Taking Stock: Hale, Heck, and Wright on Neo-Logicism and Higher-Order Logic

Abstract

Four philosophical concerns about higher-order logic in general and the specific demands placed on it by the neo-logicist project are distinguished. The paper critically reviews recent responses to these concerns by, respectively, the late Bob Hale, Richard Kimberly Heck, and myself. It is argued that these score some successes. The main aim of the paper, however, is to argue that the most serious objection to the applications of higher-order logic required by the neo-logicist project has not been properly understood. The paper concludes by outlining a strategy, prefigured in recent work of Øystein Linnebo, for meeting this objection.