I have long been of the opinion that the main reason to study logic is to avoid being duped. I know some people study logic so that they can "win" debates -- whatever "winning" might mean to them -- but I myself don't believe that's much of a reason to study logic.
It's been my experience that very few people, if any, change their minds on merely logical grounds. In the first place, most of us humans are very stubborn when it comes to changing our minds. In the second place, when we do change our minds, we usually do so for reasons having little to do with logic, and much more to do with emotion, self-interest, and egotism.
So, for me, the best reason to study logic is to avoid being duped. Either duped by someone else or -- more likely -- duped by oneself. For we humans fool ourselves much more often than we fool others.
The Nature and Purpose of Logic
It is possible to define "reasoning" as a highly specialized form of thinking that primarily involves the conscious recognition of cause and effect relationships. If that's how we define reasoning, then "logic" can be defined as the systemic study of the standards (or rules) of good reasoning.
For instance, suppose we reveal to our cousin that we were are an RFer. She faints. At that point, we might reason the cause of her fainting was our revelation. But do we have good grounds to believe that it was? This is when logic comes in. Logic is a way of figuring out how well we are reasoning.
Sometimes cause and effect relationships are easy to recognize, and it doesn't take much reasoning to see them. But sometimes they are more difficult to recognize, and we need to do a lot of reasoning to see them. The more reasoning we need to do to see or recognize a cause and effect relationship, the more that logic can help us to reason well.
The Dawn of Logic
People have always reasoned, and they have always now and then reasoned logically, but they have not always systemically studied logical reasoning. In the West, the study of logical reasoning didn't get underway until about 2,300 years ago. I don't know whether it began any earlier elsewhere, but that's when it began in the West -- and it for the most part began with just one man. Aristotle.
Aristotle lived in Athens, Greece, where he wrote five books on the subject of logic. Together, the books are called the Organon, which can be roughly translated as "The Tools of Thought". Most of what he wrote about logic is still considered correct even today.
Perhaps the single most curious thing about Aristotle was his creative brilliance. Most of the great minds of history have built on the work of people who came before them. For instance, in the case of mechanics, Newton drew from the work of Descartes, Galileo, and Kepler. But Aristotle pretty much created the study of logic all by himself.
A Couple Other Things...
I will be adding to the thread as time permits, but it will never be a comprehensive account of every fallacy on the books. I plan instead to focus on what I believe are the most common fallacies -- in no particular order.
Last, this thread is closed, but if you have any questions or concerns about it, please feel free to PM me.
It's been my experience that very few people, if any, change their minds on merely logical grounds. In the first place, most of us humans are very stubborn when it comes to changing our minds. In the second place, when we do change our minds, we usually do so for reasons having little to do with logic, and much more to do with emotion, self-interest, and egotism.
So, for me, the best reason to study logic is to avoid being duped. Either duped by someone else or -- more likely -- duped by oneself. For we humans fool ourselves much more often than we fool others.
The Nature and Purpose of Logic
It is possible to define "reasoning" as a highly specialized form of thinking that primarily involves the conscious recognition of cause and effect relationships. If that's how we define reasoning, then "logic" can be defined as the systemic study of the standards (or rules) of good reasoning.
For instance, suppose we reveal to our cousin that we were are an RFer. She faints. At that point, we might reason the cause of her fainting was our revelation. But do we have good grounds to believe that it was? This is when logic comes in. Logic is a way of figuring out how well we are reasoning.
Sometimes cause and effect relationships are easy to recognize, and it doesn't take much reasoning to see them. But sometimes they are more difficult to recognize, and we need to do a lot of reasoning to see them. The more reasoning we need to do to see or recognize a cause and effect relationship, the more that logic can help us to reason well.
The Dawn of Logic
People have always reasoned, and they have always now and then reasoned logically, but they have not always systemically studied logical reasoning. In the West, the study of logical reasoning didn't get underway until about 2,300 years ago. I don't know whether it began any earlier elsewhere, but that's when it began in the West -- and it for the most part began with just one man. Aristotle.
Aristotle lived in Athens, Greece, where he wrote five books on the subject of logic. Together, the books are called the Organon, which can be roughly translated as "The Tools of Thought". Most of what he wrote about logic is still considered correct even today.
Perhaps the single most curious thing about Aristotle was his creative brilliance. Most of the great minds of history have built on the work of people who came before them. For instance, in the case of mechanics, Newton drew from the work of Descartes, Galileo, and Kepler. But Aristotle pretty much created the study of logic all by himself.
A Couple Other Things...
I will be adding to the thread as time permits, but it will never be a comprehensive account of every fallacy on the books. I plan instead to focus on what I believe are the most common fallacies -- in no particular order.
Last, this thread is closed, but if you have any questions or concerns about it, please feel free to PM me.