Mill on logic

Working within the broad lines of general consensus that mark out the core features of John Stuart Mill’s (1806–1873) logic, as set forth in his A System of Logic (1843–1872), this chapter provides an introduction to Mill’s logical theory by reviewing his position on the relationship between induction and deduction, and the role of general premises and principles in reasoning. Locating induction, understood as a kind of analogical reasoning from particulars to particulars, as the basic form of inference that is both free-standing and the sole load-bearing structure in Mill’s logic, the foundations of Mill’s logical system are briefly inspected. Several naturalistic features are identified, including its subject matter, human reasoning, its empiricism, which requires that only particular, experiential claims can function as basic reasons, and its ultimate foundations in ‘spontaneous’ inference. The chapter concludes by comparing Mill’s naturalized logic to Russell’s (1907) regressive method for identifying the premises of mathematics

Frege on the Generality of Logical Laws

Frege claims that the laws of logic are characterized by their “generality,” but it is hard to see how this could identify a special feature of those laws. I argue that we must understand this talk of generality in normative terms, but that what Frege says provides a normative demarcation of the logical laws only once we connect it with his thinking about truth and science. He means to be identifying the laws of logic as those that appear in every one of the scientific systems whose construction is the ultimate aim of science, and in which all truths have a place. Though an account of logic in terms of scientific systems might seem hopelessly antiquated, I argue that it is not: a basically Fregean account of the nature of logic still looks quite promising

The New Solidarity? Trade Union Coalition-Building in Five Countries

[Excerpt] The purpose of this chapter is to present a framework for the analysis of union coalition-building and demonstrate its utility using comparative empirical material mainly from the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom though we also comment on union action in Italy and Spain. In what follows, we seek to define union-coalitions and specify their functions, identify a variety of types of coalition and the variety of factors that encourage unions to forge coalitions. We then set out and seek to explain the variable patterns of coalition use across our five countries. The chapter concludes in speculative vein, by considering the role that coalition building should and could play in the revitalization of national labour movements

Unions in Germany: Searching to regain the initiative

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Co-operative Workplace Relations in East Germany? A Study of Works Councils in the Textile Industry

"This study has two aims: firstly to examine the general pattern of works councillor attitudes towards management in the East German textile industry; secondly to investigate the effectiveness of these works councils in representing workers' interests. A survey of works councillors in over fifty mostly privatised textile firms provided some initial indication that they have a cautious, co-operative attitude towards management and are surely not „extended arms of management“ as has been often declared in the literature. Moreover, a survey of the unionised workers in these firms revealed an overwhelming acceptance of their works councils and a conviction that the limited effectiveness of these institutions is mainly caused by the current economic constraints rather than by internal deficiencies of the new institutions." (author's abstract)"Dieser Artikel verfolgt zwei Zielsetzungen: Es werden die Einstellungen von Betriebsräten zur Betriebsleitung und die Wirksamkeit ihrer Interessenvertretung in über 50 ostdeutschen Textilunternehmen untersucht. Die Fragebogenuntersuchung der Betriebsräte zeigt eine vorsichtige, grundsätzlich kooperative Einstellung zur Betriebsleitung und widerspricht dem in der Literatur häufig dargestellten Bild des ostdeutschen Betriebsrat als „wehrloses Anhängsel“ der Betriebsleitung. Die Befragung der gewerkschaftlich organisierten ArbeiterInnen in diesen Unternehmen unterstützt dieses Ergebnis und zeigt, daß der Betriebsrat mehrheitlich begrüßt und als neue institutionalisierte Interessenvertretung akzeptiert und auch aktiv unterstützt wird. Die eingeschränkten Erfolge der Betriebsräte in den letzten Jahren werden in erster Linie der schwierigen wirtschaftlichen Lage der Textilindustrie und nicht, wie vielfach vermutet, Unzulänglichkeiten der Institutionen selber zugeschrieben." (Autorenreferat

Social inequality and data sciences: the case of Germany

No doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic reminded us how much modern societies depend on the provision of scientific data — not just for the healthcare system but for all areas of public policy-making. We witnessed how difficult it was for decision-makers across the globe to make uncertain decisions without sufficient evidence. As frequently noted, the lack of scientific data was particularly a problem for the most disadvantaged members of our societies. As a recent EU report (EU 2021:11) concluded: "The Covid-19 pandemic has shown a significant impact on equality all over the globe: those already most at risk of discrimination and inequality (people with protected categories such as older people, persons with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities) were and are at far greater risk of falling ill or dying from the virus. Yet, in most EU countries, officially available health statistics on Covid-19 could not be (fully) disaggregated, in particular by racial or ethnic origin. This had a detrimental effect on the effectiveness of protective measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The Logic of Opacity

We explore the view that Frege's puzzle is a source of straightforward counterexamples to Leibniz's law. Taking this seriously requires us to revise the classical logic of quantifiers and identity; we work out the options, in the context of higher-order logic. The logics we arrive at provide the resources for a straightforward semantics of attitude reports that is consistent with the Millian thesis that the meaning of a name is just the thing it stands for. We provide models to show that some of these logics are non-degenerate

Making it explicit and clear: From ‘strong’ to ‘hyper-’ inferentialism in Brandom and Peirce

This article explores how Robert Brandom's original "inferentialist" philosophical framework should be positioned with respect to the classical pragmatist tradition. It is argued that Charles Peirce's original attack (in "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man" and other early papers) on the use of "intuition" in nineteenth-century philosophy of mind is in fact a form of inferentialism, and thus an antecedent relatively unexplored by Brandom in his otherwise comprehensive and illuminating "tales of the mighty dead." However, whereas Brandom stops short at a merely "strong" inferentialism, which admits some non-inferential mental content (although it is parasitic on the inferential and can only be "inferentially articulated"), Peirce embraces a total, that is, "hyper-," inferentialism. Some consequences of this difference are explored, and Peirce's more thoroughgoing position is defended