Logic & Philosophy of Language 1-1

I. INTRODUCTION

1. The Nature of Logic

Spontaneous and Scientific Logic
What's spontaneous logic, what's scientific logic, and how are the two related to each other?
Logic as Art and Logic as Science
What is Art? What is Science? Is Logic both Art and Science? Explain.
Descriptive and Normative Value of Logic
Logic? What For?
Object, Method and Division of Logic
What does Logic study? How does it study its object? Are there different kinds of logic?

WHAT LOGIC? WHAT'S LOGIC?

SPONTANEOUS LOGIC

LOGIC AS AN ART (Logic's practical side)

SCIENTIFIC LOGIC. LOGIC AS SCIENCE (Logic's speculative side)

From our observation: we follow a certain order to do things, e.g. read a book, cook rice, bake a cake, play some sport, go and buy a drink. We don't do these things haphazardly or at random; we follow a certain procedure, we follow a certain logic.

In other words, there is purpose and order in our everyday action. Where there is order, there is logic.

This is the way we are. Our logical way of going about life is a result of our human nature, which is rational. (All other animals act according to instinct.) Because logic arises from human nature, then all human beings have spontaneous logic.

"Art" (Latin ars, Greek techne) = ability to do something (in ancient usage).

The art that directs the reasoning process so that man may attain knowledge of the truth in an orderly way, with ease, and without error. (St Thomas Aquinas, In I Anal. Post.).

Object of study: reasoning skills

As art, logic is the tool of the sciences. It is called ars artium, the art of arts. All other abilities need this basic ability.

As art, logic can also be cultivated as a technique.

The science that studies the reasoning process itself.

Object of study 1: acts of reason, insofar as reason is directed or ordained to grasping reality or being. (Remember that ens et verum convertuntur, truth and being are the same thing in reality. Hence, we can say that logic aims to investigate acts of reason insofar as reason seeks to know the truth.)

Object of study 2: logical properties (properties of acts and products of reason) or logical relations (relations between acts and products of reason). Logical properties or logical relations are beings of reason (in contrast to real beings, beings which are not merely in our minds).

The objects of study are beings of reason, things in our mind. These things would not be there if we did not already have some previous knowledge of things actually and really existing outside our mind, i.e., things in the world, real beings. Logic reflects on that previously acquired knowledge; logic is reflexive knowledge. (This is why Logic cannot be the basis of philosophical or scientific knowledge, because it bases itself on previous direct knowledge of things in reality, not things in the mind.)

WHY LOGIC?

Aha! Good question!

We are interested in the truth (e.g., the truth about whales, or the truth about gravity, or the truth about man, or the truth about good and evil, or the truth about God). Finding the truth requires thinking. Finding the truth requires correct thinking. Logic is about correct thinking. So we should be interested in logic as well. Logical?

The way we speak gives us clues and hints to the way we think. This is why we examine also the structure of language and our use of it. The way we talk and argue reveals the way we think. (A person who speaks coherently is normally a person who also thinks coherently. A person who doesn't make sense when he speaks is usually regarded as a man with a muddled mind. Yes?)

Convinced yet? Don't go on if you're not!

SPEAKING, THINKING, BEING

Now, let me ask you a question. Could we speak about apples if we didn't know what apples are? Yes or no?

Next question. Could we know about apples if there was no single existing apple in the whole wide world?

Note three different "steps" here: speak, know and exist. Hmmm. Does that tell you anything? (Clue: where do these three actions happen?) Yes! You're quite right! They point to different realms: language, knowledge, and reality. Speaking, thinking, and being. Bravo! You're close to a genius! (When you finish the course, you will even be closer to being one!)

QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE BY YOURSELF

Given what I have said above, how would you think these three Ts (term, thought, and thing) relate to each other? Which depends on which?
Logic is descriptive. Why? What does it describe?
Logic is normative. It lays down norms or standards. Standards for what?

CONCEPTS, JUDGMENTS, REASONING (PARTS OF LOGIC)

FORMAL LOGIC AND MATERIAL LOGIC

MATERIAL LOGIC (PHILOSOPHY OF LOGIC)

FORMAL LOGIC

Focus on the content of reasoning

Reflects on

correspondence between logical and real orders
seeks to explain the nature of the logical operations of the mind (i.e. it asks: "What are these operations?" "How are they related?")

Focus on the form of reasoning, i.e., the structure or logical coherence.

The principles governing formal logic follow the principle of non-contradiction. Ergo, these principles are themselves true. (Why do we have to affirm this? Because we might think that because we are just studying the form of the arguments, we may not be actually interested on whether the contents are true or false. But we should remember that the form itself has to be true.)

More closely related to particular or positive sciences (biology, physics, chemistry) than with Philosophy.

Based on the Philosophy of Logic.

(The book of Fr Sanguineti focuses on material logic.)

Please contact jmomandia at gmail dot com for any heresies found here.

First Edition. Hong Kong, 22 August 2006

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