Grammar, Philosophy, and Logic

Cham: Springer Verlag (2017)
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Abstract

This book argues that a basic grasp of philosophy and logic can produce written and spoken material that is both grammatically correct and powerful. The author analyses errors in grammar, word choice, phrasing and sentences that even the finest writers can fail to notice; concentrating on subtle missteps and errors that can make the difference between good and excellent prose. Each chapter addresses how common words and long-established grammatical rules are often misused or ignored altogether – including such common words as ‘interesting’, ‘possible’, and ‘apparent’. By tackling language in this way, the author provides an illuminating and practical stylistic guide that will interest students and scholars of grammar and philosophy, as well as readers looking to improve their technical writing skills.

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Chapters

Simplicity, Economy, and Intensity

This chapter is a brief for economy in fine writing and speaking. Even as economy and simplicity are treated as virtues in the sciences, so too—and for similar reasons—they are virtues in sturdy prose. Following a brief review of philosophers and scientists who celebrate economy in their theories an... see more

The Impossible and the Implausible

This chapter deals with propositions that are as common as they are incorrect. The people who assert them are either benighted or unwittingly polyanic. In a sense, then, this chapter is a reminder that common bromides stand in the way of mastering superior English writing and speaking. The arguments... see more

Tautologies and Illogical Questions

Two related topics occupy this chapter, namely producing a philosophical argument for unerringly determining in writing when to use “whether or not … ” or “whether … ” and appealing to formal logic to certify that a category of questions is inappropriate or illogical. The arguments in favor of deriv... see more

We All Die, but None of Us is Dead

This chapter might strike readers as idiosyncratic and may not be taken seriously. That it may not be taken seriously is too bad insofar as its message is strictly what it says, namely that everybody dies, but nobody is dead. As a consequence, any writer or speaker who writes or says “Socrates is de... see more

Comparisons That Go Wrong

The issue in this chapter is how to handle comparisons in English, specifically that treat the small word “than” as a conjunction as in the sentence “Helen is smarter than I” or as a preposition in the sentence “Robert is taller than me.” Traditional grammarians look to the past and insist that “tha... see more

Possible Worlds, Possible Showers, and Apparent Suicides

At its center this chapter addresses two common adjectives: “possible” and “apparent.” The argument, developed with a critical appeal to the philosophers Leibniz, Meinong, and Russell, is that these words are routinely misused and thereby diminish the quality of the writing and speaking in which the... see more

Is “Interesting” Interesting?

The focus of this chapter is at once specific and illustrative. The aim is to show and to argue that the common, overworked adjective “Interesting” lacks cognitive and emotive meaning. “Interesting” fails as an instructive modifier and as a word that stirs the emotions. As such, this word should, at... see more

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Bruce Silver
University of South Florida

Citations of this work

Leibniz’s and Herder’s philosophy of optimism.Vasil Gluchman - 2021 - Ethics and Bioethics (in Central Europe) 11 (1-2):37-47.

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