Evelina Lissoni
IUSS Pavia
Pluralism – the view that there are at least two correct logics – and anti-exceptionalism – the idea that one or more of the properties that set logic apart from other sciences should be rejected – are the focus of many recent contributions in the philosophy of logic. However, their relation remains largely underexplored. Some pluralists depart from an exceptional conception of logic, while others seek to preserve the properties that have historically marked the special status of the discipline. Logical exceptionalism and its rejection can take a metaphysical or epistemological form, depending on whether they concern the nature of logical facts or the justification of logical laws. In this contribution, I target the relation between pluralism and anti-exceptionalism on the metaphysical level. A prominent position combining pluralism and metaphysical exceptionalism is Beall and Restall’s (2006) case-based pluralism, which maintains an orthodox stance on the properties constituting the “settled core” of logical consequence.
I argue that, to solve the collapse problem, pluralists of the same mold as Beall and Restall should embrace a form of metaphysical anti-exceptionalism. I proceed by showing that two main proposals aimed at rescuing case-based pluralism from collapse without affecting logic’s metaphysics – namely, Caret’s (2017) contextualism and Tajer’s (2024) pluralism with derivative normativity – succeed in addressing this issue but ultimately fall under metaphysical anti-exceptionalism insofar as they undermine at least one of logic’s canonical properties. This suggests that the combination of pluralism and metaphysical anti-exceptionalism is theoretically unstable. While I do not go as far as to claim that consistent logical pluralism is necessarily anti-exceptional, I make the case that a whole cluster of pluralist positions currently on the market would overcome a long-standing criticism if their proponents relinquished metaphysical exceptionalism.
Chair: Saam Nasseri
Time: 03 September, 16:50 – 17:20
Location: SR 1.007
SOPhiA 2026 