Modern logic is the science of valid inference. Not being restricted to any particular subject matter, it applies to all human endeavors that aspire to an understanding of rationality, the discovery of proofs, the assessment of evidence, or the establishing of truths - including the physical sciences, the formal sciences like mathematics and legal theory, as well as the social sciences, whether they follow quantitative or qualitative research paradigms. But not only is logic relevant to these disciplines; applications in the sciences in turn stimulate the development of novel systems of logic and a deeper understanding of the diversity of modes of inference and justification.

The Center for the Advancement of Logic, its Philosophy, History and Applications (C-ALPHA) provides a formal structure that strengthens extant cross‐disciplinary connections while fostering new ones. Founding faculty come from the Department of Logic & Philosophy of Science, the Department of Cognitive Sciences, and the Department of Sociology within the School of Social Sciences; the School of Law; and the Department of Mathematics within the School of Physical Sciences (see in particular the Logic and Foundations Group).