Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This paper (19 page PDF) is pretty close to my own view about logic and formal reasoning in general. "Logic, we propose, aims at a structure, at a system of inferential patterns and inferential roles. This system is not necessarily exactly instantiated by the natural language from which we start, it is a result of idealization." Logic is based on the actual patterns of inference we employ in natural language, argues Jaroslav Peregrin, and is much like a natural science in that way. "There is no reason for it to be seen as proceeding via some mysterious 'a priori analysis'." Right. Knowledge - including mathematical and logical knowledge - is (pattern) recognition. Image: Analytics Vidhya.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2025 9:06 p.m.

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