Ethnography of the Teaching of Logic

Overview & Synopsis

This article provides a frame of analysis for the social study of logic, starting from an ethnographical account of the teaching of logic. This account is based on an inquiry conducted in the department of philosophy of a major University located in the United States. I analyze how the discourse of logic in the classrooms can be constituted as holding by itself, or self-sustaining. I argue, first, that an autonomous language is constituted around a few isolated words, through several strategies of differentiation. I analyze in particular how the dichotomy between formal and informal knowledge can be formed, and how the categories of logical language, ordinary language, and intuition are co-constructed. I then argue that the process of differentiation is supported by an elaborate technology of showing, and that this technology is also used to build demonstrations. I show in particular that, between two steps of reasoning, is a moment of exhibition or de-monstration. Finally, I examine how doubt is managed, targeted and controlled in front of de-monstrations, and how radical doubt can be limited by temporal constraints.