Logic and reason-tok

International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge

JAIME CASTRO A. 10-2

LOGIC AND REASON

Research and discuss:
- What is logic?
- What is reason?
- What is an argument?
- What is a fallacy? Give an example
- What is a flawed argument? Give an example

Use at least 4 different sources and produce a bibliography. Make your answers as complete as possible and make the best use of language that you can.

- What is logic?

The word logic and hence it’s meaning comes from the Greek word “logos”, which in the ancient Greece had a relationship both with the structure of the language and with the thoughts and ideas of the human mind. We can say that logic is a concept that basically describes and study the way in which the human mind processes information about what it perceives about truth and reality, this can be understand as the rational way in which the human mind conducts pure thinking to process information. This is also an explanation why logic is present or used in languages, since languages are the way in which the human race has developed, expressed and explained all the different thoughts and ideas that have been processed by the human minds throughout history; that’s why there are certain linguistic rules and norms so that when people speak or write there is a rational or “logical” structure in their sentences in order that anybody can understand the processing done by their minds to produce an specific thought.

- What is reason?

Reason is a very difficult concept to define since there are many different definitions about what it actually means; however I think that the most key element about what is meant by reason is that it is a kind of result, conclusion or synthesis of a process of analysis done by your mind. Reason involves logic, knowledge and experience since it is not just the development of thought and ideas, but it involves the relationship that the mind does between past experiences, knowledge and pure thinking so it can realize or process a type of analysis.

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- What is reason?

- What is an argument?

An argument is the support of an idea or position of a certain topic; it is not an attack or denial of the position or ideas of others about the same topic, it is composed of two basic parts which are: a principal thought, idea or position in a certain topic and the backup of that central idea or thought with examples, theories and models. Arguments are usually the product of a previous investigation about a certain aspect in which the investigator develops a conclusion and uses his research to create an argument where he states its conclusion and supports it with his results and his analysis of what he investigated.

- What is a fallacy? Give an example

A fallacy is a defect in an argument which makes it invalid, this defects are usually made because there is a bad reasoning of the information or because the information that was used to create the argument was not clear or wasn’t completely “true” or accurate.

Some simple examples are summarized below, (the examples were taken from a website noted below them).

“1. Geological events produce rock. (premise)
2. Rock is a type of music. (premise)
3. Geological events produce music. (conclusion)”

“1. All humans are mammals. (premise)
2. All cats are mammals. (premise)
3. All humans are cats. (conclusion)”

Examples taken from:

Cline, Austin. "What is a Fallacy? Understanding Defective Arguments." Agnosticism / Atheism - Free Inquiry, Skepticism, Atheism, Religious Philosophy. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a/overview.htm>.

- What is a flawed argument? Give an example

A flawed argument is an argument that can have some true facts but when it comes to support its ideas it has some fallacies that doesn’t necessarily make the argument absolutely invalid, but it certainly makes it unreliable. An example of this would be an argument that states that the majority of the population of a certain country voted for a certain candidate to be president, however in that specific country only men over 20 and with a minimum land property could vote, so in reality it wasn’t the majority of the population that voted in the election for that candidate but it was true that the candidate had the majority of the votes among the voting population which was a very reduced one in comparison to the entire population.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Johns, Richard. "Symbolic Logic I." Philosophy at UBC. 6 Sept. 2004. University of British Columbia. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://www.philosophy.ubc.ca/faculty/johns/notes1.pdf>.

Jones, Roger B. "Mainframe: What is Logic? (Philosopher’s version)." The RBJones.com Home Page. 23 Dec. 1998. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at : <http://www.rbjones.com/rbjpub/philos/logic/015.htm>.

Joe Lau and Jonathan Chan. "What is logic?" Open Courseware on critical thinking, logic, and creativity. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/logic/whatislogic.php>.

"What is reason." Generation Online organisation. 8 Mar. 2009 <http://www.generation-online.org/p/fpkantreason.htm>."What is reason." Generation Online. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://www.generation-online.org/p/fpkantreason.htm>.

"WMail ezine "What Is Reason?" Essay." Working Minds: A Philosophy of Empowerment. WORKING MINDS. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay45.htm>.

Pryor, Jim. "Philosophical Terms and Methods." Jim Pryor. 10 Jan. 2009. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/argument.html>.

Cline, Austin. "What is a Fallacy? Understanding Defective Arguments." Agnosticism / Atheism - Free Inquiry, Skepticism, Atheism, Religious Philosophy. 8 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a/overview.htm>.

"Logical Flaws in Reasoning: Flawed Reasoning, Arguments, and Attitudes." Agnosticism / Atheism - Free Inquiry, Skepticism, Atheism, Religious Philosophy. 9 Mar. 2009, Available in internet at: <http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalflawsinreasoning/Logical_Flaws_in_Reasoning_Flawed_Reasoning_Arguments_and_Attitudes.htm>.