Logic is often perceived as having little to do with the rest of philosophy, and even less to do with real life. In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject, explaining how modern formal logic deals with issues ranging from the existence of God and the reality of time to paradoxes of probability and decision theory. Along the way, the basics of formal logic are explained in simple, non-technical terms, showing that logic is a powerful and exciting part of modern philosophy. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Logic: A Very Short Introduction

Politics & Social Sciences

Priest, Graham

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

Graham Priest presents an exploration of Buddhist metaphysics, drawing on texts which include those of Nagarjuna and Dogen. The development of Buddhist metaphysics is viewed through the lens of the catuskoti. At its simplest, and as it appears in the earliest texts, this is a logical/metaphysical principle which says that every claim is true, false, both, or neither; but the principle itself evolves, assuming new forms, as the metaphysics develops. An important step in the evolution incorporates ineffability. Such things make no sense from the perspective of a logic whichendorses the principles of excluded middle and non-contradiction, which are standard fare in Western logic. However, the book shows how one can make sense of them by applying the techniques of contemporary non-classical logic, such as those of First Degree Entailment, and Plurivalent Logic. Animportant issue that emerges as the book develops is the notion of non-duality and its transcendence. This allows many of the threads of the book to be drawn together at its end. All matters are explained, in as far as possible, in a way that is accessible to those with no knowledge of Buddhistphilosophy or contemporary non-classical logic.

The Fifth Corner of Four: An Essay on Buddhist Metaphysics and the Catuṣkoṭi

Typically, in the Western philosophical tradition, the presence of paradox and contradictions is taken to signal the failure or refutation of a theory or line of thinking. This aversion to paradox rests on the commitment-whether implicit or explicit-to the view that reality must be consistent. In What Can't be Said, Yasuo Deguchi, Jay L. Garfield, Graham Priest, and Robert H. Sharf extend their earlier arguments that the discovery of paradox and contradiction can deepen rather than disprove a philosophical position, and confirm these ideas in the context of East Asian philosophy. They claim that, unlike most Western philosophers, many East Asian philosophers embraced paradox, and provide textual evidence for this claim. Examining two classical Daoist texts, the Daodejing and the Zhaungzi, as well as the trajectory of Buddhism in East Asia, including works from the Sanlun, Tiantai, Chan, and Zen traditions and culminating with the Kyoto school of philosophy, they argue that these philosophers' commitment to paradox reflects an understanding of reality as inherently paradoxical, revealing significant philosophical insights.

What Can't be Said: Paradox and Contradiction in East Asian Thought

Garfield, Jay L.

Deguchi, Yasuo

Sharf, Robert H.

Graham Priest presents an exploration of Buddhist metaphysics, drawing on texts which include those of Nãgãrjuna and Dõgen. The development of Buddhist metaphysics is viewed through the lens of the catuṣkotị. At its simplest, and as it appears in the earliest texts, this is a logical/ metaphysical principle which says that every claim is true, false, both, or neither; but the principle itself evolves, assuming new forms, as the metaphysics develops. An important step in the evolution incorporates ineffability. Such things make no sense from the perspective of a logic which endorses the principles of excluded middle and non-contradiction, which are standard fare in Western logic. However, the book shows how one can make sense of them by applying the techniques of contemporary non-classical logic, such as those of First Degree Entailment, and Plurivalent Logic. An important issue that emerges as the book develops is the notion of non-duality and its transcendence. This allows many of the threads of the book to be drawn together at its end. All matters are explained, in as far as possible, in a way that is accessible to those with no knowledge of Buddhist philosophy or contemporary non-classical logic.

Graham Priest presents an original exploration of philosophical questions concerning the one and the many. He covers a wide range of issues in metaphysics--including unity, identity, grounding, mereology, universals, being, intentionality, and nothingness--and deploys the techniques of paraconsistent logic in order to offer a radically new treatment of unity. Priest brings together traditions of Western and Asian thought that are usually kept separate in academic philosophy: he draws on ideas from Plato, Heidegger, and Nagarjuna, among other philosophers.

One: Being an Investigation into the Unity of Reality and of its Parts, including the Singular Object which is Nothingness

Towards Non-Being

Towards Non-Being presents an account of the semantics of intentional language--verbs such as 'believes', 'fears', 'seeks', 'imagines'. Graham Priest tackles problems concerning intentional states which are often brushed under the carpet in discussions of intentionality, such as their failure to be closed under deducibility. Priest's account draws on the work of the late Richard Routley (Sylvan), and proceeds in terms of objects that may be either existent or non-existent, at worlds that may be either possible or impossible. Since Russell, non-existent objects have had a bad press in Western philosophy; Priest mounts a full-scale defence. In the process, he offers an account of both fictional and mathematical objects as non-existent. The book will be of central interest to anyone who is concerned with intentionality in the philosophy of mind or philosophy of language, the metaphysics of existence and identity, the philosophy or fiction, the philosophy of mathematics, or cognitive representation in AI. This updated second edition adds ten new chapters to the original eight. These further develop the ideas of the first edition, reply to critics, and explore new areas of relevance. New topics covered include: conceivability, realism/antirealism concerning non-existent objects, self-deception, and the verb to be.

Logic is often perceived as having little to do with the rest of philosophy, and even less to do with real life. In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject, explaining how modern formal logic deals with issues ranging from the existence of God and the reality of time to paradoxes of probability and decision theory. Along the way, the basics of formal logic are explained in simple, non-technical terms, showing that logic is a powerful and exciting part of modern philosophy. In this new edition Graham Priest expands his discussion to cover the subjects of algorithms and axioms, and proofs in mathematics. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Logic: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Towards Non-Being: The Logic and Metaphysics of Intentionality

Graham Priest presents a ground-breaking account of the semantics of intentional language--verbs such as "believes," "fears," "seeks," or "imagines." Towards Non-Being proceeds in terms of objects that may be either existent or non-existent, at worlds that may be either possible or impossible. The book will be of central interest to anyone who is concerned with intentionality in the philosophy of mind or philosophy of language, the metaphysics of existence and identity, the philosophy of fiction, the philosophy of mathematics, or cognitive representation in AI.

Clarendon Press

Doubt Truth to Be a Liar

The Law of Non-Contradiction has been high orthodoxy in Western philosophy since Aristotle. The so-called Law has been the subject of radical challenge in recent years by dialetheism, the view that some contradictions are indeed true. Many philosophers have taken the Law to be central to many of our most important philosophical concepts. In Doubt Truth to be a Liar, Graham Priest mounts the case against this. Starting with an analysis of Aristotle on the Law, he discusses the nature of truth, or rationality, or negation, and of logic itself, and argues that the Law is inessential to all of these things. The book takes off from Priest's earlier book, In Contradiction (a second edition of which is also published by OUP) developing its themes largely without recourse to formal logic. The book is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand dialetheism; (especially) for anyone who wishes to continue to endorse the old Aristotelian orthodoxy; and more generally, for anyone who wishes to understand the role that contradiction plays in our thinking.

Doubt Truth to be a Liar

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Priest, Graham. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Priest, Graham

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Priest, Graham. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Logic: A Very Short Introduction

The Fifth Corner of Four: An Essay on Buddhist Metaphysics and the Catuṣkoṭi

What Can't be Said: Paradox and Contradiction in East Asian Thought

The Fifth Corner of Four: An Essay on Buddhist Metaphysics and the Catuṣkoṭi

One: Being an Investigation into the Unity of Reality and of its Parts, including the Singular Object which is Nothingness

Towards Non-Being

Towards Non-Being

Logic: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Towards Non-Being: The Logic and Metaphysics of Intentionality

Doubt Truth to be a Liar