Universe of discourse

☞ This page belongs to resource collections on Logic and Inquiry.

C.S. Peirce attributes the term universe of discourse to De Morgan (1846).

Boole (1854) defines universe of discourse in the following manner:

In every discourse, whether of the mind conversing with its own thoughts, or of the individual in his intercourse with others, there is an assumed or expressed limit within which the subjects of its operation are confined. … Now, whatever may be the extent of the field within which all the objects of our discourse are found, that field may properly be termed the universe of discourse. (Boole 1854/1958, p. 42).

References

• Boole, George (1854/1958), An Investigation of the Laws of Thought on Which are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities, Macmillan Publishers, 1854. Reprinted with corrections, Dover Publications, New York, NY, 1958.

• De Morgan, Augustus (1846), Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, viii, p. 380.

Resources

• Commens Dictionary of Peirce's Terms
  • Logical Universe
  • Universe of Discourse

Syllabus

Focal nodes

Template:Col-break

• Inquiry Live

Template:Col-break

• Logic Live

Template:Col-end

Peer nodes

Template:Col-break

• Universe of Discourse @ MyWikiBiz
• Universe of Discourse @ MathWeb Wiki
• Universe of Discourse @ NetKnowledge

Template:Col-break

• Universe of Discourse @ OER Commons
• Universe of Discourse @ P2P Foundation
• Universe of Discourse @ SemanticWeb

Template:Col-end

Logical operators

Template:Col-break

• Exclusive disjunction
• Logical conjunction
• Logical disjunction
• Logical equality

Template:Col-break

• Logical implication
• Logical NAND
• Logical NNOR
• Negation

Template:Col-end

Related topics

Template:Col-break

• Ampheck
• Boolean domain
• Boolean function
• Boolean-valued function
• Differential logic

Template:Col-break

• Logical graph
• Minimal negation operator
• Multigrade operator
• Parametric operator
• Peirce's law

Template:Col-break

• Propositional calculus
• Sole sufficient operator
• Truth table
• Universe of discourse
• Zeroth order logic

Template:Col-end

Relational concepts

Template:Col-break

• Continuous predicate
• Hypostatic abstraction
• Logic of relatives
• Logical matrix

Template:Col-break

• Relation
• Relation composition
• Relation construction
• Relation reduction

Template:Col-break

• Relation theory
• Relative term
• Sign relation
• Triadic relation

Template:Col-end

Information, Inquiry

Template:Col-break

• Inquiry
• Logic of information

Template:Col-break

• Descriptive science
• Normative science

Template:Col-break

• Pragmatic maxim
• Pragmatic theory of truth

Template:Col-break

• Semeiotic
• Semiotic information

Template:Col-end

Related articles

• Jon Awbrey, “Introduction To Inquiry Driven Systems”

• Jon Awbrey, “Prospects For Inquiry Driven Systems”

• Jon Awbrey, “Inquiry Driven Systems : Inquiry Into Inquiry”

• Jon Awbrey, “Propositional Equation Reasoning Systems”

• Jon Awbrey, “Differential Logic : Introduction”

• Jon Awbrey, “Differential Propositional Calculus”

• Jon Awbrey, “Differential Logic and Dynamic Systems”

Document history

Portions of the above article were adapted from the following sources under the GNU Free Documentation License, under other applicable licenses, or by permission of the copyright holders.

• Universe of Discourse, MyWikiBiz
• Universe of Discourse, Beta Wikiversity
• Universe of Discourse, PlanetMath

<sharethis />