Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd
Upload
9 views

Introduction to Logic

The document outlines the learning objectives and key concepts of a course on Arguments and Critical Thinking (PHI 102), focusing on the definition and importance of logic in reasoning. It discusses the principles of critical reasoning, the laws of thought, and the distinction between informal and formal logic. Additionally, it highlights the value of logic in constructing arguments and identifying fallacies.

Uploaded by

mskaela17
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views

Introduction to Logic

The document outlines the learning objectives and key concepts of a course on Arguments and Critical Thinking (PHI 102), focusing on the definition and importance of logic in reasoning. It discusses the principles of critical reasoning, the laws of thought, and the distinction between informal and formal logic. Additionally, it highlights the value of logic in constructing arguments and identifying fallacies.

Uploaded by

mskaela17
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

Arguments and

Critical Thinking
PHI 102
Learning Objectives
• By the end of this session you should be able to:
• Define logic in the strict, technical and professional
sense;
• Identify the fundamental principles or laws which
every thinking process must conform with to be
correct;
• State the value and relevance of logic to the
concerns of daily life.
Introduction: Reasoning
• When we engage in thought, our goal is normally to find
out something, to answer a question, solve a problem,
prove a conclusion, or learn a body of material.
• Examples: We want to know why the car will not start, or
which candidate to vote for, or what is the cheapest way
to get home for the holidays, or what the man or woman
of our dreams really feels about us.
• In all these cases, we can’t acquire this knowledge by
direct observation. We have to do some reasoning.
Critical Reasoning
• Reasoning is a process of thought in which we make
inferences: starting with information we already have, an
inference draws some further conclusion based on that
information. For example, if your car will not start but the
lights still work, you can infer that the problem is not a dead
battery.
• Even in our personal lives we all have choices to make, major
ones or minor, when we need to weigh the reasons on each
side and try to consider all the relevant issues.
• This is critical thinking/reasoning: discussing ideas by
presenting reasons for or against them.
Reasoning and Logic
• Reasoning, especially in its critical sense, is an activity, act or
series of acts that a person deliberately, intentionally and
willfully undertakes.
• In this course, our primary concern is with this reasoning
process, with the primary aim of evaluating reasoning and
cultivating good thinking skills.
• This concern falls within the scope of logic, the branch of
philosophy that studies the reasoning process and seeks to
understand the differences between good and bad
reasoning.
Meaning of Logic: What is
Logic?
Can be defined in at least three different senses:
1. As the totality of laws guiding human though;
2. As the principles guiding the operations of a mechanism; and
3. As a branch of philosophy that studies the basic principles,
techniques, or methods for evaluating arguments
• Of these three senses, only the last is the strict, technical and
professional sense that we are concerned with.
• Etymology: Greek word logos – word
• an Organon (instrument) Aristotle:
• an instrument of thought, through which human experiences are
organized, analyzed and sustained; guaranteeing a homogeneous,
coherent, systematic and ordered conception of reality.
• An instrument through which truth can be discerned
What is Logic (contd.)
• As an instrument used to discern truth, it is regarded as a branch of
philosophy that is closely associated with epistemology
• It is also regarded as a propaedeutic – a preliminary study that helps
to prepare the way - to philosophy, and thus, all other aspects of
knowledge.
To discover the truth is the task of all sciences; it falls on
logic to discern the laws of truth - Gottlob Frege

If truth is to be sought in every division of knowledge, we must,


before all else, possess truth-worthy principles and methods
for the discernment of truth - Sextus Empiricus.
What is Logic (contd.)
• Logic is the study of the methods and standards of inference.
• The branch of philosophy which investigates the art and science
of reasoning
• The science of distinguishing good reasoning from bad reasoning
(Reasoning: looking for justification)
• It deals with sensible rational thought, that is, how ideas
reasonably fit together
• The study of the principles of correct reasoning, that is, the
correctness of the completed process of reasoning: whether
certain conclusions follow from some given assumptions; that is,
whether the reasons (in logic parlance, premises) provided for
our claims (in logic parlance, conclusion) are adequate or suitable
(good reasons) for making such claims?
Laws of Thought
• The Law of Identity: if any statement is true, then it is true. P
is P
• The Law of Excluded Middle: a statement is either true or
false. A statement cannot be both true and false. It is either
an affirmation or a negation. P v ~P
• The Law of Contradiction or Non-Contradiction: a statement
cannot be both true and false at the same time. Every
statement that is both true and false is false.
TYPES OF LOGIC
• Informal Logic: deals with the analysis and evaluation of good and
bad reasoning in everyday life. Probes the meaning and nature of
arguments in ordinary discourse, evaluates the informal fallacies of
relevance, ambiguity, presumption and evidence.
• Formal Logic: deals primarily with the logical or formal structures of
statements and arguments. Focuses on the deductive or formal
connections between statements, without considering their actual
contents or substance of claims made
• Other types of logic aside the two, i.e. Formal logic and Informal logic
that are commonly known are: Boolean logic, Mathematical logic,
Dialectical logic among others.
VALUE OF LOGIC

• Induces the abilities that help us construct good arguments.


• Helps us identify essential and non-essential features of
arguments.
• Enables us to be more rational and intellectually alert.
• Enables us to spot inconsistencies/fallacies in arguments.
• Helps us provide good reasons for claims made
Components of Logic
• Arguments
• Commonsensical notion - verbal dispute or disagreement.
• Philosophical notion - statements a person makes in the attempt to
convince someone of something; reasons presented for accepting a
given position. To argue: to put forward or proffer reasons for or
against something (idea, opinion, view)
• Different from debate(a series of arguments usually, but certainly not
always, about a single topic or a set of related topics) - a debate always
involves argumentation but an argument itself is not and does not
involve a debate.
• A set of two or more truth-functional propositions, related to each
other such that all but one of them(premises), provide justification(s)
for the remaining one(conclusion)
Components of Logic contd.
• Premises: integral part of argument. Propositions used to provide
reasons in and for an argument. Contain information or grounds that
make the conclusion to be either true or false.
• Conclusion: integral part of argument. Proposition asserted,
warranted or established by the reasons provided in the premise(s).
Premises and conclusions can occur anywhere in an argument: at the
beginning, in the middle, or at the end.
• Inference:
• statements about matters which are not directly known, statements made on
the basis of what has been observed.
• process by which a proposition is arrived at and affirmed on the basis of one
or more other propositions from which the process started. Relationship
between the propositions in an argument. Distinguishes an argument from a
collection of statements
Summary
• In today’s class you have learnt:
• what reasoning critically means;
• the branch of philosophy that concerns itself with
the reasoning process;
• the three laws of thought;
• the types, value and component parts of logic

You might also like