INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC AND REASONING

INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC AND REASONING CHAPTER ONE Basic Concepts and Historical Development of Logic 1.1.The Meaning, Purposes and Historical Development of Logic i. The Meaning of Logic Logic initially emerged and developed within the heart of philosophy. Etymologically, the term” logic” is derived from the Greek word “Logos” which means reason, thought, principle, law, etc. Thereby, based on its ancestor word “logos”, the definition of the science of logic can be stated as follows: logic is the science of those principles, laws, rules and methods which the mind of man in its thinking must follow for accurate and secure treatment of truth. From the above definition, you can understand that logic is a tool that one can rely for evaluating, analyzing and criticizing arguments. Accordingly, logic concentrates on the principles that guide rational thought and discussion. In other words, logic is the study of methods for evaluating arguments. The fundamental concepts in logic is that of argument and I hope you might have encountered arguments of various sorts from different sources when you watch TV, read newspapers and magazines, listening radio and even communicate with your family, peers, and the like.

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