This book has two related aims: to investigate the frequently voiced claim that legal argument is nonformal in nature and, within the limits of such an investigation, to ascertain the most general proper- ties of law as a rational system. Examination of a number of views of legal argument, selected from recent discussions in Germany, Belgium, and the English-speaking countries, will lead to the follow- ing main conclusions. The nonformalistic conceptions of the logic of legal argument are ambiguous and unclear. Moreover, insofar as these conceptions are capable of clarification in the light...

to that goal, and it is hoped that it will incorporate further works dealing in an exact way with interesting philosophical issues. Zurich, April 1973 Mario Bunge From the Preface to the First Edition It may seem odd that aseries of works devoted to the natural sciences should indude - indeed begin with - a volume on phi- losophy. Today, of course, it is generally agreed that philosophy and natural science are perfectly compatible. But to grant the theory of knowledge such a prominent position implies not only that these two fields are compatible, but that there is a natural connection...

The take-over of the philosophy of mathematics by mathematical logic is not complete. The central problems examined in this book lie in the fringe area between the two, and by their very nature will no doubt continue to fall partly within the philosophical re- mainder. In seeking to treat these problems with a properly sober mixture of rhyme and reason, I have tried to keep philosophical jargon to a minimum and to avoid excessive mathematical compli- cation. The reader with a philosophical background should be familiar with the formal syntactico-semantical explications of proof and truth,...

Es war mir sehr willkommen, dag mir der Springer-Verlag angeboten hat, eine Neuauflage dieses Hingst vergriffenen Buches zu bringen. Denn es waren an ihm wesentliche Verbesserungen und Erganzungen notwendig, die ich nun in einer eingreifenden Neubearbeitung gege ben habe. Das Buch ist zum gr6geren Teil neu geschrieben. Ich habe mich bemuht, die in der ersten Auflage fehlende Literatur nach zutragen. Fur die Literatur zur Anwendung der Arithmetik in der Naturwissenschaft kann ich auf das ungemein reiche Literatur verzeichnis bei BR. ELLIS, Basic Concepts of Measurement, 1966, S.207-215,...