Tetralogue

The author of this four-way dialogue on truth and falsity, knowledge and belief, relativism and dogmatism is Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford. The dialogue takes place on a train and begins with Bob claiming that his garden wall falling on his leg was due to a spell cast by his neighbour, a claim that scientist Sarah can't take seriously but which relativist Zac is able to accommodate in his balancing view. It's a pity that the author chose witchcraft rather than telepathy as his example as the debate could have been informed by a disagreement on evidence bases. Logician Roxana (aka the author?) makes her incisive appearance in Part 2 and helpfully distinguishes, for instance, between questions of truth and falsehood and certainty and uncertainty. Sarah comes across as a fallibilist who is also a moral or cultural relativist in the last discussion on slapping. The reader can certainly appreciate the value of trained minds and clear thinking as the dialogue proceeds – this is an offbeat and engaging introduction to logic using generic examples to which many readers will relate.