Theory of Formalization: An Iconic Alternative

plakát pdf

Theories of logical formalization try to justify the practice of assigning logical formulas to propositions. This can be done in very different ways. Different theories differ in their aims, problems, methods and criteria of logical formalization and they involve different conceptions of logic. The talk presents an iconic conception of logic and its relation to philosophical and mathematical theories of formalization. The peculiarity of iconic logic is the reduction of formulas of equivalence classes to ideal representatives. The first part of the talk argues that this can be used as a tool to specify and apply criteria of adequate formalizations that solve problems of inferential as well as of semantic criteria of philosophical theories of formalization. The second part of the talk then contrasts an iconic approach to logic to the theory and practice of formalization in mathematical logic. This discussion will be focussed on the decision problem and two incompatible methods to solve it.