Boole's criteria for validity and invalidity

John Corcoran

pp. 101-128

in: James Gasser (ed), A Boole anthology, Berlin, Springer, 2000

Abstract

It is one thing for a given proposition to follow or to not follow from a given set of propositions and it is quite another thing for it to be shown either that the given proposition follows or that it does not follow.* Using a formal deduction to show that a conclusion follows and using a countermodel to show that a conclusion does not follow are both traditional practices recognized by Aristotle and used down through the history of logic. These practices presuppose, respectively, a criterion of validity and a criterion of invalidity each of which has been extended and refined by modern logicians: deductions are studied in formal syntax (proof theory) and coun-termodels are studied in formal semantics (model theory).

Cited authors

Aristoteles