Justification of Inferences. Frege and Tractatus 5.132

  • Kurt Wischin Universidad de Granada, España
Keywords: Laws of Logic, Material Inference, Conditional, Material Implication, Frege, Tractatus

Abstract

Wittgenstein criticizes both Frege and Russel in Section 5.132 of the Tractatus for trying to justify the relation of logical implication with the help of fundamental laws of logic which would be external to propositions. Wittgenstein treats these relations between propositions, if they exist, as internal to them. Ian Proops concedes Wittgenstein’s point as far as Russell is concerned, but is more cautious with respect to Frege. Parting from ideas I take from Brandom and Frápolli about semantic inferentialism and logical expressivism in Frege I want to show that it is not a belief in the conditional as primitive law of logic that for Frege justifies inferences and explains the relations between propositions, but that it is conceptual relations that permit making logical relations explicit in the form of material implication. I pretend to give a plausible argument that it is material inference in the sense of Sellars what is behind young Frege’s reflections on logic but that is also fundamental for the Frege of Fundamental Laws of Arithmetic and that, in this respect, it would seem that Wittgenstein was wrong to include Frege in his critique of Russell.

Author Biography

Kurt Wischin, Universidad de Granada, España

KURT WISCHIN, is CPhil in Philosophy at the Escuela Internacional de Posgrado of the Universidad de Granada. He started studing philosophy at the University of Vienna in 1970s, and he got the title of Licenciado en Filosofía (BA) at the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro and Máster en Filosofía (MPhil) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He does research on the philosophy Wittgenstein's philosophy, especially on the Philosophical Investigations. Currently, he focuses on the historical origins of the Philosophy of Logic and Language, in particular on the evolution of Frege's thought and its influence on the genesis of the Tractatus, and more in general he works in analitical philosophy. He published articles and translations in collective works and academic journals of philosophy and he has given talks in many conferences, both national and international.

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Published
2017-12-22
How to Cite
[1]
Wischin, K. 2017. Justification of Inferences. Frege and Tractatus 5.132. Disputatio. 6, 7 (Dec. 2017), 385-421. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1414626.
Section
Articles and Essays