The Logic in Studying Logic

Recently I got my hands on the book, 'How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic' by Madsen Pirie in the hopes of brushing up on logic. I read the opening pages to get a feel for what was in store. Mr. Pirie wrote,

"This book is intended as a practical guide for those who wish to win arguments. It also teaches how to perpetrate fallacies with mischief at heart and malice aforethought. I have described each fallacy, given examples of it, and shown why it is fallacious. After any points of general interest concerning the history or occurrence of the fallacy, I have given the reader recommendations on how and where the fallacy may be used to deceive with maximum effect."

What a unique way of teaching logic! Never before have I come across a book that teaches logic by showing how to use fallacies to win arguments; every book I have studied has broken down arguments into individual parts to show how to argue properly while avoiding fallacies. For a quick reference of the books I have read:

• 'Sherlock's Logic' by William Neblett
• 'Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide' by Tracy Bowell and Gary Kemp
• 'Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The use of Reason in Everyday Life' by Howard Kahane and Nancy M. Cavender
• 'A Rulebook for Arguments' by Anthony Weston

and numerous electronic and computer programming books that covers the use of logic gates and using logic in artificial intelligence (AI) programming code such as:

• 'Genetic Algorithms in C++' by Scott Robert Ladd.

So why study logic? The three obvious reasons are to argue effectively, write proper arguments, and to write programs accurately. Actually there are many reasons to study this subject. In fact, I was drawn to logic to prepare myself for the career path I had chosen so long ago.

From the age of 10 I have been working with computers. In this day and age this is pretty normal, but if you take into account that when I was 10 years old it was 1983, and the fact that computers were very hard to come by, and books or instructors were virtually non-existent, you will undoubtedly see how this was a momentous feat for such a young guy. At any rate, what started out as a fascination and hobby, eventually turned into a career path that lead me out of high school and into college, placed me onto the Information Technology career path, and ultimately sent me back to college for a graduate degree. The moment I realized I wanted to take this career path (I initially set my focus on Botany and Forestry), I started studying logic in hopes of scoring high on the ACT, GRE, and intelligence quotient tests. Although I haven't read any books devoted entirely to the use of logic in mathematics, in truth, logic is universal and can be applied to any area of study.

Today I study logic for the joy of it. I find it amusing listening to friends and coworkers arguing on matters of unimportance (why so-and-so on a reality show should win) to topics that affect our lives (Presidential elections or investment management). I like standing back and chuckling to myself as I pick apart the premises being forwarded in support of conclusions.

If you are interested in finding out what logic is all about, then I would suggest you do a Google search for Lewis Carroll's book mentioned above. There are undoubtedly other free, online logic books that Google will offer, but keep in mind that the free books are somewhat dry and boring. If you still find the subject intriguing, then you should check out the list of books I have provided in this post.

Deion "Mule" Christopher