14 January: World Logic Day and its Significance

OV Digital Desk
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World Logic Day

World Logic Day is observed every year on 14 January. Its aim is to raise awareness of the intellectual history, conceptual importance, and practical implications of logic among interdisciplinary science communities.

World Logic Day promotes international cooperation, research, and the teaching of logic. As well as supporting associations, universities, and other institutions, it also brings science, technology, and innovation to the public’s attention.

The Director General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay raised the importance of logic and conveyed in the message:

At the dawn of this new decade – indeed, now more than ever – the discipline of logic is utterly vital to our societies and economies. Computer science and digital technology, which provide the structure for today’s ways of life, are rooted in logical and algorithmic reasoning.

Artificial intelligence (AI), the unprecedented progress of which constitutes a technological and even anthropological revolution, is itself founded on logical reasoning. Through the drafting of the first global standard-setting instrument concerning the ethics of AI, UNESCO has undertaken to establish an ethical framework for this innovative product of logic.

In addition to observance for World Logic Day, there are other days that are thematic and relevant to the day.  International Day of Education is observed on 24 January, and International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed on 11 February.

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Theme of World Logic Day 2022

It intends to bring the intellectual history, conceptual significance and practical implications of logic to the attention of interdisciplinary science communities and the broader public. There is no specific theme for World Logic Day 2022.

UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence

History of World Logic Day

The ability to think is one of the most defining characteristics of humanity. Humanity is defined by concepts such as consciousness, knowledge, and reason in diverse cultures. Humans are considered to be “rational” or “logical animals” according to western tradition. Many civilizations have studied logic as the study of reasoning, and logic has played a big part in the development of philosophy and science since its earliest formulations.

On 26 November 2019, the 40th General Conference of UNESCO proclaimed 14 January to be World Logic Day, a global day of supporting the development of logic through teaching and research, as well as to public dissemination of the discipline. The date chosen to celebrate World Logic Day, 14 January, corresponds to the date of death of Kurt Gödel and the date of birth of Alfred Tarski, two of the most prominent logicians of the twentieth century.

The Conseil International de Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines (CIPSH) and its member organization, the Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (DLMPST/IUHPST), are coordinating the dynamic and global annual celebration of World Logic Day aiming at fostering international cooperation, promoting the development of logic, in both research and teaching, supporting the activities of associations, universities and other institutions involved with logic, and enhancing public understanding of logic and its implications for science, technology and innovation.

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