Ideas of Fred Sommers, by Theme

[American, fl. 1963, Was at Columbia University, then at Brandeis University.]

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3. Truth / B. Truthmakers / 5. What Makes Truths / a. What makes truths

18901

Truthmakers are facts 'of' a domain, not something 'in' the domain

4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 3. Term Logic

18904

'Predicable' terms come in charged pairs, with one the negation of the other [Engelbretsen]

18895

Logic which maps ordinary reasoning must be transparent, and free of variables

5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 4. Identity in Logic

18897

Predicate logic has to spell out that its identity relation '=' is an equivalent relation

5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 1. Logical Form

18893

Translating into quantificational idiom offers no clues as to how ordinary thinkers reason

5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 2. Logical Connectives / c. not

18903

Sommers promotes the old idea that negation basically refers to terms [Engelbretsen]

5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 7. Predicates in Logic

18894

Predicates form a hierarchy, from the most general, down to names at the bottom

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 2. Realism

18900

Unfortunately for realists, modern logic cannot say that some fact exists

7. Existence / E. Categories / 1. Categories

13127

Categories can't overlap; they are either disjoint, or inclusive [Westerhoff]

19. Language / B. Reference / 1. Reference theories

18898

In standard logic, names are the only way to refer