From Logic to Logics: A View from Complexity

Abstract

It is commonly thought that between the late 19th and early 20th centuries there was a profound revolution in logic. It is thought that there was a real paradigm shift, because logic was no longer seen as it had been for more than twenty centuries. The transition from Aristotelian logic (traditional logic) to modern symbolic logic (classical logic) was effected. However, it is worth asking: has the transition from traditional logic to classical logic implied a real paradigm shift in this disciplinary area? Taking as a point of reference the distinction between the simplification paradigm and the complexity paradigm of Edgar Morin, this paper will try to show that, despite the differences between the two logics, there was not a real paradigm shift but a deepening of the same paradigm, the simplification paradigm. This is because the main features of logic have not changed. Finally, it is suggested that the development of non-classical logics could be seen as a possible transition to the complexity paradigm.