Language, Proof and Logic is an educational software package, devised and written by

Jon Barwise Kenneth Jon Barwise (; June 29, 1942 – March 5, 2000) was an American mathematician, philosopher and logician who proposed some fundamental revisions to the way that logic is understood and used. Education and career Born in Independence, M ...

and

John Etchemendy John W. Etchemendy (born 1952 in Reno, Nevada) is an American logician and philosopher who served as Stanford University's twelfth Provost. He succeeded John L. Hennessy to the post on September 1, 2000 and stepped down on January 31, 2017. E ...

, geared to teaching

formal logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

through the use of a tight integration between a textbook (same name as the package) and four software programs, where three of them are logic related (Boole, Fitch and Tarski's World) and the other (Submit) is an internet-based grading service. The name is a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

derived from ''

Language, Truth, and Logic ''Language, Truth and Logic'' is a 1936 book about meaning by the philosopher Alfred Jules Ayer, in which the author defines, explains, and argues for the verification principle of logical positivism, sometimes referred to as the ''criterion o ...

'', the philosophy book by

A. J. Ayer Sir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer (; 29 October 1910 – 27 June 1989), usually cited as A. J. Ayer, was an English philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books '' Language, Truth, and Logic'' (1936) ...

. On September 2, 2014, there was launched a

massive open online course A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, m ...

(MOOC) with the same name, which utilizes this educational software package.

Description

A short description of the programs: * Boole (named after

George Boole George Boole (; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher, and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in Ire ...

) - a program that facilitates the construction and checking of truth tables and related notions ( tautology, tautological consequence, etc.); * Fitch (named after

Frederic Brenton Fitch Frederic Brenton Fitch (September 9, 1908, Greenwich, Connecticut – September 18, 1987, New Haven, Connecticut) was an American logician, a Sterling Professor at Yale University. Education and career At Yale, Fitch earned his B.A in 1931 and ...

) - a natural deduction proof environment in

Fitch-style calculus Fitch notation, also known as Fitch diagrams (named after Frederic Fitch), is a notational system for constructing formal proofs used in sentential logics and predicate logics. Fitch-style proofs arrange the sequence of sentences that make up the ...

for giving and checking first-order proofs; *

Tarski's World Tarski's World is a computer-based introduction to first-order logic written by Jon Barwise and John Etchemendy. It is named after the mathematical logician Alfred Tarski. The package includes a book, which serves as a textbook and manual, and a c ...

(named after

Alfred Tarski Alfred Tarski (, born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician a ...

) - a program that teaches the basic first-order language and its semantics using a model theoretic-like approach, where the "world" consists of a little grid and some simple objects; * Submit - a program that allows students to submit exercises done with the above programs to the Grade Grinder, the online grading service.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Home page1st edition of ''Language, Proof and Logic''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

massive open online course (MOOC) of Language, Proof and Logic
Educational software Logic Digital media works about philosophy