Here is Jevon’s ‘computer’, as promised. (Such a system could be expanded for any amount of characters, beyond those of the alphabet.)
thanks. downloaded and saved.
I don’t know when I’ll get to it as I’m reading Mises “Socialism” along side Cohen’s “Intro. to Logic” presently, but in due time.
[:)]
Ah, here is Wicksteed (with a 105 years precedent, apparently):
“But Jevons fully and clearly recognised the mechanical nature of the process,
and consequently perfected its mechanism. By an odd linguistic error he called
his logic machine a " logical" machine, as though the machine itself were logical
and could reason ; but, as a matter of fact, he showed with the most perfect cogency
that whereas the formulation of the premisses is the all-important process, and is
in no sense mechanical, yet when once they are formulated they can be manipulated
mechanically, and all their implications rendered explicit without chance of error or omission,
if the mechanism is rendered perfect. If it is not, the process will be no less mechanical
but will be more liable to error. It will be worked by bad mechanics, but still by mechanics”
(Wicksteed 1905:433).
Wicksteed, Philip. September 1905. Jevons’ Economic Work. Economic Journal 15(59):432-436.