Basic views on the subject of logic in the European philosophy of 19 century

The development of formal logic in 19 century Europe is considered in the paper. The principal idea is that that during this logic developed as three independent traditions: German, British and Austrian. The German tradition was definitely influenced by I. Kant. The (general pure) logic was considered here as a science of the form of thought, in abstraction from any object (content). J.F. Fries and J.F. Herbart proposed the most influential conceptions of the philosophy of logic. The former developed the anthropological (psychological) foundation for logic. The latter shifted the subject of logic from "thinking" to "thinkable". His presuppositions were disclosed in details in the remarkable "Neue Dar-stellung der Logic" of his pupil M.W. Drobisch. A.Trendelenburg exposed the final commonly accepted view of the subject; he also coined the very term "formal logic". The principles of the British traditions were laid down by R.Whately, and in fact that principles formed the paradigm of British tradition in the philosophy of logic. The logic was considered here as an inquiry of reasoning, and its formal character was explained by the fact that it deals with the form of language expression. Approaches of Whately were severely attacked by W. Hamilton, but his arguments, in spite of soundness, appeared to be ineffective. The development of this tradition is traced up to J.S. Mill and A. de Morgan. Mill has created the groundwork for future development of logical semantics by his theory of denotation and connotation. De Morgan has expanded the linguistic approach to logic on its algebraic handling. Both of them extended, in different ways, the conception of reasoning. B.Bolzano was the father-founder of the Austrian tradition. Logic was typically viewed here as a general theory of science (Wissensschaftslehre). Logic is formal because it deals with the form of objects and relations in general. The principal feature of the Austrian logical tradition consists in the fact that it included some kind the theory of object. It is pointed and demonstrated in the paper that the factual 'inventor' of the logical theory of object was R. Zimmerman, the student of Bolzano. The formation of the Austrian logical style was completed due to the school of Brentano. The specific features of the school are discussed on the instance of the A. Hofler's "Logik". The concluding part of the paper contains very short outline of the remarkable similarities between the ideas of Frege and principles, shared or discussed by the school of Brentano.

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