Peirce's logic of continuity: Existential graphs and non-Cantorian continuum



The Review of Modern Logic

Peirce's logic of continuity: Existential graphs and non-Cantorian continuum

Fernando Zalamea

Source: Rev. Mod. Log. Volume 9, Number 1-2 (2001), 115-162.

Abstract

Peirce's systems of existential graphs (Alpha: classical propositional calculus; Beta: first-order purely relational logic; Gamma: modal calculi and second-order logic) are presented both from an historical perspective and succinctly for the modern reader. Peirce's alternative continuum, with its main non-Cantorian properties (genericity, reflexivity, modality), is also presented both historically and synthetically. The blend of Peirce's existential graphs and his non-Cantorian continuum gives rise to a thoroughly original logical approach to the "labyrinth of the continuum". We explain why such an approach was set aside in the main developments of logic in the $\,\hbox{\tiny XX}^{\hbox{\tiny th}}\,$ century, and we hint to a possible renewal of interest for Peirce's continuity logic from the viewpoint of contemporary developments in category theory and geometric logic.

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Links and Identifiers

Permanent link to this document: http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.rml/1081173838
Mathematical Reviews number (MathSciNet): MR2040860


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