Logic: From Philosophy to Mathematics? Towards George Boole’s Algebra of Logic

Can logic be fully detached from philosophy and absorbed into mathematics? In Logic: From Philosophy to Mathematics? Towards George Boole’s Algebra of Logic, Christian Toumba Patalé examines George Boole’s transformative project of recasting logic as a mathematical science. Traditionally rooted in Aristotelian and Stoic philosophies, logic underwent a major shift in the nineteenth century when Boole, inspired by Leibniz’s vision of a calculus ratiocinator, proposed expressing the laws of thought through algebra. By introducing a symbolic system based on binary values (0 and 1), he laid the groundwork for modern symbolic logic and computer science. At the crossroads of Logic, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mathematics, and Philosophy of Computer Science, this work demonstrates that while Boole’s algebra revolutionized reasoning and shaped our contemporary computational civilization, it does not exhaust the richness and complexity of human thought. Logic emerges here as both a mathematical discipline and a philosophical inquiry, demanding rigor, but also constant critical vigilance. Christian Toumba Patalé holds a Ph.D in Philosophy (Logic and Epistemology). He is Lecturer at the Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences of the University of Dschang (Cameroon). His field of research focuses on the use of Logic, of Philosophy of Science, and of Digital Humanities in understanding and interpreting current scientific developments.