Philosophers' Reviews of

Possible Worlds: An Introduction to
Logic and Its Philosophy


by Raymond Bradley and Norman Swartz



This is a new introduction to logic for university undergraduates in their first and second years. The originality of the approach will also make it of considerable interest to postgraduates and professional logicians. Important advances in modal logic and in possible-world semantics have usually found no place in introductory university texts. Indeed, most accounts are inaccessible to the average philosopher, let alone the student. As modal techniques are of considerable importance in the philosophy of language, epistemology, the philosophy of mind, moral philosophy, legal philosophy and philosophy of science, this book may be expected to take its place as the standard introduction to its subject.
     Logic is a vital tool for almost every academic discipline, in both the sciences and the arts. Because the authors' approach to the science of logic is through the philosophy of logic, this book is more appropriate to the needs of students of subjects outside philosophy than are those texts which are concerned exclusively with symbolic logic.
      The book, which is extensive, is the result of many years' writing and thinking. Earlier drafts of the work have been read by philosophers and logicians in both America and the United Kingdom, and their reactions to the finished work suggest that it will excite a great deal of interest.

"With absolutely no reservation or qualification, the manuscript is an excellent piece of philosophy. It is well written. It is full of substantive, first-rate philosophical issues. It is unique in many ways … yet it is in line with what some call the 'grand' tradition in philosophical logic."
— SIDNEY LUCKENBACH, Calif. State University,Northridge



"Two of this book's many virtues which impressed me most are the use of talk about possible worlds, an idiom that lends itself marvellously to an exposition of the nature and techniques of logic, and the inclusion of an account of the philosophy of logic in tandem with a presentation of the elements and operations of logic."
— JOSIAH B. GOULD,SUNY at Albany



"Overall rating . This innovative presentation of an important, difficult subject is especially well-suited for a second year logic course. It is impressively comprehensive, clear and well-organized, but above all, it is the kind of textbook that grips the reader's mind and imagination and does not let go."
— CHARLES T.R. ADAMS, Central Florida Community College