Psychology and Time in Boole’s Logic

Abstract

In the Laws of Thought, Boole establishes a theory of secondary propositions based upon the notion of time. This temporal interpretation of secondary propositions has historically been met with wide disapproval and is usually dismissed in the modern literature as a philosophical non-starter. What was Boole thinking? This paper attempts to give an answer to this question. Specifically, it provides an account according to which Boole’s temporal interpretation follows from his psychologistic conception of logic, in addition to certain background assumptions regarding the psychological necessity of the concept of time. Once Boole’s psychological premises are laid bare, it becomes clearer how he might have viewed the temporal interpretation to be an essential feature of his theory of secondary propositions.