Logic and Philosophy of Time

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2023): The History and Philosophy of Tense-logic
Articles

Prior’s System Q and its Extensions

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  • B. Jack Copeland,
  • Aneta Markoska-Cubrinovska
B. Jack Copeland
University of Canterbury: Christchurch, NZ
Aneta Markoska-Cubrinovska
University of Canterbury: Christchurch, NZ
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54337/lpt.v5i1.7893

Published 23-10-2023 — Updated on 20-12-2024

Versions

Keywords

  • Arthur Prior,
  • Robert Bull,
  • Jan Łukasiewicz,
  • John Lemmon,
  • Krister Segerberg,
  • John Mackie,
  • Time and Modality,
  • system Q,
  • temporal logic,
  • modal logic,
  • multi-valued logic,
  • necessary existence,
  • contingent existence,
  • unstatable proposition,
  • history of modal logic,
  • Barcan formula,
  • axiomatisation of modal logic,
  • completeness proofs for modal logic
    • ...More
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How to Cite

Copeland, B. J., & Markoska-Cubrinovska, A. (2024). Prior’s System Q and its Extensions. Logic and Philosophy of Time, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.54337/lpt.v5i1.7893 (Original work published October 23, 2023)

Copyright (c) 2023 Logic and Philosophy of Time

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Recently, and as happens from time to time in New Zealand, a typescript of Prior’s turned up. This one was in the personal collection of Oliver Sutherland. Prior typed it in November 1957 and used copies in his senior logic group, an informal research group at Canterbury University. A terse and relentlessly compressed couple of pages, it concerns Prior’s system Q, which even towards the end of his life he was still describing as ‘the true modal logic’. We analyse Prior’s typescript and the issues underlying it, as well as providing an exposition of Q, and an examination of Łukasiewicz’s objections to Q. The article also includes an interview with Prior’s student Robert Bull concerning Q.

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References

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