12 December 2016, AUC Logic Lectures, Johan van Benthem

Abstract

Logicians have studied reasoning with quantifier expressions like "all", "some" ever since Antiquity, as these underlie both ordinary language and the mathematical language of science. We look at the history of logical systems for quantifiers, flagging intriguing issues still alive today, such as the interplay of formal and natural languages (with philosophical repercussions), expressive power of language for discrete and continuous quantities, and fast natural quantifier inference versus slow deductive proof. If time permits, we will add a coda about epistemic expressions in natural language.