What is Logic? Basics of logic and logical reasoning

 

Brief history of Logic. 

Logic originated from the Greek word logos, which simply means "the word" or "what is spoken", but after breaking it down into its components, it comes to mean "thought" or "reason".  That is, words  that can be      transformed to 'possessed             of reason, intellectual, dialectical, argumentative.'

Logic   is   one  of  the  fundamental branches   of   philosophy.   Logic is universal,  in   the  sense   that it's principles are the same irrespective of location and town. Logic is an important discipline because it helps to develop the skills needed in constructing and evaluating good arguments. This is a necessary tool for decision and policy making. Also, by equipping its users with what is required to construct and evaluate argument, it is effective for meaningful communication.

Definitions of Logic. 

There are several definitions for Logic. It is however generally understood as the discipline or science that evaluate argument and the principles of valid inferences and demonstration.

Aristotle was the one who invented logic and many scholars had argued amongst themselves that what he invented was a logic of terms.

Logic is a branch of philosophy that studies the methods and principles used to make good inferences and distinguished poor reasoning from good reasoning.

Opinions, decisions, laws, theories and policies are often product of reasoning. There are cases where rather than we lie or reason, people rely on emotions, authority or popular opinion (Fallacy). 

In cases like this, the line of reasoning may be persuasive and if the audience is not versed in the skills required to identify poor reasoning, this might go unnoticed. 

Basics of Logic. 

Logic can be a proper or reasonable way of thinking about something which is known as sound reasoning. 

For example, when you deduce that two truths imply a third truth. It is the process of arriving at a conclusion based on what actually happens. For instance, you can deduce that someone stole a biscuit based on who was in the spot at the time of the incident. 

A person who is not versed in the skills required to identify poor reasoning will be easily swayed by emotions when they make decisions, present opinions, promulgate laws, formulate theories and engage in other activities that requires the use of reason. Thus, a study in logic helps an individual to reason better than he/she would if he/she had not engaged in the study of logic. 

The aims of logic is to identify the correct (or valid) and incorrect (or fallacies) inferences. Logicians study the criteria for the evaluation of arguments in order to arrive at a conclusion. 

Good reasoning is essential to nation building, laws, organizations and our everyday life. There is no discipline or aspect of life that can try positively without sound reasoning. Therefore, it is essential to know what good reasoning entails and how to distinguish good reasoning from poor reasoning. 

Simply put, logic is a reflective study of how we can naturally reason at our best. Reasoning is the construction of arguments, to understand what it is, how important it is and the importance of knowing the type of sentences and the ones essential to argument.