Parshina (2022), Evolution of Predicate Logic Notation

Proceedings of the 2022 ESSLLI Student Session

Evolution of Predicate Logic Notation

Katia Parshina

While there is a lot of research on the ideas behind different systems of predicate logic, there is no research concerning the history of its notation. In my paper, I analyze the history of the predicate logic notation and establish the main characteristics of the processes the notation has undergone in the past two centuries. I present the development of predicate logic within the two traditions of notations, Fregean and Boolean, and their subsequent unification into one. I argue that the term "evolution" can be applied to the processes within the development of predicate logic notation. I then analyze the evolution of predicate logic notation to determine which term can characterize the process more precisely: "cultural evolution" or "language evolution".