics and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 2nd edition (November 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226556115
• ISBN-13: 978-0226556116
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,478,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hands down the most accessible introduction to symbolic logic, yet rather comprehensive, April 24, 2011

By 

Dan'l Miller (Dallas TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everything that Linguists have Always Wanted to Know about Logic . . . But Were Ashamed to Ask (Paperback)

This book's intended audience is not merely linguists, but rather any student of symbolic logic (beyond classical Greek treatment of the topic) where that student wants to start with the gentle introduction from the top down rather than go straight to Bertrand-Russell-level theoretical monographs on set theory, logic, and combinatorics. Instead, McCawley presents logic not as some topic only for high-priest mathematicians, but rather as something that, given the opportunity, comes naturally as if our brains are pre-wired to learn logic as much as and as easily as riding a bicycle.

This book (as is all of McCawley's other books) is an immense joy to read. Although the title makes the material inside this book sound like `logic for poets', this book goes into fair depth across fair breadth. Portions of the material covered lucidly overlaps with Irving Copi's _Symbolic Logic_ but gentler. Portions apply logic to a kind of transformational grammar. Portions explore quantifiers that demarcate multiple worldviews. Portions explore the establishment of different categories of truth. And nearly every concept in this book is presented in a gentle and lucid style of writing, speaking simultaneously to multiple audiences, each at a different level of expertise among several domains. If you are seeking a 100-page tersely-dense mathematical monograph, perhaps this is not the book that you are seeking. But if you are seeking the comprehensive owner's manual that effectively says through its style of writing `Welcome to the Logic Club! We are glad that you could arrive and join us as a lifelong member.', then this is the book for you.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great text, great backing, April 16, 2010

By 

Leandro G. F. DUTRA "Rato de Biblioteca" (São Paulo, SP BRAZIL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything that Linguists have Always Wanted to Know about Logic . . . But Were Ashamed to Ask (Hardcover)

Recommended by Christopher 'Chris' J DATE. 'Nuff said. And a good reading too, as far as the naturally demanding topic allows.