Abstract: The issue of whether logic has an ontological base—rests, ultimately, on the principles or nature of reality—is constantly with us. In this paper I revisit it, drawing on a piece I wrote back in 1969, for the early incarnation of Reason magazine. I conclude that the Aristotelian idea that logic tracks reality is sound and those opposed—conventionalists, pragmatists, conceptualists, Kantians, et al.—have it wrong.
Download Paper: “A Priori: A Brief Critical Survey”
[…] I mentioned above that Tibor had published my first scholarly article in his journal Reason Papers. I published a couple more articles in Reason Papers, and I helped Tibor’s successor editors get the Reason Papers archives online, as noted here. Reason Papers also inspired me to found my own journal, Libertarian Papers, in 2009, as the Journal of Libertarian Studies was winding down. Going full circle, Tibor ended up publishing several of his own articles in Libertarian Papers: “Backing the Founders: The Case for Unalienable Individual Rights”, “A Problem With Aristotle’s Ethical Essentialism”, and “Truth in Philosophy”, “A Priori: A Brief Critical Survey”. […]