Nicolai A. Vasiliev
Encyclopedia
Nicolai Alexandrovich Vasiliev , also Vasil'ev, Vassilieff, Wassilieff (–1940) was a Russia
n logician, philosopher, psychologist
, poet
, the forerunner of paraconsistent
and multi-valued logic
s.
, Russia
. His father was a fairly well known mathematician Professor Alexander V. Vasiliev, his grandfather was the outstanding sinologist Professor Vassily P. Vasiliev, and his great grandfather was the prominent astronomer Ivan M. Simonov, who was a close colleague of Nikolai Lobachevsky
.
Willing to be a psychologist, Vasiliev studied at the medical faculty and the historico-philological faculty of Kazan University (1906), where he was offered the position of privat-dozent.
As a university student, Vasiliev was enthusiastic about symbolist style poetry and published some books of verses of his own (for example,"The longing for eternity") and translations of the poetry of Emile Verhaeren
and Algernon Charles Swinburne
.
On May 18, 1910 Vasiliev presented a lecture (published in October that same year) "On Partial Judgements, on the Triangle of Opposites, on the Law of Excluded Third" in which he put forward for the first time ever the idea of (non-Aristotelian) logic, free of the laws of excluded middle
and contradiction
. Reasoning by analogy with the "imaginary" geometry
of Lobachevsky, Vasiliev called his novel logic "imaginary", for he assumed it was valid for the worlds where the above-mentioned laws did not hold, worlds with beings having other types of sensations. He distinguished levels of logical reasoning, and introduced the notion of metalogic.
Vasiliev spent 1912-13 in Western Europe
(mostly Germany
) and published his salient works "Logic and Metalogic" and "Imaginary (non-Aristotelian) logic". Vasiliev constructed non-Aristotelian logic
using the concepts, and even the manner of reasoning, common
to Aristotelian logic. He was aware of the achievement in mathematical logic (and even carefully studied Ernst Schröder
's works) but did not make an attempt to formalise "imaginary" logic.
His only work in a foreign language (English) - concise abstract of his "imaginary logic" - was published in Naples
in 1924.
broke out, Vasiliev was drafted into the army, where he became seriously mentally ill
. Nevertheless, he returned to teaching at Kazan University, but in 1922 was forcibly retired by the new Bolshevik
administration. This act aggravated his ailment: Vasiliev spent most of the following 20 years in a mental hospital, thus rescued from the Stalin
regime. He died on December 31, 1940. The place where he was buried is unknown.
The pioneer ideas of Vasiliev were rediscovered in the early 1960s, and formed a basis mainly for paraconsistent logic
. Some well-known scholars in the 1960s considered his work to be the precursor of multi-valued logic
. The informal style and conceptual riches of Vasiliev's works make them especially valuable.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n logician, philosopher, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, the forerunner of paraconsistent
Paraconsistent logic
A paraconsistent logic is a logical system that attempts to deal with contradictions in a discriminating way. Alternatively, paraconsistent logic is the subfield of logic that is concerned with studying and developing paraconsistent systems of logic.Inconsistency-tolerant logics have been...
and multi-valued logic
Multi-valued logic
In logic, a many-valued logic is a propositional calculus in which there are more than two truth values. Traditionally, in Aristotle's logical calculus, there were only two possible values for any proposition...
s.
Early years
Vasiliev was born on June 29 O.S., 1880 in KazanKazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. His father was a fairly well known mathematician Professor Alexander V. Vasiliev, his grandfather was the outstanding sinologist Professor Vassily P. Vasiliev, and his great grandfather was the prominent astronomer Ivan M. Simonov, who was a close colleague of Nikolai Lobachevsky
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky was a Russian mathematician and geometer, renowned primarily for his pioneering works on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry...
.
Willing to be a psychologist, Vasiliev studied at the medical faculty and the historico-philological faculty of Kazan University (1906), where he was offered the position of privat-dozent.
As a university student, Vasiliev was enthusiastic about symbolist style poetry and published some books of verses of his own (for example,"The longing for eternity") and translations of the poetry of Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren was a Belgian poet who wrote in the French language, and one of the chief founders of the school of Symbolism....
and Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
.
Work in logic
Although Vasiliev outlined an abstract about the article on the "logic of relatives" by Charles Sanders Peirce as early as in 1897, it was only in 1908 that he entirely devoted himself to logic.On May 18, 1910 Vasiliev presented a lecture (published in October that same year) "On Partial Judgements, on the Triangle of Opposites, on the Law of Excluded Third" in which he put forward for the first time ever the idea of (non-Aristotelian) logic, free of the laws of excluded middle
Law of excluded middle
In logic, the law of excluded middle is the third of the so-called three classic laws of thought. It states that for any proposition, either that proposition is true, or its negation is....
and contradiction
Law of noncontradiction
In classical logic, the law of non-contradiction is the second of the so-called three classic laws of thought. It states that contradictory statements cannot both at the same time be true, e.g...
. Reasoning by analogy with the "imaginary" geometry
Non-Euclidean geometry
Non-Euclidean geometry is the term used to refer to two specific geometries which are, loosely speaking, obtained by negating the Euclidean parallel postulate, namely hyperbolic and elliptic geometry. This is one term which, for historical reasons, has a meaning in mathematics which is much...
of Lobachevsky, Vasiliev called his novel logic "imaginary", for he assumed it was valid for the worlds where the above-mentioned laws did not hold, worlds with beings having other types of sensations. He distinguished levels of logical reasoning, and introduced the notion of metalogic.
Vasiliev spent 1912-13 in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
(mostly Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) and published his salient works "Logic and Metalogic" and "Imaginary (non-Aristotelian) logic". Vasiliev constructed non-Aristotelian logic
Non-Aristotelian logic
The term non-Aristotelian logic, sometimes shortened to null-A, means any non-classical system of logic which rejects one of Aristotle's premises .-History:...
using the concepts, and even the manner of reasoning, common
to Aristotelian logic. He was aware of the achievement in mathematical logic (and even carefully studied Ernst Schröder
Ernst Schröder
Ernst Schröder was a German mathematician mainly known for his work on algebraic logic. He is a major figure in the history of mathematical logic , by virtue of summarizing and extending the work of George Boole, Augustus De Morgan, Hugh MacColl, and especially Charles Peirce...
's works) but did not make an attempt to formalise "imaginary" logic.
His only work in a foreign language (English) - concise abstract of his "imaginary logic" - was published in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1924.
Late years
In 1914, when World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, Vasiliev was drafted into the army, where he became seriously mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. Nevertheless, he returned to teaching at Kazan University, but in 1922 was forcibly retired by the new Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
administration. This act aggravated his ailment: Vasiliev spent most of the following 20 years in a mental hospital, thus rescued from the Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
regime. He died on December 31, 1940. The place where he was buried is unknown.
The pioneer ideas of Vasiliev were rediscovered in the early 1960s, and formed a basis mainly for paraconsistent logic
Paraconsistent logic
A paraconsistent logic is a logical system that attempts to deal with contradictions in a discriminating way. Alternatively, paraconsistent logic is the subfield of logic that is concerned with studying and developing paraconsistent systems of logic.Inconsistency-tolerant logics have been...
. Some well-known scholars in the 1960s considered his work to be the precursor of multi-valued logic
Multi-valued logic
In logic, a many-valued logic is a propositional calculus in which there are more than two truth values. Traditionally, in Aristotle's logical calculus, there were only two possible values for any proposition...
. The informal style and conceptual riches of Vasiliev's works make them especially valuable.