BASIC CONCEPTS OF LOGIC

WHAT IS LOGIC? Logic may be defined as the science of reasoning. However, this is not to suggest that logic is an empirical (i.e., experimental or observational) science like physics, biology, or psychology. Rather, logic is a non-empirical science like mathematics. Also, in saying that logic is the science of reasoning, we do not mean that it is concerned with the actual mental (or physical) process employed by a thinking entity when it is reasoning. The investigation of the actual reasoning process falls more appropriately within the province of psychology, neurophysiology, or cybernetics. Even if these empirical disciplines were considerably more advanced than they presently are, the most they could disclose is the exact process that goes on in a being's head when he or she (or it) is reasoning. They could not, however, tell us whether the being is reasoning correctly or incorrectly. Distinguishing correct reasoning from incorrect reasoning is the task of logic.