6 Good
Reasons to Study Logic
Why Analyzing Arguments Is Good for
You
Updated August 15, 2017
A first-year college student found himself repeatedly
impressed by the wit and wisdom of the philosophy majors he met. One day he
plucked up the nerve to ask one of them: "So how come all you
philosophy majors are so smart?"
"Oh, that's no mystery," the philosopher answered,
"we've all studied logic."
"Really?" said the freshman, "that's all it
takes? So if I study logic, I'll become super smart?"
"Sure. Of course, it's too late to sign up for a class
now. But I'll tell you what, you can use my old logic textbook and study it
yourself. Here, I've got it with me. I'll let you have it for $20."
"Wow, thanks!"
The deal was transacted and the first year excitedly went
off with the textbook to ramp up his IQ. Later that day he ran into the
philosophy major again.
"Hey," he shouted. "That logic book you sold
me for $20--I came across it in the bookstore for $10. All that rubbish about
logic making me smart. I see through it now. You were just ripping me
off!"
"See," said the other, "it's already starting
to work."
OK, so the benefits of studying logic might not kick in
quite that quickly. But there really are good reasons to take a logic class or
to study it yourself from a book or by using an online resource, even if you're
not a philosophy major.
Symbolic logic is fun!
Dimitri Otis/Stone/Getty Images
It really is. Studying basic symbolic logic is rather like
learning a new language, but one with a small vocabulary and just a few rules
of grammar. You learn to do all sort of things with these new symbols: you use
them to analyze the logic of ordinary sentences, to test arguments for validity, and to
construct proofs for complex arguments whose validity isn't obvious. The
exercises that help you become adept at these things are like puzzles, so if
you like Futoshiki or sudoku you'll probably love logic.
Knowing Whether an Argument Is Valid
or Invalid Is a Valuable Skill.
Logic is essentially the study of reasoning or
argumentation. We all use reason all the time to draw inferences that are
useful to us. If our car won't start, we reason that the battery may be dead.
So we test the battery. If the battery isn't dead, then we deduce the problem
must lie elsewhere, perhaps with the starter motor. So we check the starter
motor. And so on. In this example the reasoning is simple, but sometimes chains
of reasoning can become quite complicated. Training ourselves to construct good
arguments and to spot bad ones is a skill that is useful in just about every
field as well as in everyday life. It helps steer us toward truth and away from
falsehood.
Good Logic Is an Effective Tool of
Persuasion.
The art of persuasion is called rhetoric. Rhetoric, like logic, used to be
an essential part of the liberal arts curriculum. Sadly, neither are usually
required any longer, and rhetoric has given way to Composition 101. Rhetoric
can encompass just about any means of persuasion short of bribery, blackmail, or
physical violence. It includes, for instance, appeals to emotion, provocative
images, or clever word play. There's no doubt that these can be persuasive; but
so can good cogent reasoning. I'm not saying that good arguments will always
win the day over clever rhetoric: human beings are not Vulcans like Mr. Spock.
But in the long run, good arguments will, I believe, come out on top.
Studying Logic Helps You to Spot
Fallacies.
Fallacious thinking abounds in our culture. Politicians,
pundits, advertisers, and corporate spokespersons attack straw men, appeal to
majority opinion, pursue red herrings, or reject a view because of something
they dislike about the person who holds it. Familiarity with common fallacies
of this sort helps make one a more critical reader, listener, and thinker.
Logic Is a Foundational Discipline.
Logic is foundational to any field that makes use of
arguments. It has especially close connections to mathematics, computer
science, and philosophy. Both Aristotelian logic and modern symbolic logic are
impressive bodies of knowledge that constitute major intellectual achievements.
Clear Thinking Makes One a Better
Citizen.
Dubious techniques of persuasion, such as
"criticizing" a candidate's views by showing an unflattering image of
them, are used especially in election campaigns. They are no doubt sometimes
effective, but that is no reason for preferring them to good clear argumentation.
On the contrary, it's why we need logical thinking more than ever, to raise the
level of political debate and make people less likely to make bad choices for
bad reasons. So studying logic puts you on the road to being a better citizen!
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