Skip to Content

TARSKI, ALFRED.

Pojecie Prawdy w Jezykach Nauk Dedukcyjnych (Polish). [The Concept of Truth in Formalized Languages]. - [FOUNDING MODERN LOGICAL SEMANTICS]

Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn35832
Warszawa, 1933. Small 4to. Orig. printed wrappers, sunned at the edges, but otherwise near mint condition, also internally. An excellent copy. VII, (1), 116, (1, - errata) pp.

The exceedingly scarce first printing of Tarski's most important and influential work, "The Concept of Truth in Formalized Languages", which founded modern logical semantics.The work appeared in an extremely small number, in Polish, and many copies of the article have later been destroyed, thus, the work is of the utmost scarcity. In this seminal article the Polish-American logician and mathematician Alfred Tarski devotes himself to "the definition of truth". "Its task is to construct -with reference to a given language- a materially adequate and formally correct definition of the term "true sentence"." (Introduction, English translation, 1956). With this work the face of logic was changed forever. The "Concept of Truth" constitutes a landmark event in 20th century analytic philosophy, and it ranks as one of the most important contributions to symbolic logic, semantics and philosophy of language. In this work Tarski develops the semantic theory of truth for formal languages and determines the fact that no language can contain its own truth predicate. Tarski thus concluded that the semantic theory could not be applied to any natural language. -This was later used by e.g. Davidson to construct his truth-conditional semantics, and the problems solved by Tarski are some of the same that Russell and Whitehead struggled to solve in their "Principia Mathematica".Tarski (1901-1983) has contributed seminally to the fields of mathematics and logic in a number of ways, and together with Frege, Russell and Gödel, he now ranks as one of the most important contributors to the field of modern logic. At the time of Franz Brentano (1838-1917), one of the philosophers of the greatest significance for contemporary philosophy and in many ways a forerunner of present-day empiricism, it was very unusual for a metaphysician to acknowledge that philosophical investigation must go hand in hand with an analysis of language. Linguistic analysis has thus been almost totally limited to the pure empiricists of philosophy, who reject all forms of metaphysics. Meanwhile, ontologists and metaphysicians have been satisfied with the ordinary language and asked no questions about its possible limitations, merely dismissing the logical faults and adding the odd neologisms. Today, however, especially within the English speaking tradition, linguistic analysis has reached a degree unheard of at the time of Brentano, and it is now generally accepted that certain logical and epistemological problems can be solved only by forsaking ordinary language and substituting it for artificially constructed language systems that follow certain principles. Thus, difficulties that appeared within earlier philosophical doctrines are meant to disappear if the theory can be formulated more precisely, and one of the most important examples is the "adequacy theory of truth". Tarski shows that the concept of truth of the adequacy theory can be introduced in a perfectly exact way within the formalized language systems that are equipped with precise rules of interpretation, and thus he rids us of the usual misgivings against the concept of truth. And thus he has developed one of the most important theories of modern logic."Tarski's investigations are of singular philosophical significance for another reason as well. Within the framework of semantics, which he founded and which Carnap later developed further, it becomes possible for the first time to introduce the notion of an analytic judgment (or an analytic statement) in a form that is both sufficiently general and of the utmost precision. This notion also plays an exceptionally important role in Brentano's philosophy, especially in his studies in formal logic." (Stegmüller, Main Currents... p. 56). When constructing a semantical system, a vocabulary of the desired object language must be determined as the first. Then formulation rules must be specified, before the rules of interpretation are laid down, and finally the rules of application are supplied. The most important rules here are the rules of truth, and the concept of truth is one of the most important semantical concepts at all, for without them no understanding of the sentences within the system would be ensured. And, of course, the truth definitions must satisfy a condition of adequacy. "...This form of an adequacy condition that must be satisfied by every semantical truth concept goes back to the Polish logician, Stanislaw Lesniewski. But it was the logician Alfred Tarski who above all made use of this notion, and who first studied in detail the possibilities of introducing a formally exact and materially adequate concept of truth into the precise languages of science. Carnap's accounts of semantical systems rest largely on the prior works of Tarski." (Stegmüller, p. 311). Tarski also pointed out that it is necessary for all semantical concepts, and especially for the concept of truth, to strictly separate object language and metalanguage. Otherwise we would put ourselves in the unlucky position of being able to prove both a statement and its negation at the same time. In the English translation from 1956 of Tarski's works, "Logic, Semantics, Metamathematics", the bibliographical information about this article is erroneous.
Address:
Silkegade 11
DK-1113 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone:
CVR/VAT:
DK 16 89 50 16

Recently Added From Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S

Regras methódicas para se aprender a escreuer o…
More Photos
VENTURA DA SILVA, JOAQUIM JOSE.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62100
Lisboa, Officina de Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, 1803. Folio-oblong (365 x 255 mm). In contemporary half calf. Wear to extremies, upper part of spine with loss of leather. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. With, primarily marginal, brownspotting throughout. Dampstain to inner margin and upper outer margin of last 10 ff. 32 ff. Rare first edition of the most celebrated Portuguese treatise on calligraphy. Joaquim José Ventura da Silva (1777–1849), regarded as one of Portugal's finest calligraphers and teachers of writing, composed this methodological guide to handwriting in which he combines a historical survey of scripts used in Portugal with practical instruction for teaching and learning penmanship.Ventura da Silva is reffered to by Innocencio (Diccionario Bibliographico) as "one of the best Portuguese Calligraphers". A second edition was published in 1819, a third in 1841, and a facsimile was published in Porto in 1899.
More info
John Locke et les philosophes francais. La…
More Photos
SCHØSLER, JØRN.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62682
Oxford (Voltaire Foundation), 1997. 8vo. In the original blue cloth publisher's binding with gilt title to spine. With the original dust jacket. Ownership signature to inside of front board. Internally clean. VIII, 183 pp.
Minne af von Linné, fader och son. 2 parts.
More Photos
EDIN, SV.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62673
Stockholm, Nordström, 1808. 8vo. In contemporary half calf. Wear to extremities, upper half of spine partly detached. Inner hinges split. With light brownspotting throughout. (8), 136, 102, (10) pp. + 2 engraved portraits and 2 engraved plates, of which one is folded. First edition. The volume is divided into two sections entitled “von Linné den äldre” and “von Linné den yngre.” The first contains the panegyric on Linnaeus delivered at the Växjö gymnasium on the occasion of the Linnaean centenary. The second opens with a memoir of Linnaeus the Younger, followed by “Historiska upplysningar till Carl von Linné den äldres lefverne” Soulsby 2647.
More info
Udvikling af Læren om Interessentskab og de samme…
More Photos
BANG, P. G.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62669
Kjøbenhavn, Seidelin, 1829 & 1833. 8vo. Three parts in two volumes, both in the original green paper covered boards. With author's presentation to Danish Professor in Low F. C. Bornemann in both volumes. Wear to spines and scratches to boards. Internally very nice and clean, printed on good paper. (2), 182 pp.; 134 pp. Presentation copy of the rare first edition of P. G. Bang’s seminal work, Udvikling af Læren om Interessentskab og de samme nærmest vedkommende Retsforhold – the very first Danish treatment of the subject, and a milestone in Scandinavian legal history. This pioneering study is regarded as the first jurisprudential exposition of corporate law in Denmark anticipating later systematic treatments of partnership and company legislation. His work established a legal-theoretical foundation for the understanding of partnership agreements, shareholders’ relations and the broader legal framework governing commercial associations. The copy was given by Bang to F.C. Bornemann, a Danish legal professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1840 to 1861, primarily known for applying philosophical methods to legal science. He was influenced by contemporary German philosophers, notably Hegel, in his work on legal philosophy. Peter Georg Bang (1797 – 1861) was a Danish politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark 1854–1856
More info
The True Watch and Rule of Life or a direction…
More Photos
BRINSLEY, JOHN.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn61602
London, Humphrey Robinson, 1648. 8vo. In contemporary full calf with triple ruled fillets to boards. Wear and soiling to extremities. Missing leather on upper part of spine and lower front corner of spine. Prevvious owner's name to title-page. Internally with marginal dampstaining throughout. A few leaves with tears and a hole. (18), 205, (8), 251 pp.
Planternes Metamorphose. Fire Forelæsninger af K.…
More Photos
MARTIUS, P. v.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62468
Kjøbenhavn, 1840. 8vo. In recent blue boards. Nice and clean. 80 pp. First Danish translation of Martius' Metamorphosis of Plants. Martius is famous for outlining the modern classification of palms and prepared the first maps of palm biogeography.