Work Of Logicians Research Articles

Requirements for the definitions in law

The article substantiates the importance and methodological application of the theory of concept in jurisprudence. The analysis of the practical use of logic as the science in legal processes is carried out, in particular, the theoretical approaches to the formulation of definitions in law and the criteria of the correctness of normative definitions, developed by domestic and foreign specialists. The relevance and importance of giving due consideration to this aspect of the rule-proclaiming technique were disclosed. It is shown that the effectiveness of legal regulation is largely determined by the level of compliance with logical rules and laws in formulating definitions in regulatory texts, and ignoring these requirements can lead to legal errors and collisions of all kinds. In the formulated theoretical provisions of the article, the author relies on the works of logicians from Kyiv, Moscow, Kharkiv schools, who have made a significant contribution to the development of the modern version of doctrine of concepts, among them outstanding scientists: E.K. Voyshvillo, V.E. Zherebkin, A.E. Konversky, V.D. Titov and also well-known specialists in the field of law, including S.S. Alekseev, V.M. Baranov, V. Kosovich, A.V. Plotnikov, T. Podorozhna, Y.O. Pokrovsky, A.V. Khvorostyankina, etc. - all of them were engaged in the elaboration of theoretical approaches and the development of methodological recommendations on the formulation of correct legislative definitions. Given the crucial importance of legislative definitions in legal matters, the author demonstrates on the example of definitions in Ukrainian and international law that legal gaps in this aspect of rule-proclaiming technique still exist, and therefore extremely it is necessary to deepen the development of methodological guidelines for the requirements that are put forward to the definitions in law. The practical part of the study is based on the analysis of some definitions of legal concepts from the existing legislative texts. The author of the article concluded that, apart from generally accepted logical rules for the formation of definitions, the lawmaker must also take into account some specific requirements regarding definitions in law. As a result of the research, these specific requirements are formulated. Among them: constancy of meaning of the formulated concepts in different legislative texts, avoidance of evaluative and moral terms and concepts, sequence and coherence in correlation of legal concepts and categories in different legal sources, avoidance of synonyms, brevity, and completeness of the formulated definitions, use of the popular science style and avoidance of overloaded verbal constructions. Each provision was illustrated with examples of existing legislation.

Louis Couturat, modern logic, and the international auxiliary language

ABSTRACTTo some extent, the early twentieth century revival of universal languages was the work of logicians and mathematicians. Pioneers of modern logic such as Frege, Russell and Peano wanted to overcome the diversity and deficiencies of natural languages. Through the rigour of formal logic, they aimed at providing scientific thinking with a reliable medium free from the ambiguity and inconsistencies of ordinary language. This article shows some interconnections between modern logic and the search for a common tongue that would unite scientists and people of all nations. The French mathematician and philosopher Louis Couturat is a key figure in understanding the interplay between these two movements. Through his work in composing the Ido language as an alternative to Esperanto, Couturat gave a new life to the Leibnizian idea of a universal characteristics. In addition, his multifaceted work provides a valuable insight into some political implications of early analytic philosophy.

THE LOGIC OF REGIONAL SYSTEMS1

It is argued in this paper that regionalization is a similar process to classification. The terminology and procedures of the two are compared and it is concluded that there is a close similarity except that there is no direct analogy in regionalization with the individual of classification. It is suggested that operationally defined individuals partially overcome this problem. The histories of ideas about the nature and purpose of regional systems and classification systems are briefly compared and again found to be similar. Ten principles of classification derived from the work of logicians and taxonomists are then stated and the methods of constructing regional systems are examined in the light of these principles. It is shown that most of the points revealed by such an examination have been previously discussed by geographers, although they are arguing from different premises. Some of the principles, however, do raise problems which have hitherto received little attention.