Pure Logic and Other Minor Works (Classic Reprint)

Explore Jevons’ fresh take on logic: a clear, modern case for a logic focused on qualities and non‑existence.

This scholarly work revisits Pure Logic, arguing for a logic of quality that treats judgments as non‑existential and grounds reasoning in the character of thoughts rather than concrete existence. It contrasts Jevons’ approach with Boole’s system and situates his ideas within English empirical philosophy, Mill’s doctrines, and 19th‑century debates. The book also presents a detailed look at a mechanical model used to illustrate logical inference, including how a physical device represents combinations of terms and the rules that govern their interactions.

• Understand how a logic of qualities differs from traditional approaches
• See how non‑existential judgments can form the basis of reasoning
• Learn about the proposed mechanical logic and its components
• Gain context on the debates between Jevons, Mill, Boole, and other thinkers

Ideal for readers of philosophy, logic, and the history of scientific thinking, this edition helps you grasp why Jevons argued for a logic that centers on thought’s structure rather than on concrete existence.

Robert Adamson was born on 17 May 1943 at Neutral Bay, and raised in Sydney, Australia. He was educated at Neutral Bay Primary School and Crows Nest Technical College. His grandfather was a fisherman on the Hawkesbury River to the north of Sydney, where Adamson has lived, on and off, for most of his life. A series of juvenile misdemeanours resulted in him being sent to various detention centres. It was during this period that he first began writing poetry. Adamson is one of Australia's leading poets, and is a successful writer, editor and publisher. His books have been published in the UK and the USA and his poems have been translated into several languages. He has published fifteen volumes of poetry and has organised and produced poetry readings, delivered papers, lectures and readings at literary festivals throughout Australia and internationally. He has been writer-in-residence at Australian universities, and was President of the Poetry Society of Australia, 1974-1980. He was a key player in the growth of the 'New Australian Poetry' and was an editor of the Poetry Society of Australia's magazine, New Poetry, from 1968 until 1982. He taught creative writing classes for the W.E.A during the seventies and was the poetry reviewer for Australia's national newspaper, The Australian. In 1975-76 Adamson organised, as President of the Poetry Society, Australian reading tours for Robert Creeley and Robert Duncan. Robert Adamson has worked as a poetry editor and consultant with Angus & Robertson/HarperCollins and he established several small publishing companies, including Prism Books and Big Smoke. He was the poetry editor the literary magazine Ulitarra from 1993 to 1997. In 1997 he became a founding editor, along with James Taylor, of the international poetry journal Boxkite.