The Aristotelian square of oppositions is a well-known diagram in logic and linguistics. In recent years, several extensions of the square have been discovered. However, these extensions have failed to become as widely known as the square. In this paper we argue that there is indeed a fundamental difference between the square and its extensions, viz., a difference in informativity. To do this, we distinguish between concrete Aristotelian diagrams (such as the square) and, on a more abstract level, the Aristotelian geometry (a set of logical relations). We then introduce two new logical geometries (and their corresponding diagrams), and develop a formal, well-motivated account of their informativity. This enables us to show that the square is strictly more informative than many of the more complex diagrams.
Logical geometry systematically studies Aristotelian diagrams, such as the classical square of oppositions and its extensions. These investigations rely heavily on the use of bitstrings, which are compact combinatorial representations of formulas that allow us to quickly determine their Aristotelian relations. However, because of their general nature, bitstrings can be applied to a wide variety of topics in philosophical logic beyond those of logical geometry. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to present a systematic technique for assigning bitstrings to arbitrary finite fragments of formulas in arbitrary logical systems, and to study the logical and combinatorial properties of this technique. It is based on the partition of logical space that is induced by a given fragment, and sheds new light on a number of interesting issues, such as the logic-dependence of the Aristotelian relations and the subtle interplay between the Aristotelian and Boolean structure of logical fragments. Finally, the bitstring technique also allows us to systematically analyze fragments from contemporary logical systems, such as public announcement logic, which could not be done before. Keywords bitstrings • combinatorial semantics • Aristotelian diagram • Boolean algebra • existential import • public announcement logic
The central aim of this paper is to present a Boolean algebraic approach to the classical Aristotelian Relations of Opposition, namely Contradiction and (Sub)contrariety, and to provide a 3D visualisation of those relations based on the geometrical properties of Platonic and Archimedean solids. In the first part we start from the standard Generalized Quantifier analysis of expressions for comparative quantification to build the Comparative Quantifier Algebra CQA. The underlying scalar structure allows us to define the Aristotelian relations in Boolean terms and to propose a 3D visualisation by transforming a cube into an octahedron. In part two, the architecture of the CQA is shown to carry over, both to the classical quantifiers of Predicate Calculus and to the modal operators-which are given a Generalized Quantifier style re-interpretation. In this way we provide an algebraic foundation for Blanché's Aristotelian hexagon as well as a 3D alternative to his 2D star-like visualisation. In a final part, a richer scalar structure is argued to underly the realm of Modality, thus generalizing the 3D algebra with eight (2 3 ) operators to a 4D algebra with sixteen (2 4 ) operators. The visual representation of the latter structure involves a transformation of the hypercube to a rhombic dodecahedron. The resulting 3D visualisation allows a straightforward embedding, not only of the classical Blanché star of Aristotelian relations or the paracomplete and paraconsistent stars of Béziau (Log Investig 10, 218-232, 2003) but also of three additional isomorphic Aristotelian constellations. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000). Primary 03B45, 03B65, O3G05; Secondary 03E02, 05C99.
Abstract. This paper concerns the Aristotelian relations of contradiction, contrariety, subcontrariety and subalternation between 14 contingent formulae, which can get a 2D or 3D visual representation by means of Aristotelian diagrams. The overall 3D diagram representing these Aristotelian relations is the rhombic dodecahedron (RDH), a polyhedron consisting of 14 vertices and 12 rhombic faces (Section 2). The ultimate aim is to study the various complementarities between Aristotelian diagrams inside the RDH. The crucial notions are therefore those of subdiagram and of nesting or embedding smaller diagrams into bigger ones. Three types of Aristotelian squares are characterised in terms of which types of contradictory diagonals they contain (Section 3). Secondly, any Aristotelian hexagon contains 3 squares (Section 4), and any Aristotelian octagon contains 4 hexagons (Section 5), so that different types of bigger diagrams can be distinguished in terms of which types of subdiagrams they contain. In a final part, the logical complementarities between 6 and 8 formulae are related to the geometrical complementarities between the 3D embeddings of hexagons and octagons inside the RDH (Section 6).
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