Peter Woodruff
Professor Emeritus, Philosophy
School of Humanities
School of Humanities
PH.D., University of Pittsburgh
University of California, Irvine
214 HOB II
Mail Code: 4555
Irvine, CA 92697
214 HOB II
Mail Code: 4555
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Philosophy of logic, metaphysics
Academic Distinctions
Appointments
Research Abstract
My general interest is in philosophical logic and its application to metaphysics and epistemology. Currently I am pursuing the following projects:
1. The Doctrine of Distribution
An attempt to understand in modern terms the doctrine of the distribution of terms as found in traditional Aristotelian/Scholastic logic, and the extent to which it is generalizable to first-order logic.
2. Dynamic Logic and Action Theory
Dynamic logic is a variant of modal logic developed by Vaughn Pratt and others for the purpose of studying programming constructs and the correctness of programs. I believe that dynamic logic provides the correct frame-work within which to study the (formal) theory of human action and related issues such as imperatives and promises. Current work includes the study of definability in dynamic logic and an attempt to relate dynamic logic to the work on agency by Belnap and Perloff ("Seeing To it That", Theoria vol. 54 (1990), 175-199).
3.A theory of facts
An attempt to develop a formal theory of facts and truth-making along the informal lines laid down by David Armstrong, building on earlier work by Kit Fine.
4.Philosophical models
I strongly believe that many traditional philosophical problems can be fruitfully addressed in a framework reminiscent of the "blocks world" models of artificial intelligence. I attempting to build an abstract "philosophical laboratory" in which metaphysical and epistemological theories can be tested.
1. The Doctrine of Distribution
An attempt to understand in modern terms the doctrine of the distribution of terms as found in traditional Aristotelian/Scholastic logic, and the extent to which it is generalizable to first-order logic.
2. Dynamic Logic and Action Theory
Dynamic logic is a variant of modal logic developed by Vaughn Pratt and others for the purpose of studying programming constructs and the correctness of programs. I believe that dynamic logic provides the correct frame-work within which to study the (formal) theory of human action and related issues such as imperatives and promises. Current work includes the study of definability in dynamic logic and an attempt to relate dynamic logic to the work on agency by Belnap and Perloff ("Seeing To it That", Theoria vol. 54 (1990), 175-199).
3.A theory of facts
An attempt to develop a formal theory of facts and truth-making along the informal lines laid down by David Armstrong, building on earlier work by Kit Fine.
4.Philosophical models
I strongly believe that many traditional philosophical problems can be fruitfully addressed in a framework reminiscent of the "blocks world" models of artificial intelligence. I attempting to build an abstract "philosophical laboratory" in which metaphysical and epistemological theories can be tested.
Publications
"Actualism, Free Logic and First-Order Supervaluations." In Wolfgang Spohn, Bas C. van Fraassen and Brian Skyrms, eds., Existence and Explanation: Essays Presented in Honor of Karel Lambert, pp. 219-231. The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, 49. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer, 1991.
"On Supervaluations in Free Logic." Journal of Symbolic Logic (September 1984), 49(3):943-950.
"Paradox, Truth and Logic. Part I: Paradox and Truth." Journal of Philosophical Logic (May 1984), 13(2):213-232.
"Paradox, Truth and Logic." [Abstract] Journal of Symbolic Logic (March 1984), 49(1):322.
(with Ermanno Bencivenga.) "A New Modal Language with the Lambda Operator." Studia Logica (1981) 40(4):383-389.
Professional Societies
Association for Symbolic Logic
American Philosophical Association
Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=2522
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=2522
Last updated
03/11/2002
03/11/2002