The Inconsistencies of the Thinker"We offer 5-6 sessions of Elementary Logic every year, using your book. We find it excellent and we are planning to use it also in the future."
Achille Varzi, Columbia University
"Modern Logic is the bee's knees! It's been my logic text of choice for several years now, and it should remain so for some time to come."
Branden Fitelson, University of California at Berkeley
"He has written, among others, a beautiful book, Modern Logic which is the recommended text for the introductory logic course...at the Philosophical Seminar, University of Hamburg."
Helmut Schreier, University of Hamburg.
The Inconsistencies of the ThinkerClick the thumbnail or the title for a JPEG of the painting, or click here for an image of the book cover.
I was already thinking about the cover design of Modern Logic when I stumbled across de Chirico's painting at the old San Francisco MOMA during a rainy afternoon's timeout from the Pacific Division APA meeting in 1993. I knew immediately that this was what I wanted on the cover - the title's appropriateness was just lagniappe. In fact, the "official" SF MOMA translation of de Chirico's French, "Les Contrariétés du penseur", is "The Vexations of the Thinker". "The Inconsistencies of the Thinker" was given as an alternative title in material the museum sent me when I was acquiring permission to use the image. "Inconsistencies" is the better translation of "contrariétés".
The painting is now on view at the new SF MOMA on 3rd Street.
Preface
to Modern Logic Table
of Contents of Modern Logic Chapter
1 of Modern Logic Chapter
2 of Modern Logic Chapter
3 of Modern Logic Solutions
to starred exercises in Modern LogicIf you haven't seen a copy of the book you can get its flavor by looking at these samples. The files are in pdf format and you'll need Acrobat Reader to display them. If you don't know what that means, see my Instructions.
Errata
in Modern LogicThis 105K document lists all the typos, slips and other mistakes I know about in the first printing of Modern Logic. Most of the errata, including all the serious ones, were corrected in the third printing, and there are only a few trivial ones remaining in later printings of the first edition. You can tell which printing you have from the copyright page of the book: in the first printing, four lines from the bottom, the series of numbers begins with "1" and ends with "2", while in (e.g.) the third, it begins with "3" and ends with "4". If you are purchasing a new copy of Modern Logic or ordering copies for a class, you should specify "First edition, most recent printing". (If you're ordering from OUP you'll get the latest printing anyway. If you're ordering second-hand, you want to avoid the first or second printing.)
A
Short Guide to MacLogicThis document provides a brief tutorial in the use of MacLogic. It is much more detailed than the cursory description in my book, but less exhaustive than the documentation that comes with the program itself.
MacLogic is the proof-assistant software created by the MALT (machine-assisted logic teaching) group at St. Andrews University, led by Stephen Read and Roy Dyckhoff. The proof-system of Modern Logic is essentially the same as that of the program, so instructors can supplement the book with the software. To find out more about MacLogic, link directly to the logic software page at Dyckhoff's site, or to the site's index page.
NEWS: Branden Fitelson at Berkeley has created packages that allow MacLogic to run on newer Macintoshes under OSX, and also on PCs under Windows. See this page.
Revised
Version of Chapter 6, section 7This is a 93K pdf image of the version of Chapter 6 §7 that replaced the original in the third printing. Written in a last-minute rush, the original version of this section had a number of flaws, all of which appeared in the book since I was supplying the Press with camera-ready copy. Ch. 6 §7 is a peripheral section, but if you have a first or second printing, you should still download this revision.