Artykuł jest celnym przeglądem metod dowodzenia twierdzeń o stopniach maksymalności i rezultatów uzyskanych w tej dziedzinie do 1979 r.

In the first section logics with an algebraic semantics are investigated. Section 2 is devoted to subdirect products of matrices. There, among others we give the matrix counterpart of a theorem of Jónsson from universal algebra. Some positive results concerning logics with, finite degrees of maximality are presented in Section 3.

The aim of this paper is to show that the operations of forming direct products and submatrices suffice to construct exhaustive semantics for all structural strengthenings of the consequence determined by a given class of logical matrices.

First, we prove that the lattice of all structural strengthenings of a given strongly finite consequence operation is both atomic and coatomic, it has finitely many atoms and coatoms, each coatom is strongly finite but atoms are not of this kind — we settle this by constructing a suitable counterexample. Second, we deal with the notions of hereditary: algebraicness, strong finitisticity and finite approximability of a strongly finite consequence operation. Third, we formulate some conditions which tell us when the lattice (...) of all structural strengthenings of a given strongly finite consequence operation is finite, and subsequently we give some applications of them. (shrink)