Pilar Terrés

University of Barcelona

Substructural Logics and the Meaning of Logical Connectives

16 November 2018, 16:00

Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa

Sala Mattos Romão (Departamento de Filosofia)

Abstract: Logical Pluralism is the thesis that there is more than one correct logic. One of the main objections against this view is the Quinean meaning-variance argument, according to which divergent logic change the meaning of logical vocabulary. I suggest a version of logical pluralism which endorses classical and certain substructural logics (including linear logic, which will receive special attention) which avoids this conclusion. The suggested thesis is sustained in a particular analysis of the behavior of logical connectives in the different logics, arguing that substructural logics capture pragmatically enriched senses of ‘if…then’, ‘or’, and ‘and’, contrary to classical logic, which captures their literal meaning.