What Is Logic Introduction To Philosophy Logic

Leo Migdal
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what is logic introduction to philosophy logic

There’s an ancient view, still widely held, that what makes human beings special—what distinguishes us from the “beasts of the field”—is that we are rational. What does rationality consist in? That’s a vexed question, but one possible response goes roughly like this: we manifest our rationality by engaging in activities that involve reasoning—making claims and backing them up with reasons, acting in accord with... This reasoning activity can be done well and it can be done badly; it can be done correctly or incorrectly. Logic is the discipline that aims to distinguish good reasoning from bad. Good reasoning is not necessarily effective reasoning.

In fact, as we shall see in a subsequent chapter on logical fallacies, bad reasoning is pervasive and often extremely effective—in the sense that people are often persuaded by it. In logic, the standard of goodness is not effectiveness in the sense of persuasiveness, but rather correctness according to logical rules. For example, consider Hitler. He persuaded an entire nation to go along with a variety of proposals that were not only false but downright evil. You won’t be surprised to hear that if you examine it critically, his reasoning does not pass logical muster. Hitler’s arguments were effective, but not logically correct.

Moreover, his persuasive techniques go beyond reasoning in the sense of backing up claims with reasons. Hitler relied on threats, emotional manipulation, unsupported assertions, etc. There are many rhetorical tricks one can use to persuade. In logic, we study the rules and techniques that allow us to distinguish good, correct reasoning from bad, incorrect reasoning. Hermione Granger got it right when, facing the potion-master's test in Harry Potter, she said: "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic; they'd be stuck here forever."

In the real world, we are better off. We use Logic in just about everything we do. We use it in our professional lives - in proving mathematical theorems, in debugging computer programs, in medical diagnosis, and in legal reasoning. And we use it in our personal lives - in solving puzzles, in playing games, and in doing school assignments, not just in Math but also in History and English and other subjects. Just because we use Logic does not mean we are necessarily good at it. Thinking correctly and effectively requires training in Logic, just as writing well requires training in English and composition.

Without explicit training, we are likely to be unsure of our conclusions; we are prone to make mistakes; and we are apt to be fooled by others. The ancient Greeks thought Logic sufficiently important that it was one of the three subjects in the Greek educational Trivium, along with Grammar and Rhetoric. Oddly, Logic occupies a relatively small place in the modern school curriculum. We have courses in the Sciences and various branches of Mathematics, but very few secondary schools offer courses in Logic; and it is not required in most university programs. Given the importance of the subject, this is surprising. Calculus is important to physics.

And it is widely taught at the high school level. Logic is important in all of these disciplines, and it is essential in computer science. Yet it is rarely offered as a standalone course, making it more difficult for students to succeed and get better quality jobs. Introduction to Philosophy Copyright © 2024 by Kathy Eldred is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Christina Hendricks, University of British Columbia Reviewed by Ted Beers, Faculty Instructor at Western Oregon University, Western Oregon University on 6/24/24

As the first in a series of textbook introductions to philosophy, this text focuses on formal logic, concluding with its relationship to philosophy. Considering its intended audience of those new to both logic and philosophy, the text succeeds... read more Reviewed by Ted Beers, Faculty Instructor at Western Oregon University, Western Oregon University on 6/24/24 As the first in a series of textbook introductions to philosophy, this text focuses on formal logic, concluding with its relationship to philosophy. Human life is full of decisions, including significant choices about what to believe.

Although everyone prefers to believe what is true, we often disagree with each other about what that is in particular instances. It may be that some of our most fundamental convictions in life are acquired by haphazard means rather than by the use of reason, but we all recognize that our beliefs about ourselves and... If I believe that whales are mammals and that all mammals are fish, then it would also make sense for me to believe that whales are fish. Even someone who (rightly!) disagreed with my understanding of biological taxonomy could appreciate the consistent, reasonable way in which I used my mistaken beliefs as the foundation upon which to establish a new one. On the other hand, if I decide to believe that Hamlet was Danish because I believe that Hamlet was a character in a play by Shaw and that some Danes are Shavian characters, then... In general, we can respect the directness of a path even when we don’t accept the points at which it begins and ends.

Thus, it is possible to distinguish correct reasoning from incorrect reasoning independently of our agreement on substantive matters. Logic is the discipline that studies this distinction—both by determining the conditions under which the truth of certain beliefs leads naturally to the truth of some other belief, and by drawing attention to the... This provides no guarantee that we will always arrive at the truth, since the beliefs with which we begin are sometimes in error. But following the principles of correct reasoning does ensure that no additional mistakes creep in during the course of our progress. In this review of elementary logic, we’ll undertake a broad survey of the major varieties of reasoning that have been examined by logicians of the Western philosophical tradition. We’ll see how certain patterns of thinking do invariably lead from truth to truth while other patterns do not, and we’ll develop the skills of using the former while avoiding the latter.

It will be helpful to begin by defining some of the technical terms that describe human reasoning in general. Our fundamental unit of what may be asserted or denied is the proposition (or statement) that is typically expressed by a declarative sentence. Logicians of earlier centuries often identified propositions with the mental acts of affirming them, often called judgments, but we can evade some interesting but thorny philosophical issues by avoiding this locution. �nMu�zSBx�1h� |��dPv��$��ĥM5�����ΑV����j7m�p~u1��?�^r.bn�ҟ�a/�NR-ֆ|�V�В0̋��~m��K�a��Ա��n����1�M��j"}EkN�ܴV� �cz����UJ�hwl�3��n�*{��3��A�6��,����ܝ$�18\S6c�������!e�+,���v�k�Pd��ᑋs�-ҟӖ� g�T�.�4ܝ���\ݫ qh��U,�H.���w�e�ˑ]�DIWy��`���ܔfu8.Sm���#\�R��Xp�+̮�5X6�=h�B�� ç�Y�az�8��� n��%y��QKTT>J�GK�����,��@<).�e$Q��"��4d`j���k�㥇�N��r#����;Z*D� �^Z��(<�#��L�H��Rؘ \�O��*�9���������z��<�z�[�Bo�-y�:���벀i��M�7O[����i>��h^�vT��y��GZ���=>�׽��=�-�X�P�OES���n�q..nо�� ��q6�Z5H��{d|&zౕ������b﷖`:h2�B��P�p��T2d*���k'㜀'|��i� ��]�޴k+ ��!��c�'��D�j�Ncb��N�͛k)�� �q�M&����ӹ�u0y�7C�e��dH{�|��В�k��e^a�7�+3�V )"���`�g Ӂ�r��b��䊨�ހ�9�pD���* �G����8d_5ۈMN�o���^��_M0�v��E0���`�kVp*�P�^���|m���h��h�� �8���m��HX�/r|S�������8�[��w�*�x����b� nӵ�` �H��KW3���f$�ܳ�k�G�鉨S7�[�sG�(N�%Y]�" c�M�W���^ ����G����ܷ�72\L�H�������=��%γ]n,=���#"���%%6���C��V��gq8g���N{���i��aK2϶��=L�p��X�s�jk���F��Q�rX�}|��A��a��##����=��h��5t� ErD]�������9�R�]Ĵ�GK � M^x��: iߏӻ�!���Ka�a&���x{�a���9����"�L�����b\�P���v�!���xz:����`�%'�{j��\�Liėn���z��x�;�(�� e<��4��u=d�X�e�D�ƖTm��ր�#*`-F_�}E�&�&95q���˹����� -G�F`q��D/VMoʹkG8��ԫ:ް��,ML{��!�n�P�V|ᠭ_� ����˨4O��o��?���`:�<�@:%���r�.��Q�`�i�0��s'���e�7Y�48�-/�6�laKӰ��ێ�����U� �q�ɓ00�p��}�w�ݝ�mq�7y-(X�h����s3�Jڸ�1�C"�lXz���At7�u�ӊ�h�.:�x�O'�7]�ך��H��{O����-�� %c�;Cp�N`�e^����@!\�V�j����)t� &i_��$�\|�(f;�����j�PF�I���-�͸��k��A�:���^�͞ q�V������A�|��ߵ�N��E����3E.�ĿW:H�^ N����B�Fa%�*Ub��Y�7w�!�?����ڬ�o�J� o���J���֐�l��)g�1�X�bykte��������`�... 8��ksV��C'pw� #L�"��������s0�7��!���-��J�#I���凢b|�"k�� ����.+ ��?\�G�5Y �w����X_/D�:K% p� 9�f-x��X<��,N��`�A�9�����l Hq�����H�r�]:w0��&)s�jI�.`���<���Zׁ�i��`9v��X��K�Ia�Հ��cO4"�6�l�m�w��&�\e���*���x$�����̯����v�"��P5Y�VL�F$�.?�]ў����߭np�0)��1�*�57��q��R�"�/Χ�����A�@���������0A�rC�V�O������@��S�@�3'�6�` O$�+:��B�~L(u�qT�c1H�.f�����L� _�!� 凫�P[ F�X�I� I��P��=�/a��b}���3 T��f��!�w�W������Z���C����E�1k�qи}�wi��Q�G����r��T����Ė4xF���C.qK�k4�>����+�6H#䶲�t���B�� ��2�kX�"������k^�vX��|��[ˠ��H��qO��s_��O�X8� (�$�C���!o\z�j�!�J�4. �zn� ��4�٠�TXէ���� ��.y���z�7��u�H�V�X�.��m]��7����MH��K�HH��y�Qؒh��� ��f3&���~���VȞC���OJ�vЁH��@�ҙ8���%8�SБ�!�r� π��vkh�aY�+I�u|�ClK>��r�`�8�X�#79�y�sx���e��u�=���-.����_�_�l����컴�8~�4*U&��D�=*IA �i�{m�+:���5��F3�Dq +����qd�3$a;4r��Mnی�M���V�6�D� Ϥ�]�Lx�B�!��d��|��e�c��GA���`|���C��� =�(v�m�.���f�����wT��b�u�],K =:�k����@q�Y��/zDV�b�F]�!s� �s}���Z���"k�df}��M�����иȈ��T:\�On�K����A~uP�qo�=*ir�T�'gq�>Dik=�=�߿m��Ӛ=,��W]I���x�.(�ڃ)��*��xpB�#X�^q��A���3�NC���9_��U�`|�q�[��XYk����#n��.�J���r>��r�\�^�Or���%�C���e�ѣ�;��^KW_���*.���%�$�)�hJ�,E�SR�-�w�~�&s�DqaeG��"�#� H^!� ��pS�8��+�U�V��OF}u �!��q���a�"�r�V6a����U�n�� �F�G�X2������� ��o�a�\f覌k�f2J�šހO�G��~e� BF������BH�o1��UU�1��%�r�t]r[�T�d��po�s�(b�eR2ꢖ���a&�JD���#�1�\]��khD�uJ��0���>_b����Rz,��D؛㡬����K�{��-+��k  P6N��1� B *��J�P]I�pKs��������� ;� @DU���@d�����j1oKD����DD�غ�/lRVlE ��\����q�i5|dX-X�Uu/� �Ӫp㡈߂q���>�sc�����Z��o�3�;�D(�Z�h+x� '�\�B� �x����K^��l�||^O�tʼ����˿js ��"Z�!�?eBjіaǏ�dL��R�c�;�>8zR� w����z#����k����cNI'::��������`�DN��3r�E�)�d����D�X�N"1�T�g)��e�������Q/1�*Q��e0��]�V� �8�; �;٤���u�}�[7AD� �J����pY���=�h��[�,s��!

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