Final answer:
In logic, 'neither' is part of a conjunction pair used to indicate that two items or states are both not occurring. It is relevant in understanding logical laws such as the law of the excluded middle and noncontradiction, which stipulate that every statement is either true or false, and a statement and its negation cannot both be true. Logic is also considered normative, providing standards for correct reasoning.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of logic, neither is used to deny membership or occurrence of two items or states at the same time. It is part of a correlative conjunction pair - 'neither' and 'nor'. When we say 'neither A nor B,' we mean that 'A' does not occur and 'B' also does not occur. For example, if someone states, 'Neither the students nor the teachers have proposed a field trip,' it implies that neither group has suggested a field trip.
When we discuss the law of the excluded middle and the law of noncontradiction, these laws underpin the classical logic which stipulates that each statement must be either true or false, and a statement and its negation cannot both be true at the same time. In other words, for any proposition 'P', the law of the excluded middle holds that either 'P' is true, or 'not P' (its negation) is true. Meanwhile, the law of noncontradiction dictates that 'P' and 'not P' cannot both be true at the same time.
The concept of logic being normative indicates that logic provides norms or standards for reasoning that we ought to follow, just as ethics provides norms for behavior. Hence, logic is seen as a command in reasoning, setting the standard for what constitutes valid reasoning processes.