The term "logic" came from the Greek word logos, which is sometimes translated as "sentence", "discourse", "reason", "rule", and "ratio". Of course, these translations are not enough to help us understand the more specialized meaning of "logic" as it is used today.
So what is logic? Briefly speaking, we might define logic as the study of the principles of correct reasoning. This is a rough definition, because how logic should be properly defined is actually quite a controversial matter.
Another important aspect of the study of philosophy is the arguments or reasons given for people's answers to these questions. To this end philosophers employ logic to study the nature and structure of arguments. Logicians ask such questions as:
- What constitutes "good" or "bad" reasoning?
- How do we determine whether a given piece of reasoning is good or bad?
*Plain text From Florida State University's Philosophy Department Website (https://philosophy.fsu.edu/undergraduate-study/why-philosophy/What-is-Philosophy), https://libguides.francis.edu/c.php?g=182116&p=1199480, links derived by creator.
Overview of Logic from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Logic
Resources on Logic
- Introduction to Formal Logic
"This course introduces viewers to an introduction to formal symbolic logic. We cover the basics of argumentation, categorical logic, propositional logic, propositional proofs (natural deduction), and predicate logic. Philosopher John Locke once wrote that "logic is the anatomy of thought." This course follows along that vein of thought in that this course will teach students to analyze and evaluate arguments using the formal techniques of modern symbolic logic. In our everyday lives, we are confronted with an enormous amount of challenges that require an acute ability to quickly interpret, evaluate, and synthesize information and arguments." --Mark Thorsby. Mark Thorsby is currently a Professor of Philosophy and the Chair of the Philosophy and Humanities Department at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas.
A Concise Introduction to Logic by Call Number: Online Resource (Open Textbook Library)ISBN: 9781942341420Publication Date: 2017A Concise Introduction to Logic is an introduction to formal logic suitable for undergraduates taking a general education course in logic or critical thinking, and is accessible and useful to any interested in gaining a basic understanding of logic. This text takes the unique approach of teaching logic through intellectual history; the author uses examples from important and celebrated arguments in philosophy to illustrate logical principles. The text also includes a basic introduction to findings of advanced logic. As indicators of where the student could go next with logic, the book closes with an overview of advanced topics, such as the axiomatic method, set theory, Peano arithmetic, and modal logic. Throughout, the text uses brief, concise chapters that readers will find easy to read and to review.
- Logic Matters
A collection of texts, works, and blog posts with introductory and advanced information regarding logic from the philosopher Peter Smith, author of such works as "An Introduction to Formal Logic" and "An Introduction to Gödel’s Theorems." The website offers full-texts of works by Smith (which have reverted in their copyright to him, as many of the texts have gone out of print over the years). - Teller Logic Primer
"Welcome to the A Modern Formal Logic Primer website. The Primer was published in 1989 by Prentice Hall, since acquired by Pearson Education. Pearson Education has allowed the Primer to go out of print and returned the copyright to me. I am now happy to make it available without charge for instructional and educational use. Each volume is broken into individual chapters. And each volume has an associated solutions manual (the last item under each volume). There is a file with corrections to both the text and the answer manual. Also note a file with the diagrammatic summary of the rules that appeared on the inside cover of the published version of the primmer. All files are in Adobe Acrobat PDF 6 format. – they require version 6, or newer, of Adobe, which can be down loaded here. All files are fully searchable. The answer manual was produced by Jennifer Faust, and I am eager to thank her for this and much other help in producing the Primer. There are also several links to Software that may be used with the Primer. Tom Weston’s “Prooftutor” is designed to be used with the Primer’s natural deduction system. Austen Clark has Logic Software for both natural deduction systems and truth trees. The foregoing are free. For a modest fee you can also use Wandering Mango - Deductions, a natural deduction proof assistant, written for Mac OS X and featuring immediate feedback, hints, video tutorials and comprehensive help. PLEASE NOTE! If you are using the text for a class, please DOWNLOAD ALL THE FILES YOU WILL BE USING SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE THEM ON YOUR MACHINE just in case there is a transient problem with our server here at UCDavis when you need the files. If you have problems, questions, or suggestions for the site, please email me at prteller@ucdavis.edu" --From Paul Teller
Introduction to Logic by Call Number: BC108.S85ISBN: 0486406873Publication Date: 1957Coherent, well-organized text familiarizes readers with complete theory of logical inference and its applications to math and the empirical sciences. Part I deals with formal principles of inference and definition. Part II explores elementary intuitive set theory, with separate chapters on sets, relations, and functions. Last section introduces numerous examples of axiomatically formulated theories.
