Tuesday, July 27, 2010

DEFINITION OF LOGIC and TYPES OF LOGIC

Logic is the study of valid reasoning.

Logic  is a word that comes from the Greek word λογική  pronounced as logikē that means, the study of reasoning.

Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science.

Logic examines general forms which arguments may take, which forms are valid, and which are fallacies. It is one kind of critical thinking.

In philosophy, the study of logic falls in the area of epistemology, which asks: "How do we know what we know?"

In mathematics, it is the study of valid inferences within some formal language.


Logic has origins in several ancient civilizations, including ancient India, China and Greece.

Logic was established as a discipline by Aristotle, who established its fundamental place in philosophy.

The study of logic was part of the classical trivium.

Averroes defined logic as "the tool for distinguishing between the true and the false"

Richard Whately, defined logic as "the Science, as well as the Art, of reasoning"

Frege, defined logic as "the science of the most general laws of truth".

Logic is often divided into two parts, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

The Inductive reasoning involves in drawing general conclusions from specific examples. We can also say that Inductive Reasoning involves in deriving at unknown conclusions from known facts. This is the reason why the conclusions of Inductive reasoning are probable and not certain.

The Deductive Reasoning involves in drawing logical conclusions from definitions and axioms.  We can also say that deductive Reasoning involves in deriving known conclusions from known facts. As a result, the conclusions of deductive reasoning are certain.