A Logic Inspired by Natural Language: Quantifiers As Subnectors

Inspired by the grammar of natural language, the paper presents a variant of first-order logic, in which quantifiers are not sentential operators, but are used as subnectors (operators forming terms from formulas). A quantified term formed by a subnector is an argument of a predicate. The logic is defined by means of a meaning-conferring natural-deduction proof-system, according to the proof-theoretic semantics program. The harmony of the I/E-rules is shown. The paper then presents a translation, called the Frege translation, from the defined logic to standard first-order logic, and shows that the proof-theoretic meanings of both logics coincide. The paper criticizes Frege’s original regimentation of quantified sentences of natural language, and argues for advantages of the proposed variant.