Alternative logical systems already express otherness as nonhierarchical difference

Evidence

Fully worked-out logical systems which do not have these features are available and in use, and these can point in directions which might be promising for alternative conceptions of otherness and rationality. For example, some of the resulting systems, those of relevant logic, can also claim to be a more adequate expression of actual reasoning practice than classical logic (Routley et al. 1983). At the same time, the negation of relevant logic, relevant negation, can be interpreted as expressing a notion of otherness as non-hierarchical difference. The resulting concept of relevant otherness avoids radical exclusion, for the conjunction of A and ~A does not induce system collapse, and ~A is not homogenised. Relevant negation considers exclusion not with respect to the universe, but with respect to a much more restricted state, so that the negation of A is not just to be specified in relation to A. The resulting concept of otherness can be modelled by a number of natural widely used otherness relations, such as ‘the other side’, which have no hierarchical features (Plumwood and Routley 1985:216–20). It is neither a cancellation of nor a lack or absence of a specified condition, but another and further condition—a difference—yielding the concept of an other which is not just specified negatively but is independently characterised and with an independent role on its own behalf. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 237

Categorization

• QUESTION: Relevant logic as a worked example of non-dualistic relation offers a concrete alternative to Merchant’s narrative — could be developed into a pedagogy of nonbinary reasoning in Eco-Justice.
• XREF: The ‘other side’ model of nonhierarchical difference parallels the relational, both/and epistemology ecofeminists oppose to dualistic binary thought. — connects to: Escaping each dualistic feature requires a corresponding reformation of nonhierarchical difference — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 241; Classical logic’s negation models the master’s account of otherness as lack — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 231; Binary logic orders by exclusion while poetics seeks difference beyond opposition — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 441 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Binary logic orders by exclusion while poetics seeks difference beyond opposition #expands (0.85) — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 441
• Levy-Bruhl framed a binary between Western logic and primitive prelogical mentality #complicates (0.85)
• Reason shifts from universal metalanguage to a plurality of axiomatic systems #corroborates (0.72) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 327
• A rationality geared to domination shapes how we construe the Other #expands (0.72) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 464