K. Pkhakadze,    R. Asatiani,   M. Ivanishvili

(Tbilisi  state University)

Logic of Language and Paradoxes

 

        According to Wittgenstein – Logic is Language. What does it mean? How we understand the term “logic of Language”  In general,  logic is the rules of right thinking, but the right (correct) mental  processes i.e.  the right thinking we can understand only as some type of  language processes. The task  of mathematical logic was and is formalization of mental processes of mathematical type. Frege’s mathematical formal language was the main ground of above mentioned task. There’s a question – what nature has the natural language?- the direct formal – logical description of natural Georgian language show us  the possibility to find its isomorphical formal adequate.  The words of vocabulary of the Georgian natural language are described  by their  placeness, by the types of places, and by the type value  of  this word – operator. On the basis of such described vocabulary the  conception of the well – formed expressions of so-called Georgian natural formal language is defined. Classification of the words of  vocabulary gives  the  possibility  to  classify  formally and mathematically the well – formed expressions.

       In any natural language as well as in the Georgian natural language is the class of so called pure mental or logical words.  (For example: “da” – “and”,  an” – “or”,  magram” – “but”, “Tu” – “If”,

SesaZlebloba” – “possibility”,  aucilebloba” – “necessity” . . .). In the formal adequate of

natural language we have possibility to study thoroughly (fully) the logical formal – operatoral nature

of the above mentioned words. This represents new perspectives to understand what is logic in general.

According to all above mentioned we understand the sense of the term  ‘logic of language’.  Here is also the answer of the question about Wittgenstein’s famous phrase.

        Now very briefly about Paradoxes, especially about the paradox of  ‘liar’.  From the simplified point of view any natural language is the set of typicalized words. Let us assume that W is language, i.e. W is the set of typicalized word. Logical – semantical analysis of the languages shows that from W we can separate the w subset of the basic words of language. We call the elements of W \ w set as non – basic or definable or contracted words of the language. (For example: “vtyui” – “I lie” is non – basic word, because of  ‘I lie’ means ‘I say something and I know this something is not true’). The formal logical description of the Georgian natural language clarifies that ‘I lie’ must be regarded as 1 – placed operator which operates on L (logic) type words and gives in the result the same type, i.e. the L type word. This means that ‘I lie’ is L ® L type word and its value is the truth scheme. So, to define it as true or false is absurd and forms the paradox.

 

References:

1.   Bentem J, Essays on Logical Semantics, 1997; Logic and Language, Handbook, 1998.

2.    Frege G, Beguffsschrift, 1879.

3.    Russel B, The Principles of Mathematics, 1938; Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1951.

4.    Wievtbicka A, Semantics Primes and Universals, Oxford University, Press, 1996.

5.    Wittgenstein L, Notebooks, 1914-1916, 1961.

6.    Ãèëüáåðò Ä, Òåîðèÿ äîêàçàòåëüñòâ, 1972.

7.         Ïõàêàäçå Ø, Íåêîòîðûå âîïðîñû òåîðèé îáîçíà÷åíèé, 1978.

8.         Pkhakadze k, Ivanishvili M.; To Direct Formal – Logical Description of Georgian Language Based on the Language as a Natural Language, (Under publishing).

 

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