[FOM] Is logic prescriptive or descriptive?

[Jon Awbrey]

Richard,

One traditional view is that logic is a normative science whose object is truth.
The other two of the Big Three normative sciences are then aesthetics and ethics,
whose objects are beauty and justice (righteous conduct), respectively.

A distinction is sometimes made between "normative",
indicating what we ought to do in order to achieve
specific objects, and "prescriptive", indicating
what we ought to do in absolute terms.

Regards,

Jon

Richard L. Epstein wrote:
> A crucial question for the foundations of mathematics and logic generally is:
> 
>      Is logic prescriptive or descriptive?
> 
> I have a written a short analysis of that which I would be glad to make available
> in order to get comments.
> 
> Richard L. Epstein