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Theory & Psychology
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Logical Creativity

Harold C. Morris

Des Moines, Washington

A tendency to view logical cognition and creativity as antitheses has begun taking root in popular culture. This article argues that logical reasoning actually affords many avenues for creative expression. A fundamental distinction between the two basic kinds of logical inference, deductive and adductive, is articulated, with some passing discussion as well of induction and of reasoning by analogy. The adductive creation of new systems or logical forms is likened to musical composition. Criteria for what constitutes an `interesting' logical form are stated. The topic of creativity in relation to deductive problem-solving or theorem-proving leads to consideration of the construct of `elegance' in logic. Finally, paradoxes and quine sentences are exhibited as evincing the logician's aesthetic interest in such things as possess a `strangeness in the proportion'.

Theory & Psychology, Vol. 2, No. 1, 89-107 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/0959354392021005
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