It is quite exciting that the Mises Institute is starting to emphasize logic as an area of study. It is long due, and it is very important. However, I am wondering about the selection of Jevons’ book over that of Morris Cohen, which was recommended as an introductory text by Mises himself. I know that Hazlitt recommended this book, but IP must also be a factor. Is Cohen’s Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method still under copyright? Is there any way to find out? I am reading it right now and it is very good, and would make a terrific addition to the LvMI store.
amazing. I hadn’t even posted that information. anyway, this was a fav book of Hazlitt’s. And it is truly fantastic. I first thought that there was no market. Maybe there isn’t. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed clear that we needed a print edition. Essentially I became obsessed with the book after doug French told me about it. So, we print it and see what happens. It is really a masterpiece. nothing better on the topic.
It turns out that there are rules for thinking. hmmm… not many people know that.
The best books in logic to date I’ve stumbled upon are still Jevons’ synthesis of Boole and De Morgan. It nice that this might get some attention.
The underlying framework is De Morgan, but without the unproductive notation of De Morgan’s earlier works or Syllabus. Jevons removed the big paradox’s out of Boole’s logic as well (i.e. Caeser either invaded Gaul or was killed by Brutus, and etc., because Boole’s use of additive notation and rearrangement of symbols; coincidentally, Whitehead and Russell made the same error, yielding their p implies q, q = ~p).
Its too bad Jevons died and was unable to properly propagandize his work. He was not the best economist, but he was the best logician; better than Frege et post-Frege.
How accessible are these books to the lay person. I’ve become intrigued by the subject and would be interested in reading either Jevon’s or Cohen’s books (or any other suggestions), but I don’t have a formal background in philosophy/logic etc.
You shouldn’t have much trouble with either Cohen & Nagel or Jevons. I really like the former. If you want one a fraction of the size of those two, I have one also by Jevons simply entitled Logic, in which you may be interested. It’s available for free on Google Books. Here’s my ancient copy of it:
Thanks for the link. On a side note, you mentioned that Hazlitt was a fan, is his book “Thinking as a Science” in the same vein? Or is it something completely different.
Yeah, that’s the one. I would pick up an older copy, one that says it’s published by OUP/Clarendon Press. Stay away from those scanned ones; they are very often full of unreadable text.
By the way, here’s a link to the full text on Google Books in case you were unaware of it.
