Séminaire – Centre pour une Histoire de la Philosophie et des Sciences vue d’Asie, d’Afrique, etc (CHPSAA)

New approaches to the history of logic

Organisation : K. Chemla

• 15:00—16:20
  Julie Brumberg-Chaumont (PSL/CNRS/LEM) The Ancient Model of Logic Inside and Outside ‘Western’ Logic
  Abstract: My presentation is devoted to new methods in the history of logic, that is methods designed to take a new look both on our logical traditions and on those developed in other cultures. To put it in a nutshell, the idea is to break away from a decontextualized, narrowly-defined notion of logic as formal logic. This notion, adopted only very recently (from the 1930s) in the history of logic, and quickly challenged among logicians/philosophers, is to be contrasted with the large, ‘ancient format’ of the concept of logic, the one that has prevailed over 90% of our history, from Aristotle to the 19th century. Logic was then essentially conceived as a theory of argumentation and it contained, at minimum, a theory of signification, of truth, of cognition, of science, an epistemology and, to a limited extent only, a theory of valid inferences. Logic was also a basic school discipline and a major intellectual practice, at least since the Middle Age. A fully-historicized approach to the concept of logic as well as a practiced-oriented history of logic unlock a wealth of intellectual opportunities.
  The presentation comes in two parts. First, I will sketch the collective projects I have developed, where cross-cultural studies of logic are crucial. I will further provide a full appreciation of the consequences the rise of logical pluralism (during the second part of the 20th century) have had on the concept of logic, on its normative dimension, as well as on its social and anthropological significance. I will also say few words about my own attempt to write a social history of logic in the Middle Ages. The second part of the presentation focuses on the history of the idea of a ‘non-occidental’ logic and of a cross-cultural history of logic, the obstacles it meets, as well as the various conceptions it led to along history. We meet then the idea of logic as an ‘imported product’ (an Egyptian or Hebrew invention) and Masson-Oursel’s project of “comparative logic” (in the 1910s), where China, India and “the rest of the world” (but not Africa) were included. The presentation will be based on a recently-published paper (“À l’Est et au Far-Ouest de la logique, rien de nouveau”, 2019; English version “When Logic Goes East (and Far-West)”, 2023)
• 16:20-16:40
  break
• 16:40—18:00
  Pablo Blitstein (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)
  On Chinese philosophy, Chinese science and Chinese logic: some historical reflections on a contemporary idea
  Abstract: In this presentation, I will delve into how European and American historians have approached so-called « Chinese philosophy » and « Chinese science » in the twentieth century, and examine their connection to the emergence of the categories of « philosophy » and « science » in late nineteenth to early twentieth century China. In this context, I will discuss Joachim Kurtz’s book, The Discovery of Chinese Logic, and explore how it contributes to ongoing global discussions surrounding the concept of « Chinese logic ». More generally, I will explore the history of the idea that each part of the world should have its own logical tradition.

Lieu : salle 569 (5è étage) bâtiment Olympe de Gouges