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JANUARY ANTERO BAYAN I. MAGALLON MR. JOSE GO

(Student) (Teacher/Instructor)

Elements of Logic: An Integrative Approach

Summary
Chapter 1: The Study of Logic
Logic is the “reason for the reasonable”. It is about finding the true relationship
between things. Causes, implications, conditions and syntactical rules are being studied in
order to find out the truth about things. Logic serves as the skeletal structure that enables the
mind to grasp the actual states of affairs of the world.

Logic and Judgment

Meaning is grasped by the act of judgment and through judgment concepts are
formed. Judgment is the process of seizing a present object in terms of the ideas associated to
it, it is the concept assigned to the reality of an object.

The senses served as linked to the reality of the world. In the process of thinking, the
mind organizes the data that pass through the senses. This process results to the formation of
an insight which means that one arrives at after relating or associating the data that enters the
mind.

Correct judgment arrived by way of an efficient method of inference. Truth simply

appears, it must be discovered by means of certain logical mechanisms and inference is one
of these mechanisms. It concerns the process of arriving at the truth. To infer is to simply
put forward an argument in order to assert claims and claims are valid if they are logical, that
is, they followed the rules on inference.

Logic and Thought

Logic is the process by which we systematize our way of knowing the truth. It
determines the accuracy of our judgments and uses in a systemic way certain principles,
rules, and methods. The validity or legitimacy of a judgment is one that is verified by means
of experience. The meaning of experience is revealed by the senses. Logic guarantees
certainty and exactitude, and thus, right judgment on what the world really is.

Logic as Philosophy

Logic and Metaphysics

Metaphysics is the study of being. It is an inquiry into the nature of reality.

Aristotle: “Being is Substance”

 Substance consists of matter and form. Being real means having both matters, the
material upon which being is made, and forms, the inner governing principle that gives each
being its shape.

St. Thomas Aquinas: “Esse is Existence”

Aquinas suggested that it is esse that gives perfection to beings, making them real.
Any substance is real because it exists, thus, possessing perfection. This perfection is derived
from God, who is Pure Esse or Pure Existence.

Logic and Common Sense

Common sense refers to our capacity to make judgments based on perceived
knowledge. This is naturally and universally accepted. Common sense dictates that data and
facts do not lie as the senses picture them out, a valid judgment is arrived at.

G.E. Moore: A Pioneer in 20th Century Analytic Philosophy

Moore listed some obvious truths such as “There exists at this time a living human
body which is my body”, “My body has existed continuously on or near the earth, at various
distance from or in contact with other existing things, including other living human beings”.
He asserts that these statements are obvious to the human intellect and are held to be
generally and naturally true.

Logic and Argumentation

To analyze arguments, claims, grounds, warrants and backing is needed. Claims are
an assertion about the truth of something.

The basis of claim that is made is called a ground. Any ground must be some
empirical data or experience that serves as evidence for the veracity of one’s claim. Data are
gathered.

A warrants supports, justifies, or legitimizes a claim. It guarantees the truth of the

claim by pointing out some obvious results or consequents.

In terms of an underlying principle or background, backing would validate a claim

theoretically, providing a basic rule, law, or principle.

Example:
Claim:

Climate change is a threat to the existence of mankind.

Ground:

The ozone layer has a hole as big as Antartica due to massive Carbon
Dioxide emissions from industries, transportation, and agriculture.

Warrant:

Average earth temperatures will soar by 2.5 degrees Celcius.

Logic as Science
Logic and the Scientific Method

Galileo: Father of Modern Science

Modern science entails the logic of discovery.

Newton
Suggested that modern science must be freed from the speculative nature of
metaphysics. Knowledge must be based on firm ground. In order to produce
legitimate results, the scientist must put nature to experiments, systems, and methods.

Being a form of science, logic investigates the formal structure of propositions

and arguments. Logic deals with inference, both mediate and immediate in order to
see the relation between propositions and their premises.

Logic and Analytic Philosophy

Analytic philosophy emanated from the seminal works of the German
philosopher Gottlob Frege. The analytical school is the philosophical tradition that
uses logical theory in understanding language, reality, and the nature of human
knowledge. For Frege, sense is formal, and thus linguistic; while meaning is
referential or objective. A word is a sign whose meaning is the object.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, through his famous Tractatus logico-philosophicus,

explains the relation between language, logic, and reality. The language is said to
picture reality. Language is a picture of a fact. For language to be a valid picture of
reality, it must conform to the rules of logic.

Chapter 2: Terms and Meanings

Meanings

The Meaning of a Concept

Meaning is a mental phenomenon. It serves a copy of an instance of any
particular object. Meaning denotes the object. The object therefore is represented
mentally by way of this meaning. When this meaning is uttered, it becomes a term.

Ideas are mental realities. Thus, ideas represent the objects of perception.
After perceiving the object, one forms in the mind an image of that object. This sense
image registers some meaning, a meaning produced by perception. This image is
associated with other images, thereby creating a coherent structure.

Types of Meaning

Intuitive and abstractive

Intuitive Meanings
- Direct observation results to meanings that are intuitive. It is a type of
perception that is immediate.
- It directly points to the object. This kind of idea is something that is
readily available after one sees or feels something.
- Senses get a direct experience of the object.
 Abstractive Meanings
- Those borne out of concepts that the mind gives birth to.
- Emerge after the process of judgment.
- Judgments on the nature of an object in relation to other entities result to
abstractive meanings.
- Meanings are produced from the process of reasoning.

Contrary and Contradictory

Contradictory Meanings
- Ones that exclude each other. This suggests that a given meaning is the
exact opposite of another.
o Example: Existence and nothingness; evil and non-evil; violence
and non-violence

Contrary Meanings
- Express or represent the two extremes among objects of the same type, not
necessarily the exact opposite.
o Example: Joy and suffering; Success and failure; Beautiful and
ugly

Meanings direct us to the existence of objects. To clearly identify objects,

there is a need to define them. A definition explains the very nature of the object.
Definitions brings us into the substantial attribute of an object.

Definitions

Definition as Explanation
A definition is simply the explanation of the nature of the thing. It expresses
what a thing is as a thing. It also puts forward the knowledge about what a thing is.

Two Parts of Definition:

- A definition consists of the symbol being defined;
- The symbol or group of symbols used to express the meaning of the
symbol being defined
Definiendum – refers to the word being defined
Definiens – the word or group of words used to explain the meaning of definiendum.

Guide Question and answers for; LOGIC AND JUDGEMENT

1. What is the relation between logic and thinking?

Using logic, a person evaluates arguments and strives to distinguish between good
and bad reasoning, or between truth and falsehood. Using logic, you can evaluate
ideas or claims people make, make good decisions, and form sound beliefs about the
world.

2. What is inference?
 Inference, in logic, derivation of conclusions from given information or premises by
any acceptable form of reasoning.

3. How are insights formed?

In psychology, insight occurs when a solution to a problem presents itself quickly and
without warning. It is the sudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect
attempts based on trial and error.

4. What is judgement?
In mathematical logic, a judgment (or judgement) or assertion is a statement or enunciation in
the metalanguage. For example, typical judgments in first-order logic would be that a string is
a well-formed formula, or that a proposition is true.

5. What is the relation between logic and empirical knowledge?

Logical knowledge is empirical knowledge that is not generally a priori. It is empirical
knowledge of (some) a priori truths and principles of our conceptual systems. Logical
systems are empirical theories of these truths and principles.

EXERCISE 1:

State if each is a common sense statement. Explain why.

1. I am a human being. Yes it is common sense because it explains naturally and

universally accepted.
2. My brother is an engineer. It is Logic Because it uses Concerned with the correct
methods, rules and principles of reasoning.
3. Nigeria is a beautiful country. It is Logic Because it uses Concerned with the correct
methods, rules and principles of reasoning.
4. The sky is bright. It is Logic Because it uses Concerned with the correct methods,
rules and principles of reasoning.
5. Manila is 7,000 miles away from Stockholm. Yes it is common sense because it
explains naturally and universally accepted.

Guide Question for; LOGIC AND ARGUMENTATION

1. What is common sense knowledge?

In artificial intelligence research, commonsense knowledge consists of facts about the
everyday world, such as “Lemons are sour”, that all humans are expected to know. It
is currently an unsolved problem in Artificial General Intelligence.

2. What is the relation between logic and common sense?

 Common-sense is the root of the sciences, the arts & philosophy. Logic didn't begat
logic, that would be circular. But the sense that is common to us did - as by its nature
it is inate. So, in summary, Logic will be a means of proving/disproving common
sense.

3. What is meant by a logical necessity?

When something is logically necessary, it is true by definition. These can also be
called analytic truths. If we can prove that something is true because “it could not be
otherwise,” then it is logically necessary. The statement is true with an absolute
degree of certainty.

4. How does one prove a claim?

Proving a claim means showing that your claim is true. To do this, you need to build
an argument. An argument has premises and a conclusion, which is your claim.

5. Can a theory be worked out to validate climate change?

A theory need not have 100% agreement to be valid, and theories seldom achieve unanimous
approval. Scientists may disagree about certain aspects of climate change, but this is part of
the scientific process, not a sign that a theory is inaccurate. As new facts come to light,
science adjusts its theory.

Guide Question and answers for; LOGIC AND ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY

1. Why is Logic a science?

Logic has you thinking with reason and arguments (statements). Scientists use logic
because it shows the relationships between the parts of an idea and the whole idea.
Therefore, if you use logic, you can see a relationship between a few trees and the
entire forest.

2. What is the aim of analytic philosophy?

Formalism and natural languages. The aim of the analytic approach is to clarify
philosophical problems by examining and clarifying the language used to express
them.

3. What is the relation between logic and thought?

The subject of logic is logical thinking. Therefore, logic is defined as “knowledge of
correct thinking rules”. The common denominator of logic and language is ‘thinking’.
Because both logic and language are closely related to ‘thinking’.

4. What are the contributions of Frege and Russell to analytic philosophy?

Frege’s creation of quantificational logic and the rebellion by Russell and Moore
against British idealism are the two most significant events in the emergence of
analytic philosophy, events that lie at the root of many of the ideas and achievements
that we associate with early analytic philosophy, such as Frege’s.
5. Why Russell’s referential theory of language disputable?

The key idea of Russell’s proposal is that a sentence like (2) containing an indefinite
description, is understood to have the logical form in (2′), (2) An F is G. (2′) ∃x(Fx &
Gx) and a sentence like (3) containing a definite description is understood to have the
logical form in (3′).