Relevance of Logic to Nation Building
By: Mike • Essay • 450 Words • December 19, 2009 • 1,155 Views
Essay title: Relevance of Logic to Nation Building
Logic (definition) is the art/science of good reasoning (arguments or inferences). Reasoning is a species or kind of thinking that aims at a conclusion. Thus good reasoning is thinking well that aims at a conclusion.(Aristotle: A horse is an animal. Therefore the head of a horse is the head of an animal.) Thus Logic is the study of arguments. More specifically, logic is the study of the criteria for distinguishing good arguments from bad arguments
Logic is the study of propositions and their use in argumentation. Study of inference and argument
Logic is important because it delimits a class of problems which can reliably be solved by computers, and which therefore can be handed over to the global network for solution without human checking of the results or comprehension of the methods. It is a large class of problems, since it encompasses all mathematical problems, and also superficially non-logical problems in the fields of engineering and science, once necessary modeling assumptions are made explicit. It is a class which computer networks could be trusted to solve.
The most immediate and obvious benefit from such a study is that it can allow you to improve the quality of the arguments you use. When you create logically unsound arguments, you are much less likely to convince people that you have a valid point to make, or get them to agree with you
A second and closely related benefit will be an improved ability to evaluate the arguments of others. When you can identify bad arguments, it will be easier for you to free yourself from beliefs which are not well founded. It also allows you to challenge people making claims which you think are suspect, but