Logic and Metaphysics

This volume of the collected works of J.L. Shaw contains twelve papers that fall in the intersection of logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language. Professor Shaw's methodology in these papers is that of comparative philosophy. With an emphasis on classical Indian analytical philosophy and late 19th and 20th century Western analytical philosophy, Professor Shaw compares such traditions as the Nyaya, Navya Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vedanta, and Buddhism with each other and with Western thinkers like Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Strawson, Austin, Quine, Kripke, Searle, and Chomsky.

The first paper of the volume, “The Relevance of Indian Philosophy of Language to Contemporary Western Philosophy”, serves two main purposes. While the primary purpose of this paper is made obvious by its title, the paper also serves to introduce many of the topics that will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent papers, such as meaning, proper names, demonstratives, descriptions, and sentence transformation. Other papers in the volume deal with topics in logic, such as existentially and universally quantified sentences, negation, inference, fallacies, and the related notion of relevance. In addition, two important topics in metaphysics are also examined in detail, namely the nature of properties and the nature of existence. While the former is discussed throughout the volume, existence receives its own chapter in the form of “‘Exists’ and ‘Predicate’”.

The great value of the papers in this volume lies in their ability to connect the traditions and thinkers which Professor Shaw focuses on in a way that is clear and accessible to those with some background in analytical philosophy. Without investing some time in the study of comparative philosophy, one runs the risk of being stuck with the problems of one's own tradition while answers which may shed some light on these problems have already been developed within another tradition. This volume will therefore be of special value to professors and graduate students who wish to expand their perspective to include the ideas of the above mentioned traditions and thinkers, and to become familiar with philosophical thought outside of one's own tradition.

Jaysankar Lal Shaw is an Associate Professor in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science & International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Professor Shaw holds an MA from Calcutta University and PhD from Rice University, and has taught at Victoria University of Wellington, Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Hawaii. He is the author of Knowledge, Belief and Doubt: Some Contemporary Problems and their Solutions from the Nyaya Perspective, Causality and Its Application: Samkhya, Bauddha, and Nyaya, and Some Logical Problems Concerning Existence, in addition to a number of other books and academic papers.