Logic of Questions and Answers (Erotetic Logic)

Overview

Erotetic logic, often referred to as the logic of questions and answers, is a branch of formal logic that deals with questions (interrogatives) and their relationships to statements (declaratives) and answers.

Key Concepts

The core of erotetic logic involves:

• Interrogatives: Understanding the structure and types of questions.
• Answers: Defining what constitutes a correct or relevant answer.
• Presuppositions: Identifying the implicit assumptions behind a question.
• Entailment: How questions can logically entail other questions or statements.

Deep Dive

Erotetic logic formalizes the process of inquiry. It analyzes how questions are posed, what information they seek, and how answers resolve the uncertainty or ignorance expressed by the question. Key areas include:

• The semantics of questions: What does a question mean?
• The pragmatics of questions: How are questions used in discourse?
• The logical properties of question-answer sequences.

Applications

This field has applications in:

• Artificial intelligence: Developing question-answering systems.
• Linguistics and philosophy of language.
• Information retrieval systems.
• Legal reasoning and argumentation.

Challenges & Misconceptions

A common misconception is that questions themselves can be true or false. Instead, questions express a state of inquiry, and it is the answers that are evaluated for truth or falsity.

FAQs

What is the main goal of erotetic logic? To provide a formal framework for understanding the nature and logic of questions and answers.

How does it differ from traditional logic? Traditional logic focuses on propositions (statements), while erotetic logic extends this to include interrogatives (questions).