The situation in logic

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a broader conception of what logic is all about than prevails among logicians. Ordinary usage of the words logic, inference, information, and meaning defines a natural subject matter that is broader than logic. The chapter discusses that it must be understood within a general theory of information. The chapter presents the strategy that has rested behind traditional approaches in logic to the study of semantics, or meaning. The chapter discusses the need for a more general theory and outlines one attempt to provide this kind of theory, the approach is called “situation semantics.” In attempting to work out situation semantics as a theory of linguistic meaning, the chapter explains the development of a more general theory. The chapter examines what the study of logic and inference might look like within situation semantics.