Aims and scope

The journal mission

The leading idea of Lvov-Warsaw School of Logic, Philosophy and Mathematics was to investigate philosophical problems by means of rigorous methods of mathematics. Evidence of the great success the School experienced is the fact that it has become generally recognized as Polish Style Logic. Today Polish Style Logic is no longer exclusively a Polish speciality. It is represented by numerous logicians, mathematicians and philosophers from research centers all over the world.

Studia Logica was founded in 1953 by Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, one of the prominent representatives of Lvov-Warsaw School, who aimed to promote research that embodied the main idea of the School - to apply mathematical methods to important philosophical problems. Since its very first issue Studia Logica has joined the forces of mathematicians and philosophers in carrying out logical investigations. The success of Lvov-Warsaw School united philosophy and mathematics in novel and deep ways. For over 50 years the papers published by our journal have testified to the fact that the School's thought not only has not gone out of date but still remains a weighty source of inspiration for those who approach philosophical problems by means of mathematical tools.

Studia Logica publish papers presenting original results on formal systems and employing formal tools of mathematics and broadly understood logic. Additionally, empirical and philosophical considerations can be directed towards the formal properties of these systems. The scope of papers published in Studia Logica covers all the philosophical subjects provided they present formal systems and make use of formal logical methods. Investigations in other disciplines like for example Cognitive Science and Formal Linguistics are welcomed as well, without any limitations of the subjects. Studia Logica strive for a balance between mathematical techniques and philosophical relevance. Non-classical and algebraic logics remain an important part of the profile of the journal. The key criterion for acceptance of papers to be published in Studia Logica will not be the scope of presented research but its method: they are required to contain significant and original results concerning formal systems and their properties.

There are many elaborate mathematical theories that find their origin in philosophy and that have had a big impact on both philosophy and mathematics. To a large extend all of them are represented in Studia Logica. Let me mention some examples:

    The theory of consequence operations studies properties of logical consequence. Its methods proved to be extremely useful in exploring the realms of non-monotonic logics, reasoning under incomplete information and other logical systems within artificial intelligence.
    Many-valued logics are an extensive domain of strictly logical investigations. But at their foundations one finds purely philosophical questions concerning the nature of logical values. Fuzzy logic - one of the main streams within many- valued logics - has many applications in computer science.
    Of groundbreaking importance for studying the logical structure of natural language were Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz's works, which were philosophical at their core. They sparked many different formal investigations and the construction of systems of categorial grammar and substructural logics.
    Tarski's theory of truth, modal logics, paraconsistent logics, logical systems of quantum mechanics all are equally important research trends in which a mathematical and a philosophical approach intertwined to bring results that have an extraordinary significance for both mathematics and philosophy.
    For a couple of decades we have been witnessing the fruitful application of strictly mathematical methods to handling more and more philosophical problems. I will point to just three of the numerous research trends that draw their inspiration and tools from mathematics.
    Formal epistemology applies logical, probabilistic, game-theoretic and other formal methods to problems and issues in epistemology such as a dispute about anti-realism, scepticism, sources of knowledge and learning theories.
    In cognitive science a new picture of logic has emerged according to which logical laws are sometimes regarded as high-level descriptions of ideal cognitive agents. Logical investigations in cognitive science have successfully utilized methods and systems of belief revision, non-monotonic logic and dynamic epistemic logic.
    Broadly understood contemporary deontic logic uses mathematical tools to investigate topics related to many issues of normative philosophy, philosophy of action and social philosophy.

Studia Logica makes an effort to promote mathematical research within philosophical domains such as those invoked above, simultaneously preserving its character as a journal of formal logic.