The Author: Stanisław Krajewski,

Context is essential in virtually all human activities. Yet some logical notions
seem to be context-free. For example, the nature of the universal quantifier, the
very meaning of “all”, seems to be independent of the context. At the same
time, there are many quantifier expressions, and some are context-independent,
while others are not. Similarly, purely logical consequence seems to be
context-independent. Yet often we encounter strong inferences, good enough
for practical purposes, but not valid. The two types of examples suggest a
general problem: how to characterise the context-free logical concepts in their
natural environment, that is, in the field of their context-dependent associates.
A general Thesis on Quantifiers is formulated: among all quantifiers, the
context-free ones are just those definable by the universal quantifier. The issue
of inferences is treated following the approach introduced by Richard L.
Epstein: valid ones are an extreme case, the result of the disappearance of
context-dependence. This idea can be applied to an analysis of a form of
abduction, called “reductive inference” in Polish literature on logic. A tentative
Thesis on Inferences identifies the validity of a strong inference that is context-independent.

The Author: Anna Brożek,

The article presents interpersonal relations and mutual influences between
German logician Heinrich Scholz and Polish scholars, first of all Jan
Łukasiewicz. The background for presenting these relationships consists of
reflections on the development of logic in Poland and various conceptions of
how to apply logic to philosophical issues. Firstly, Jan Łukasiewicz’s program
of logicisation of philosophy and his search for allies is presented. Secondly,
the forms of cooperation between Łukasiewicz and Scholz, as well as contacts
between the latter and other Polish scholars are sketched. Finally, forms of
Scholz’s help to Polish friends during the tumultuous period of World War II
are examined. The article provides also some reflections on the approach to
logic in various European centers of analytic philosophy and historical
comments on the continuity of philosophical and logical schools.

The Author: Krzysztof Nowicki,

In this paper, I analyze the shift in Twardowski’s views between his early psychologistic theory of logic and his later anti-psychologistic theory. In particular,I point out that the interpretation suggesting that this change merely involves Twardowski enriching his ontology with products encounters a certain problem in light of his earlier views. To present this problem more precisely, I discuss the foundations of Twardowski’s theory of products, focusing on aspects relevant to the issue of psychologism. Based on this, I reconstruct Twardowski's theory of logic and highlight where he identified the fallacy of psychologism. I contrast this reconstructed theory with Twardowski’s earlier views at key points and demonstrate that the difference between his early psychologistic theory and his later anti-psychologistic theory is a matter of a shift in emphasis rather than a significant change in the theoretical system itself, and that Twardowski himself understood it as such.

The Author: Arkady Zakrevsky,

This interview was given in 2008 by Arkady Zakrevsky (1928–2014), Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1972), Doctor of Technical Sciences (1967), and Professor (1969). He stood at the origins of the birth of cybernetics in the Soviet Union. He proposed the programming language for logical tasks LYaPAS, on the basis of which a series of computer-aided design systems for discrete devices was created, and methods for implementing parallel algorithms for the logical control of interacting processes. Some monographs: LYaPAS: A Programming Language for Logic and Coding Algorithms (N.-Y., L.: Academic Press, 1969; with M. A. Gavrilov); Boolesche Gleichungen: Theorie, Anwendung, Algorithmen (Berlin: VEB Verlag Technik, 1984; with Dieter Bochmann and Christian Posthoff); Combinatorial Algorithms of Discrete Mathematics (Tallinn: TUT Press, 2008; with Yu. Pottosin, L. Cheremisinova); Optimization in Boolean Space (Tallinn: TUT Press, 2009; with Yu. Pottosin, L. Cheremisinova); Design of Logical Control Devices (Tallinn: TUT Press, 2009; with Yu. Pottosin, L. Cheremisinova); Combinatorial Calculations in Many-Dimensional Boolean Space (Tallinn: TUT Press, 2012); Solving Large Systems Logical Equations (Tallinn: TUT Press, 2013).

The Author: Yaroslav Shramko,

This interview was given by Yaroslav Shramko (b. 1963), professor of the Department of Philosophy and rector of the Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University (Ukraine). His main research interests lie in the fields of logic and analytical philosophy. He has carried out several projects on modern non-classical logic: 1996–1998, within the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship at Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany); 1999–2000, within the Fulbright Program at Indiana University in Bloomington (USA); and 2003–2004, as a Wilhelm Bessel Awardee at Dresden University of Technology (Germany), among others. He has been a frequent invited speaker at international conferences and congresses. He is a member of the editorial boards of several international logic journals, such as Logic and Logical Philosophy (Torun, Poland), Bulletin of the Section of Logic (Łódź, Poland), European Journal of Mathematics (Springer), and Studia Logica (Springer). Prof Shramko is the author of “Truth and falsehood: An inquiry into generalized logical values” (Springer, 2011, joint work with Heinrich Wansing) and a number of articles on logic and analytic philosophy in peer-reviewed international journals.

The Author: Marina F. Bykova,

The interview given by Marina F. Bykova, Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University (USA), and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Studies in East European Thought. She earned her PhD and Dr. Habil in Philosophy from the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia), where she worked until relocating to the USA in 2000. Bykova specializes in the history of nineteenth century continental philosophy, with a particular focus on German idealism. She has also written extensively on Russian philosophy and intellectual tradition. She has published 11 books and over 250 scholarly articles. Her forthcoming book, Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature: A Critical Guide, is set to be released by Cambridge University Press in 2024.

The Author: Robert W. McGee,