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The word "logic" originates from the Greek word "logos", which has a variety of translations, such as reason, discourse, or language. Logic is traditionally defined as the study of the laws of thought or correct reasoning, and is usually understood in terms of inferences or arguments. Reasoning is the activity of drawing inferences.
Learn the meaning of logic as a science, a mode of reasoning, or a sequence of facts or events. See synonyms, examples, etymology, and related words of logic.
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logic, the study of correct reasoning, especially as it involves the drawing of inferences.
This article discusses the basic elements and problems of contemporary logic and provides an overview of its different fields. For treatment of the historical development of logic, see logic, history of. For detailed discussion of specific fields, see the articles applied logic, formal logic, modal logic, and logic, philosophy of.
An inference is a rule-governed step from one or more propositions, called premises, to a new proposition, usually called the conclusion. A rule of inference is said to be truth-preserving if the conclusion derived from the application of the rule is true whenever the premises are true. Inferences based on truth-preserving rules are called deductive, and the study of such inferences is known as deductive logic. An inference rule is said to be valid, or deductively valid, if it is necessarily truth-preserving. That is, in any conceivable case in which the premises are true, the conclusion yielded by the inference rule will also be true. Inferences based on valid inference rules are also said to be valid.
(Read Steven Pinker’s Britannica entry on rationality.)
Logic in a narrow sense is equivalent to deductive logic. By definition, such reasoning cannot produce any information (in the form of a conclusion) that is not already contained in the premises. In a wider sense, which is close to ordinary usage, logic also includes the study of inferences that may produce conclusions that contain genuinely new information. Such inferences are called ampliative or inductive, and their formal study is known as inductive logic. They are illustrated by the inferences drawn by clever detectives, such as the fictional Sherlock Holmes.
The contrast between deductive and ampliative inferences may be illustrated in the following examples. From the premise “somebody envies everybody,” one can validly infer that “everybody is envied by somebody.” There is no conceivable case in which the premise of this inference is true and the conclusion false. However, when a forensic scientist infers from certain properties of a set of human bones the approximate age, height, and sundry other characteristics of the deceased person, the reasoning used is ampliative, because it is at least conceivable that the conclusions yielded by it are mistaken.
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Logic is the study of correct reasoning, especially as it involves the drawing of inferences. Learn about the basic concepts, rules, and fields of logic, such as deductive, inductive, and formal logic.
Learn the meaning of logic as a way of thinking or a formal method of examining ideas. Find out how to use logic in different contexts, such as business, IT, or cosmology, with examples and collocations.
Learn the basics of logic, the discipline that aims to distinguish good reasoning from bad. Find out what propositions, arguments, and logical rules are, and how to analyze and evaluate them.
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Logic is the science of correct or reliable inference, the system of reasoning in a specific field, or the forcefulness of argument. Learn the origin, meaning, and examples of logic and related words, such as -logic and irony.
Learn about the nature and types of logic, the study of truths based on meanings of terms, from a philosophical perspective. Explore the history, problems, and relation of logic to mathematics and other disciplines.
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