Exact Philosophy Problems, Tools, and Goals
The papers that follow were read and discussed at the first Symposium on Exact Philosophy. This conference was held at Montreal on November 4th and 5th, 1971, to celebrate the sesquicentennial of McGill University and establish the Society for Exact Philo
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SYNTHESE LIBRARY MONOGRAPHS ON EPISTEMOLOGY, LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE AND OF KNOWLEDGE, AND ON THE MATHEMATICAL METHODS OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Editors: DONALD DAVIDSON,
J AAKKO
The Rockefeller University and Princeton University
HINTIKKA,
Academy of Finland and Stanford University
GABRIEL NUCHELMANS, WESLEY
C.
SALMON,
University of Leyden
Indiana University
EXACT PHILOSOPHY Problenls, Tools, and Goals Edited by
MARIO BUNGE Foundations and Philosophy of Science Unit, McGill University, Montreal
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT-HOLLAND
I BOSTON-U.S.A.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-77872 ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2518-8
e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2516-4
001: 10.1007/978-94-010-2516-4
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17, Dordrecht, Holland Sold and distributed in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Inc. 306 Dartmouth Street, Boston, Mass. 02116, U.S.A.
All Rights Reserved Copyright © 1973 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1973
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint. microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher
FOREWORD
The papers that follow were read and discussed at the first Symposium on Exact Philosophy. This conference was held at Montreal on November 4th and 5th, 1971, to celebrate the sesquicentennial of McGill University and establish the Society for Exact Philosophy. The expression 'exact philosophy' is taken to signify mathematical philosophy, i.e., philosophy done with the explicit help of mathematical logic and mathematics. So far the expression denotes an attitude rather than a fully blown discipline: it intends to convey the intention to try and proceed in as exact a manner as we can in formulating and discussing philosophical problems and theories. The kind of philosophy we wish to practice and promote is disciplined rather than wild, systematic rather than disconnected, and capable of being argued over rather than oracular. We believe that even metaphysics, notoriously riotous, can be subjected to the control of logic and mathematics. Even the history of philosophy, notoriously unsystematic, can benefit from an exact reconstruction of some classical ideas. Exactness, though desirable, should not be taken for an end: it is a means for enhancing clarity and systemicity, hence control. Exactness, whether in philosophy or in science, does not guarantee certainty: it eases the discovery of error and its correction. Nor does exactness ensure depth, hence interest: it warrants the possibility of rational scrutiny. The ideal is, of course, to tackle genuine and deep problems in an exact manner. But before we can solve any deep problems in exact philosophy we must accumulate a stock of modest yet exact theories. I submit then that our immediate task is to build well circumscribed theories in exact philosophy: in semantics, epistemology, metaphysics, value
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