From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Fri Jan 24 2003 - 01:08:34 MST
gts writes
> I don't think [Einstein] misspoke. I think you are wanting to attribute meaning
> to Einstein's words that he clearly never intended. Einstein qualified
> his definition of formal logic in the quote you provided by referring to
> the "invention of the formal logical system (in Euclidean geometry)".
> Clearly he was speaking of formal *mathematical* logic, e.g., the
> mathematical logic as set forth in Euclid's _Elements_.
As he wrote
> "Development of Western science is based on two
> great achievements: the invention of the formal
> logical system (in Euclidean geometry) by the
> Greek philosophers, and the discovery of the
> possibility to find out causal relationships by
> systematic experiment (during the Renaissance)."
you have a point. Since "formal logic" as we think of
it today isn't present to any great degree in Euclid,
perhaps Einstein did mean "thinking logically", i.e.,
from concrete premises or axioms. That *is* probably
what he meant.
Lee
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