Profile

Professor Laurence Goldstein works mainly in the area of paradoxes, the philosophy of logic and language and the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Among his most recent publications on paradox are ‘A Consistent Way with Paradox’, Philosophical Studies (2009); ‘Stephen Clark, the Laws of Logic and the Sorites’, Philosophy (2009); ‘Fibonacci, Yablo and the Cassationist Approach to Paradox’, Mind (2006). His work on Wittgenstein includes ‘Wittgenstein and Situation Comedy’, Philosophia (2009), a book, Clear and Queer Thinking: Wittgenstein’s Development and His Relevance to Modern Thought, and a play (1999) that mischievously re-creates Wittgenstein’s Ph.D. viva, available here. Other pieces investigating the originality of Wittgenstein’s work include ‘Wittgenstein as Soil’, in M. Kõlbel and B. Weiss (eds), Wittgenstein’s Lasting Significance.

Laurence co-authored a text, Logic, on the philosophy of logic (2006) and is currently writing a book, The Liar, the Bald Man and the Hangman. He was advisory editor for the 2005 Monist issue on the Philosophy of Humor and generally enjoys working at the intersection of philosophy and various other disciplines. Laurence is professor of philosophy and Head of the School of European Culture and Languages at the University of Kent.

Personal website

Research

Publications

Books (Philosophical)

(a) Logic (co-authors: Brennan, Deutsch and Lau) (London, Continuum Press, 2005), ISBN 0- 8264-7408-X; 200 pp. + vii, an introduction to central problems in the philosophy of logic. Expanded Portuguese edition: lógica: conceitos – chave em filosofia (Santana, Brazil, artmed, 2007, ISBN 978-85-363-0908-8.

(b) Clear and Queer Thinking: Wittgenstein’s Development and his Relevance to Modern Thought (London, Duckworth, 1999), ISBN 0-7156-2819-4; 244 pp. + xii, a study of the development of Wittgenstein's views on Mind, Meaning, Mathematics, Method, and an attempt to use biography as an interpretative tool.

(c) How Computers Work: A Logical Approach (with F.C.T. Moore and K.P. Yu) (Hong Kong, Logical Products, 1990), ISBN 962-375-001-3; 64 pp. + viii, a text which provides functional explanations of computer hardware.  The leading theme is that a computer is a logical device, in the sense that the components which process and store information are concrete realizations of abstract logical (not arithmetical) functions.

(d) The Philosopher's Habitat (London and New York, Routledge, 1990), ISBN 0-415-04224-0; 215pp. + xvii, an investigation of philosophical problems which either are of recent provenance or are long-standing problems which have been given fresh impetus by recent work both in philosophy and in other fields.   The book explores interfaces between philosophy and the empirical sciences.

Books (Non-philosophical)

(e) (i)  Mathematics (with Mary Griffiths) (London, Macmillans, 1995), ISBN 962-03-1115-9; 375pp., in series (f)

(ii) Economic and Public Affairs (with Paul Morris)  (London, Macmillans, 1995), ISBN 962-03-1117-5; 161pp., in series (f)

Edited Volumes

(f)  Across the Bridge (London, Macmillans, 1995), ISBN 962-03-1115-9 etc. (14 numbers), a series of fourteen texts of which I am joint author of two sets, and editor of the whole series.  These texts form the teaching core of a ‘Bridge Programme' occupying the first part of Secondary 1, the aim of which is to produce a generation of young adults in Hong Kong, over 30% of which is genuinely bilingual.  The series implements a strategy, due to Henry Widdowson and others, of using content subjects in the syllabus as vehicles for language activities.  The theoretical foundations are described in [45] below.

(g) Precedent in Law (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1988), ISBN 0-19-825526-8; 279pp. + xvi, a collection of essays on jurisprudence edited with an introduction by me.  New Clarendon paperback edition published in May, 1991.

Manual

(h) Logic Tutor (with Tim Moore) (Hong Kong, Logical Products, 1991); ISBN 962-375-004-08; 54pp.

I am guest editor of a recent (January, 2005) Monist issue on the Philosophy of Humour and contributed an introduction.

Book in Preparation

(i) The Liar, the Bald Man and the Hangman, which provides solutions to a number of long-standing paradoxes.

Articles in International Refereed Journals and in Books

[77] ‘Infinitistic and Non-infinitistic cures for nagging hangovers’, The Reasoner 2/7 (2008), pp.5-6.

[78]‘A Unified Pyrrhonian Resolution of the Toxin Problem, The Surprise Examination and Newcomb’s Puzzle’ (with Peter Cave), American Philosophical Quarterly 45 (2008), pp.385-396.

[79] Stephen Clark, the Laws of Logic and the Sorites’, Philosophy 84 (2009), pp.135-143.

[81] ‘A Consistent Way with Paradox’, Philosophical Studies 144 (2009), pp.377-389.
                 
[80]            ‘Foreword: Martha Nussbaum and her Critics’, in M. Nussbaum, J. Chan, J.Lau and J. Ci, The Ethics and Politics of Compassion and Capabilities (Hong Kong, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong, 2007), pp.vii-xix.
 
[79]            ‘Fibonacci, Yablo and the Cassationist Approach to Paradox’, Mind 115 (2006), pp. 867-890.

[78]            ‘Russell, Edward Lear, Plato, Zeno, Grelling, Eubulides’, Paradox: Logical, Cognitive and Communicative Aspects. The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication, 1 (2006), pp.51-68.

[77]             ‘A Non-theistic Cosmology and Natural History’, Analysis, 66 (2006), pp. 256-260.

[76]             ‘Philosophical Integrations’, Language Sciences 26 (2004), pp.545-563.

[75]             ‘The Barber, Russell’s Paradox, Catch-22, God, Contradiction and much more’, in G. Priest, JC Beall and B. Armour-Garb (eds),  The Law of Non-Contradiction: New Philosophical Essays (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004), pp.295-313.

 [74]             ‘Reply to Sherry’, Philosophia 31 (2004), pp.579-588.

[73]             ‘Wittgenstein as Soil’, in M. Kölbel and B. Weiss (eds), Wittgenstein’s Lasting Significance (London, Routledge, 2004), pp.148-178.

[72]             ‘What does “Experiencing Meaning” Mean?’, in D. Moyal-Sharrock (ed.), The Third Wittgenstein (London, Ashgate, 2004), pp.107-123.

[71]             ‘Examining boxing and toxin’, Analysis 63 (2003), pp.242-244.

[70]             ‘Farewell to Grelling’, Analysis 63 (2003), pp.31-32.

[69]             ‘How Original a Work is the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus?’, Philosophy 77 (2002), pp.421-446.

[68]             ‘The Language of Sexual Harassment’, Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics 7 (2002), pp.49-71.

[67]             ‘Refuse Disposal’, Analysis 62 (2002), pp.236-241.

[66]            ‘The Indefinability of  “One”’, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 31 (2002), pp.29-42.

[65]             ‘A Wittgensteinian (not Gricean) Approach to Substitutivity Puzzles’, in R. Haller and K. Puhl (eds), Wittgenstein and the Future of Philosophy: A Re-assessment after 50 years (Vienna, obv & hpt, 2002), pp.99-111.

[64]             ‘Truth-Bearers and the Liar – A Reply to Alan Weir’, Analysis 61 (2001), pp.115-126.

[63]             ‘How to Boil a Live Frog’, Analysis 60 (2000), pp.170-178.

[62]             ‘Moore's Paradox', in P. Engel (ed.), Believing and Accepting (North Holland, Kluwer, 2000), pp.65-92.

[61]             ‘Precedent', in C.B. Gray (ed.), The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia (New York, Garland Publishing Inc., 1999), pp.681-683.

[60]             ‘Circular Queue Paradoxes -- the Missing Link', Analysis 59 (1999), pp.284-290.

[59]             ‘Making a Virtue of Necessity in the Teaching of the Blind', Journal of Teaching Academic Survival Skills 1 (1999), pp.28-39

[58]             ‘A Unified Solution to Some Paradoxes’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society   100 (1999), pp.53-74.

[57]             ‘Wittgenstein’s Ph.D. Viva – A Re-Creation’, Philosophy 74 (1999), pp.499-513.

[56]             ‘Paradoxes Shallow and Deep’ [Inaugural Lecture], ISBN 0 86076 1630 (University of Wales, Swansea, 1999), 21 pp..

[55]             ‘Wittgenstein, Semantics and Connectionism' (with B.H. Slater), Philosophical Investigations 21 (1998), pp.293-314.

[54]             ‘Teaching Syllogistic to the Blind', in J. Mey and B. Gorayska (eds.), Cognitive Technology: in Search of a Humane Interface (Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1996), pp.243-255.

[53]             ‘Escher, Reflexivity, Contradiction and Paradox', Leonardo, 1996, pp.299-308.

[52]             ‘Is the Dissemination of Pornography Harmful to Women?', in G.K. Becker (ed.), Ethics in Business and Society (Berlin/Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag GmbH & Co.Kg, 1996), pp.141-155.

[51]            ‘Representation and Geometrical Methods of Problem Solving', in D.M. Peterson (ed.), Alternative Representations: An interdisciplinary theme in cognitive science (North Holland, Kluwer, 1996).

[50]             ‘Fallacious Reasoning', Teaching Philosophy 18 (1995), pp.139-146.

[49]             ‘Dying Quickly but Painfully', Analysis 55 (1995), pp.221-222.

[48]             ‘"The main mistake made by philosophers of the present generation"' in K.J.J. Hintikka and K. Puhl (eds.), The British Tradition in Twentieth Century Philosophy (Verlag Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1995), pp.171-186.

[47]             ‘An Integrated Approach to the Design of an Immersion Program' (with Liu Ngar Fun),  TESOL Quarterly, 28/4 (Winter, 1994), pp.705-725.

[46]             ‘A Yabloesque Paradox in Set Theory', Analysis 54 (1994), pp.223-227.

[45]             ‘Inescapable Surprises and Acquirable Intentions', Analysis 53 (1993), pp.93-99.

[44]             ‘The Fallacy of the Simple Question', Analysis 53 (1993), pp.178-181.

[43]             ‘Teaching and Learning through English across the Curriculum: The Design of a Form 1 Bridge Programme' (with Liu Ngar Fun) in N. Bird, J. Harris and M. Ingham (edd.), Language and Content (Hong Kong, Institute of Language in Education, 1993), pp.121-131.

[42]             ‘Wittgenstein and Meaning-Acquisition', in R. Casati, B. Smith and G. White (eds.), Philosophy and the Cognitive Sciences (Vienna, Verlag Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1993), pp.169-174.

[41]             ‘Understanding Unreason', [Inaugural Lecture] Supplement to the Gazette XL/2 (Hong Kong, 1993), pp.125-140.

[40]             ‘‘This statement is not true' is not true', Analysis 52 (1992), pp.1-5.

[39]             ‘Smooth and Rough Logic', Philosophical Investigations 15 (1992), pp.93-110.

[38]             ‘A Buridanian Discussion of Desire, Murder and Democracy', Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 70 (1992), pp.405-414

[37]             ‘Squash - What Difference does a Scoring System Make?', Australian Senior Mathematics Journal 6 (1992), pp.50-53.

[36]             ‘The Linguistic Interest of Verbal Humor', Humor 3/1 (1990), pp.37-52.

[35]             ‘The Puzzle about Pierre', Cogito 4/1 (1990), pp.101-106.

[34]             ‘Wittgenstein and Paraconsistency', a chapter contributed to G. Priest, F.R. Routley and J. Norman (eds.), Paraconsistent Logic. Essays on the Inconsistent (Munich, Philosophia Verlag, 1989), pp.540-562.

[33]             ‘Wittgenstein's Late Views on Belief, Paradox and Contradiction', Philosophical Investigations 11/1 (1988), pp.49-73.

[32]             ‘Unassertion', Philosophia 18/1 (1988), pp.119-121.

[31]             ‘Logic and Reasoning', Erkenntnis 28 (1988), pp.297-320.

[30]             ‘The Shaping of the Curriculum', Oxford Review of Education 14/2 (1988), pp.213-223.

[29]             ‘The Sorites as a Lesson in Semantics', Mind 97/387 (1988), pp.447-455.

[28]             ‘School Logic and Computer Literacy' (with F.C.T. Moore and K.P.Yu), Computerised Logic Teaching Bulletin 1/2 (1988), pp.39-44.

[27]             ‘Epimenides and Curry', Analysis 46/3 (1986), pp.117-121.

[26]             ‘The Development of Wittgenstein's Views on Contradiction', History and Philosophy of Logic 7 (1986), pp.43-56.

[25]             ‘A Problem for the Dialetheist', Polish Academy of Sciences: Bulletin of the Section of Logic 15 (1986), pp.10-14.

[24]             ‘False Stipulation and Semantical Paradox', Analysis 46/4 (1986), pp.192-195.

[23]             ‘The Paradox of the Liar - A Case of Mistaken Identity', Analysis 45/1 (1985), pp. 9-13.

[22]             ‘The Title of This Paper is "Quotation"', Analysis 45/3 (1985), pp.137-140.

[21]             ‘Some Problems About Precedent', Cambridge Law Journal 43/1 (1984), pp. 88-110.

[20]             ‘Quotation of Types and Other Types of Quotation', Analysis 44/2 (1984), pp. 1-6.

[19]             ‘Effective Methods for Logic' (with F.C.T. Moore), Collegiate Microcomputer 11/2 (1984), pp. 141-145. (Equal contributor)

[18]             ‘The Microcomputer as Logic Tutor: An Illustration' (with F.C.T. Moore), Teaching Philosophy 7/2 (1984), pp.109-114. (Equal contributor)

[17]             ‘Scientific Scotism - The Emperor's New Trousers, or has Armstrong made some Real Strides?', Australasian Journal of Philosophy 61/1 (1983), pp.40-57.

[16]             ‘Wittgenstein and the Logico-Semantical Paradoxes', Ratio 25/2 (1983), pp.137-153, reprinted in J.V. Canfield (ed.), The Philosophy of Wittgenstein (New York, Garland Publishing Inc.,1986)

[15]             ‘Mechanical Deductive Techniques: three microcomputer packages', Behavior, Research Methods and Instrumentation 15/4 (1983), pp. 545-546.

[14]             ‘Pure Categorial Principles', Monist 66/3 (1983), pp.410-421.

[13]             ‘Meet MICAL' (with F.C.T. Moore), Australian Logic Teachers Journal 6/1 (1982), pp.15-29. (Equal contributor)

[12]             ‘The Adverbial Theory of Conceptual Thought', Monist 65/3 (1982), pp. 379-392.

[11]             ‘Why the Liar Cannot be Said' in R. Haller (ed.), Language and Ontology (Vienna, Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1982), pp.162-165.

[10]             ‘Categories of Linguistic Aspects and Grelling's Paradox', Linguistics and Philosophy 4/3 (1981), pp.405-421.

[9]               ‘Linguistic Aspects, Meaninglessness and Paradox - A Reply to John David Stone', Linguistics and Philosophy 4/4 (1981), pp.579-592.

[8]               ‘The Reasons of a Materialist', Philosophy 55/212 (1980), pp.249-252.

[7]               ‘Tautology and Contradiction - An Introduction to the Sinnlos' in J. Shank et al. (edd.), Language, Logic and Philosophy (Vienna, Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1980), pp.350-353.

[6]               ‘Strengthened Paradoxes' (with L. Goddard), Australasian Journal of Philosophy 58/3 (1980), pp.211-221. (Major contributor)

[5]               ‘Four Alleged Paradoxes in Legal Reasoning', Cambridge Law Journal 38/2 (1979), pp.373-391.

[4]               ‘Wittgenstein and the Bounds of Sense' in W. Leinfellner et al. (edd.), Wittgenstein, the Vienna Circle and Critical Rationalism (Vienna, Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1979), pp.122-124.

[3]               ‘The Form of the Third Man Argument' (with P. Mannick), Apeiron 12/2 (1978), pp.6-13. (Equal contributor)

[2]               ‘A Wittgensteinian Modification of an Austinian Purification' in W. Leinfellner et al. (edd.), Wittgenstein and his Impact on Contemporary Thought (Vienna, Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1978), pp.279-283.

 [1]              ‘On Explaining Linguistic Competence', Mind 86/341 (1977), pp.104-108.

 

Articles in preparation

‘Non-Substitutivity as Situation Comedy’

‘A Unified, Pyrrhonian Solution to the Surprise Examination and Related Paradoxes’

 ‘Tonal Contours in Love Songs’ (with Manolete Mora)

‘Wittgenstein on the Vacuity of Tautologies and Contradictions’

‘Thomson’s Violinist and a Solution to the Problem in the Middle East’

‘A Budgie of Paradoxes’

 

Computer Packages

 Wittgenstein's Nachlab: the Bergen Electronic Edition (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999)(with C. Huitfeldt, P. Cripps, F. Hespe, W. Krüger and A. Requate) A set of CD-ROMs containing transcriptions into diplomatic and normalized format of approximately 20,000 pages of manuscript.  My contribution was transcription of the mathematical/logical elements in the manuscripts.

Logic Tutor, a microcomputer-assisted learning package written jointly by Professor F.C.T. Moore and me.  The software consists of two core CAL programs, with two supplementary programs, together with a sixty page text, and forms a major part of the teaching of elementary logic at several universities and colleges worldwide.

CHARLES, a course in computer literacy for schoolchildren produced by a team of four of which I was a member.  The material consists of seven programs, a fingerpad (a simple input-output device) a students' glossary and a teachers' manual.

IMPACT (Interactive Multimedia Package for the Advancement of Critical and Creative Thinking).  Currently under development, the package, designed to inculcate good habits of critical and creative thinking, is for use by all students entering tertiary education.

 

Book Reviews

 My reviews of the following books have appeared in Philosophical Quarterly

J. Moran, Toward the World and Wisdom of Wittgenstein's Tractatus 25/98 (1975), pp.84-85.

L. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Grammar and Letters to Russell, Keynes and Moore 25/100 (1975), pp.279-281.

J. Rosenberg, Linguistic Representation 26/103 (1976), pp.189-181.

C. Diamond (ed.), Wittgenstein's Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics 27/109 (1977), pp.370-371.

H.N. Castaneda (ed.), Action, Knowledge and Reality 28/111 (1978), pp.174-176.

D.M. Armstrong, Universals and Scientific Realism 29/117 (1979), pp.360-362.

J. Pitt (ed.), The Philosophy of Wilfrid Sellars: Queries and Extensions 30/119 (1980), pp.153-155.

In Philosophical Books, of

A. Phillips Griffiths (ed.), Key Themes in Philosophy  32/1 (1991), pp.161-163..

D.M Patterson (ed.), Wittgenstein and Legal Theory 34/4 (1993), pp.242-244.

Alexander Silverman, Mind, Machine and Metaphor 36/2 (1995), pp.134-136.

In Language Sciences, of

Rom Harré and Roy Harris (eds.), Linguistics and Philosophy 16/3-4 (1994), pp.431-439.

In Philosophical Investigations, of

Pasquale Frascolla, Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Mathematics 19/3 (1996), pp.337-342

Jaakko Hintikka, The Principles of Mathematics Revisited 21/3 (1998), pp.285-289.

In Cognitive Technology, of

Andy Clark, Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science 1/1 (2002), pp.159-161.

In Australasian Journal of Philosophy, of

Nicholas Rescher, Paradoxes: Their Roots, Range, and Resolution, 82/4 (2004), pp.656-658.

In Print Quarterly, of

Doris Schattschneider, M.C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry (2005).

In Mind, of

Michael Luntley, Wittgenstein: Meaning and Judgment, 115/458 (2006), pp.437-439.

 Inventions

Gravity Calculator, a mechanical device demonstrating the principles of binary arithmetic.  Photo at http://www.hku.hk./philodep/dept/lg/gravity.html

Sylloid, a piece of apparatus for teaching blind people the theory of the syllogism.  For discussion, see [51], [55]; photo at http://www.hku.hk./philodep/dept/lg/sylloid.html

Teaching

Undergraduate

PL561 Paradoxes