The philosophy of logical practice

Abstract

While we now have an increasingly detailed understanding of the varied goals and methods that constitute the sciences and mathematics, our understanding of logic as a research area lags behind. A significant reason for this deficiency is that, unlike in the philosophies of science and mathematics, philosophers of logic have yet to embrace a practice-based approach to their field, re-orientating their attention towards logic as it is actually practised by logicians. This paper makes the case for a new area of research, the philosophy of logical practice, to sit alongside traditional philosophy of logic and systematically investigate logic's aims and methodologies using the practice-based approach.