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Logic - Meaning, Nature, Types

Logic is the study of reasoning, focusing on the principles of valid inference and distinguishing good reasoning from bad. It encompasses various types, including Formal, Informal, Symbolic, and Mathematical Logic, with historical roots in Ancient Greek and Indian traditions. The document also discusses the nature of logic as a science rather than an art, emphasizing its aim to provide knowledge about valid argument forms.

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20 views4 pages

Logic - Meaning, Nature, Types

Logic is the study of reasoning, focusing on the principles of valid inference and distinguishing good reasoning from bad. It encompasses various types, including Formal, Informal, Symbolic, and Mathematical Logic, with historical roots in Ancient Greek and Indian traditions. The document also discusses the nature of logic as a science rather than an art, emphasizing its aim to provide knowledge about valid argument forms.

Uploaded by

sanjana dixit
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Logic: Meaning, Nature, Types

Logic (from the Greek "logos", which has a variety of meanings including word,
thought, idea, argument, reason or principle) is the study of reasoning, or the study
of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. It attempts to
distinguish good reasoning from bad reasoning.

Aristotle defined logic as "new and necessary reasoning", "new" because it allows
us to learn what we do not know, and "necessary" because its conclusions are
inescapable. It asks questions like "What is correct reasoning?", "What
distinguishes a good argument from a bad one?", "How can we detect a fallacy in
reasoning?"

Logic investigates and classifies the structure of statements and arguments, both
through the study of formal systems of inference and through the study of
arguments in natural language. It deals only with propositions (declarative
sentences, used to make an assertion, as opposed to questions, commands or
sentences expressing wishes) that are capable of being true and false. It is not
concerned with the psychological processes connected with thought, or with
emotions, images and the like. It covers core topics such as the study of fallacies
and paradoxes, as well as specialized analysis of reasoning using probability and
arguments involving causality and argumentation theory.
It is the study of the methods or principles which we use to distinguish good
(correct) reasoning from bad (incorrect) reasoning. As it has been claimed ‘All
reasoning is thinking but all thinking is not reasoning’. There are many
psychological processes that are different from reasoning, such as imagining,
regretting, day dreaming and so on. There seems to be same laws governing all
these activities, but they are not studied by logicians. Reasoning is a special kind of
thinking in which problems are solved and conclusions are drawn from premises.
The logician is primarily concerned with the correctness of the completed process
of reasoning and only with this species of thinking.

Science or Art?

In ancient times science just meant a systematic study of anything. But today the
term science has developed into a discipline distinct from several other activities of
mankind. Science has been defined as that branch of knowledge which aims at
explanation of phenomena. Used in this technical sense, logic is no science at all.
Does this mean that logic is an art? Art is concerned with doing something. Logic,
if defined as an art, is so only in derivative sense. In order to decide whether or not
logic is an art we have to consider the aim of logic. Is the aim of logic to give us
knowledge about valid argument forms or to make us better thinkers? Just like a
moralist who may not himself be moral as a person, a logician may not be logical
in his reasoning. We can say that the effect of such a study is the acquisition of
knowledge regarding valid argument forms. It is not for logic to consider whether
or not this knowledge is put into practice. In view of this feature we can say that
logic is a science and not an art. It is a science not in the technical sense, but in a
general sense.
Historical Background

In Ancient India, The Nyaya school of Indian philosophical speculation is based on


texts known as the "Nyaya Sutras" of Aksapada Gautama from around the 2nd
Century B.C.., and its methodology of inference is based on a system of logic
Modern logic descends mainly from the Ancient Greek tradition. Both Plato and
Aristotle conceived of logic as the study of argument and from a concern with the
correctness of argumentation.

Aristotle espoused two principles of great importance in logic, the Law of


Excluded Middle (that every statement is either true or false) and the Law of
Non-Contradiction (confusingly, also known as the Law of Contradiction, that no
statement is both true and false). He is perhaps most famous for introducing the
syllogism (or term logic).

Types of Logic

Logic in general can be divided into Formal Logic, Informal Logic and Symbolic
Logic and Mathematical Logic:

Formal Logic/traditional:Formal Logic is what we think of as traditional logic or


philosophical logic, given by Aristotle . It includes a a formal system (also called a
logical calculus) is used to derive one expression (conclusion) from one or more
other expressions (premises).

Modern logic: It is influenced by maths and mathematical doctrines. The earliest


use of mathematics and geometry in relation to logic and philosophy goes back to
the Ancient Greeks such as Euclid, Plato and Aristotle.

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