An Introduction to Non-Classical Logic

Graham Priest

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
ISBN: 052179434X (pb), 0521790980 (hb), pp. xxi + 242, £12.95/$19.95 (pb), £35.00/£54.95 (hb).

Practical Philosophy  (Book Reviews) Spring 2003 Volume 6.1

Reviewed by: Trevor Curnow

This book seeks to introduce a number of forms of propositional logic, most of them relatively new. The topics covered include modal logic, intuitionist logic, relevant logic and fuzzy logic, for example. A number of the chapters deal, in different ways, with problems relating to the law of excluded middle, which demands that a proposition must be either true or false. So far so good. However, the blurb’s claim that the book is accessible to those with a basic understanding of classical logic strikes me as a trifle optimistic. One of the problems is that Priest makes considerable use of tableaux, which were not on the menu when I acquired my own basic understanding of classical logic. The book does not assume a prior knowledge of them, but they are introduced in a bare five pages, which is hardly adequate. Compared with other introductions to tableaux I tracked down in other books, the treatment of them here is both brief and difficult to follow. This reflects a problem I had with the book as a whole. Its style is very condensed, whereas it seems to me that anyone coming to this difficult material for the first time needs more by way of commentary. It may be that Priest intends the book to be employed only in a formal teaching context where tutorial support is available (which would explain why the set ‘problems’ at the end of each chapter are not matched with any accompanying solutions), but that sets a serious limit both to its usefulness and to its audience. As a result, despite the appeal of its contents, this will really only be of interest to specialists.

 

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