ON THE LOGOS: A NAÏVE VIEW ON ORDINARY REASONING AND FUZZY LOGIC

1. Introduction
2. Meaning as a Quantity
3. Antonyms. Negation, and the Fuzzy Case
4. “And” and “Or” in Language: The Case with Fuzzy Sets
5. A First Look at Conditional Statements
6. Linguistic Qualification, Modification, and Synonymy
7. Thinking, Analogy, and Reasoning
8. A (Naïve) Symbolic Model of Ordinary Reasoning
9. A Glance at Analogy
10. A Glance at Creative Reasoning
11. Formal Reasoning with Precise Words
12. Formal Reasoning with Imprecise (and Precise) Words
13. A Few Questions on the Reasoning on Quantum Physics
14. Questions on Uncertain, Possible, and Probable
15. Questions on Domesticating and Controlling Analogy
16. Questions on the Classical Schemes of Inference
17. Questions on Fuzzy Inference Schemes
18. Questions on Monotony
19. Questions on “Not Covered By”
20. Questions on Sorites in Ordinary Reasoning
21. A Few Questions on Naming Concepts
22. Instead of a Conclusion
23. To Conclude

This book offers an inspiring and naïve view on language and reasoning. It presents a new approach to ordinary reasoning that follows the author’s former work on fuzzy logic. Starting from a pragmatic scientific view on meaning as a quantity, and the common sense reasoning from a primitive notion of inference, which is shared by both laypeople and experts, the book shows how this can evolve, through the addition of more and more suppositions, into various formal and specialized modes of precise, imprecise, and approximate reasoning. The logos are intended here as a synonym for rationality, which is usually shown by the processes of questioning, guessing, telling, and computing.
Written in a discursive style and without too many technicalities, the book presents a number of reflections on the study of reasoning, together with a new perspective on fuzzy logic and Zadeh’s “computing with words” grounded in both language and reasoning. It also highlights some mathematical developments supporting this view. Lastly, it addresses a series of questions aimed at fostering new discussions and future research into this topic. All in all, this book represents an inspiring read for professors and researchers in computer science, and fuzzy logic in particular, as well as for psychologists, linguists and philosophers.

Features
• Offers a new synthesis on the topic of ordinary reasoning and plain language
• Paves the way for a new approach to creative reasoning based on common sense reasoning and natural language
• Discusses both philosophical questions and mathematical findings