Handbook of philosophical logic. Vol. I: Elements of classical logic (Q792991)

This is the first volume of a Handbook intended to cover the whole area of the more philosophically oriented parts of modern logic. Four volumes are planned. Each of the chapters here surveys some separate topic, but a lot of cross references are given. Of course, the whole work is not a textbook, but all the chapters in vol. I start from a reasonably sound intuitive base. At all, the topics of the present volume are mainly classical, the areas of non-classical logic are discussed in the next three volumes whose tables of content are given at the end of the book. Chapter 1 (pp. 1-131) by \textit{W. Hodges} surveys classical predicate logic; all the standard material of usual textbooks is presented mainly without proofs but well motivated and with concise formulations of definitions and theorems: at first this is propositional logic, secondly first-order logic, which thirdly is discussed with respect to its expressive power, e.g. concerning some non-expressible quantificational noun phrases, the formalization of set theory, Skolem functions, and Lindström's results on the characterization of classical first-order logic. Chapter 2 (pp. 133-188) by \textit{G. Sundholm} treats systems of deduction and concentrates on three themes: Hilbert-Frege style systems, natural deduction, and sequent calculi. Obviously, here a lot of details is unavoidable, but fortunately the matter is presented quite clearly and with valuable hints to the mutual interrelations between different formalizations of deduction. Chapter 3 (pp. 189-274) from \textit{H. Leblanc} gives alternatives to standard first-order semantics; that means here substitutional semantics, truth value semantics, truth set semantics, model set semantics, and probabilistic semantics. This chapter gives almost all details which prove those semantics equally well suited to characterize the provable formulas of usual predicate calculi of first order. Nevertheless, essentially with regard to probabilistic semantics that chapter gives much more than a survey - it is partly an original paper and thus in some sense outside the scope of the other chapters in this volume. In the following chapter 4 (pp. 275-329) \textit{J. van Benthem} and \textit{K. Doets} discuss higher-order logic: first again the limits of first-order logic are considered, lateron, carefully, second- order logic and, a bit shorter, higher-order logic, type theory, and their reduction to many-sorted first-order logic. The topic of type theories is also treated by \textit{A. Hazen} in chapter 5 (pp. 331-407) on predicative logics. Here, almost without formulas (!), the ramified and simple type theories and their intuitive motivations in the idea of predicativity are thoroughly presented. Finally, \textit{D. van Dalen} gives in chapter 6 (pp. 409-478) a crash course in recursion theory, covering the standard material up to decidability/undecidability results of special theories and up to the arithmetical hierarchy. The whole book is well made. Of course, no such broad survey can be complete, but in every chapter the central results of its field are presented. A name and a subject index complete the volume. But, quite unfortunately, each chapter has its own set of notes and its own list of references. The whole handbook is a very welcome addition to the existing literature on its field. If the following volumes meet the high standard of quality of the first one, the work undoubtedly will become a standard reference for logicians and logically interested philosophers.