Scribd
Upload
89 views

Introduction To Logic

The document provides an overview of the key topics in the introduction to logic, including: 1. It defines logic as the science of correct thinking to distinguish true from false reasoning. 2. It discusses the importance and objectives of studying logic to attain clarity in thought and validity in arguments. 3. It traces the historical development of logic from ancient philosophies like Nyaya to modern developments in symbolic and mathematical logic.

Uploaded by

Lykwhat Uwant
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
89 views

Introduction To Logic

The document provides an overview of the key topics in the introduction to logic, including: 1. It defines logic as the science of correct thinking to distinguish true from false reasoning. 2. It discusses the importance and objectives of studying logic to attain clarity in thought and validity in arguments. 3. It traces the historical development of logic from ancient philosophies like Nyaya to modern developments in symbolic and mathematical logic.

Uploaded by

Lykwhat Uwant
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Chapter 2

Introduction to Logic

Objectives

1.   To know the definition of Logic


2.   To know the importance of the study of Logic
3.   To know the historical development of Logic

Logic

ü   The science and art of correct thinking which helps our mind to distinguish
between the correct from the incorrect.

Purpose

ü   To attain clarity in our thoughts and validity in our process of inference.

Focus of Attention

§   Reasoning
§   Arguments
§   Drawing of inference

Task

ü   To distinguish between good and bad reasoning and between correct and
incorrect arguments.
ü   Attainment of truth and validity in reasoning

Distinctive Activities

§   Analysis
§   Classification
§   Assessment

1)   Analysis
ü   The determination between an argument and a non-argument
ü   It should be free from irrelevant language, i.e., from rhetoric – which is
incapable of attaining the truth
ü   Rhetoric – persuade the listener and not to disseminate truth.
ü   Logic should be free from flowery language – from the use of pretentious
terms
2)   Classification
ü   Includes the distinction between deductive and inductive arguments
3)   Assessment
ü   To determine the correctness and incorrectness of certain arguments
ü   Principles and creation of methods

Importance of the Study of Logic

ü   Knowledge of the methods and principles of logic is very important to obtain the
truth and validity of any arguments.
o   Faulty arguments of others will be reduced
o   Subject of deception in the newspapers, televisions, public speeches, in
private conversation, in business transactions, etc., are always around us.
ü   Enhances our ability to clarify our beliefs
o   Fides quaerens intellectum – faith follows reason so much that our beliefs
will be of greater value because we are capable of providing reason for the
said beliefs.

Historical Development of Logic

ü   Changes in in the metaphysical, as well as, in the psychological aspect would


always produce changes in logical theory and practice.

A)   The Nyaya Philosophy


o   The system of philosophy, which was studied in India during the 5th
Century BCE.
o   This philosophy is said to have been zauthored by Siddharta Gautama
called “Buddha” founder of Buddhism.
o   Nyaya which means logical argument or syllogism.
o   The focus of philosophy is the attainment of knowledge in order to
liberate the soul from the bondage of sin
o   Nyaya agrees that ignorance of reality is bondage. To liberate the human
person from this bondage of ignorance is the attainment of right
knowledge, which is obtained through the use of logical arguments.

Four Means to obtain knowledge

1.   Perception (prayyaksa)
§   It is a complex process and does not always involve a clear contact
between sense and object.
2.   Inference (anumana)
§   By the use of implications.
§   The Nyaya syllogism is composed of five constantives (pratijna) i.e., can
either be true or false
(1)   The hills is on fire (first assertion)
(2)  For it smokes. (reason)
(3)  Like the kitchen fire (instance)
(4)  So also hill smokes (application)
(5)  Therefore, the hill is on fire (conclusion)
3.   Analogy or Comparison (upamana)
§   Much of what we know is not obtained by direct perception. But rather by
the use of analogy.
§   Experience is very much necessary in order to be able to use this method.
4.   Verbal Testimony (sabda)
§   Large percentage of knowledge is due to authority and not by direct
experience.
§   What we read in newspapers and history books can be considered as
logically acceptable only because of the authority of the one who wrote it
and due to direct perception of the occurrences
§   In this case the authority should be trustworthy person who will be the
source of knowledge
a.   The person has no intention to deceive;
b.   The statement of such person is not a gross contradiction to
what is already accepted as true and;
c.   The person has established his trustworthiness in other domains
of life.

B)   Pre-Aristotelian Logic in Greece


  The Eleatics, especially Zeno of Elea, the Sophists
  Zeno became the founder of dialectics
  Socrates and Plato further develop the dialectic method- gave stress on
definition and induction.

C)   Aristotelian Logic

  Aristotle was the first thinker to devise a logical system.


  He developed the syllogistic method that is still being used today; hence,
making him earn the title Father of Logic
  He founded the school Lyceum.
  Organon – treatises on reasoning and syllogistic methods later on called Logic.

D)  Post-Aristotelian Logicians Among the Greeks

  Theophrastus and Eudemus were among the immediate disciples of Aristotle


who devoted special attention to logic.
  Theophrastus – attributed to hypothetical syllogism.
  Epicureans - rivals of the followers of Aristotle, treated logic as adjunct to
physics. They maintained that knowledge of physical phenomena acquired
through the senses is the only knowledge that is of value in the pursuit of
knowledge.
  Eudemus held that knowledge is innate and therefore, not acquired to sense
but in terms of reflections.
  Logic helps human person acquire knowledge and is using critical analysis in
order to acquire its object.
  The followers of Aristotle busied themselves in searching for the answers as
regards to the criterion of truth. This science later on called epistemology,
which actually improved Aristotle’s logic.

E)   The Greek and Latin Commentators


  Did actually nothing but merely explained and defended the text of the
Aristotelian works on logic.
  Galen – introduced the fourth syllogistic figure and wrote a special work
entitled “On Fallacies of Diction”
  The Latin Commentators were ones responsible for introducing Aristotle’s
logic to Romans
  Cicero – wrote the first logical treatise in Latin

F)   The Scholastic and the Crusaders


  Advocates of Aristotelian philosophy, devised mnemonic names for the valid
moods canvassed in the Prior Analytics such as BARBARA and CELARENT.
  Boethius –responsible in coining the term Logic. He wrote the original
treatises on “Categorical Syllogism,” “On Division,” and “On Topical
Difference”
  Peter Abelard composed an independent treatise in Logic, the Dialectica. In
this treatise, he wrote discussions regarding certain topics on logic like
conversion, opposition, quantity, quality, and tense logic.
  Crusaders who where responsible in bringing Christian Europe into closer
contact with the Arabian scholars.
  During scholastic period, scholars made clear the nature of logic and its place
in the whole archetype of sciences.

G)   The Modern Logic


  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646-1716) – envisioned the development of a
universal language to be specified with mathematical precision. His purpose
was to reduce scientific and philosophical speculation into mathematical
language. He was known to be the father of Symbolic Logic.
  Algebraic School – focused on the relationship between correct reasoning and
operations like addition and multiplication. Originated from George Boole,
Charles Peirce and John Venn.
  Logicist School – which aimed to codify the underlying logic of all rational,
scientific discourse into single system. Major logicians in this school were
(Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Gottlob Frege.
  Gottlob Frege – was considered as the greatest logicians since Aristotle by his
contemporaries. It was Frege who held that arithmetic and analysis are parts
of Logic.
  Mathematical School – the aim of this school was the axiomatization of
particular branches of mathematics like geometry, arithmetic, analysis, and
set theory.
  The modern period marks the development of the inductive method way of
reasoning and the symbolic logic.
  Francis Bacon – was the one responsible for the development of the inductive
method; thereby making him be considered as the father of modern logic by
the logicians.
  The symbolic logic or mathematical logic became a useful tool in
philosophizing according to the different schools of philosophy like
Positivism, Neo-positivism, Language Analysis and Structuralism.

You might also like