Basics of Reasoning: Logic 101

LOGIC, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.
1. Aristotle & the syllogism 2. Defined: Deductive form of reasoning in which the conclusion is derived from two premises and is based on inference. 3. Is the basis for all modern logic including computer programming a. Its basic form: b. If A then B Major Premise c. If B then C Minor Premise d. Therefore if A then C Conclusion 4. Example Time! 5. Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man.
Minor Premise: One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds; therefore-Conclusion: Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second. This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed." (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary) P1: All students at the University of Illinois are liberal

6. 7. P2: Kate is a student a in Christopher Joseys CMN 112 course 8. P3: Christopher Josey is an instructor at the University of Illinois 9. C: Kate must be a liberal 10. Or. . . Dr. House: Words have set meanings for a reason. If you see an animal like Bill and you try to play fetch, Bill's going to eat you, because Bill's a bear. Little Girl: Bill has fur, four legs, and a collar. He's a dog. Dr. House: You see, that's what's called a faulty syllogism; just because you call Bill a dog doesn't mean that he is . . . a dog. ("Merry Little Christmas, House, M.D.) 11. Two Important notes about syllogisms: 12. They can be Valid/Invalid and/or Sound/Unsound a. Validity refers to the following the formal layout of a syllogism i. An invalid syllogism gets the formula wrong: 1. All Tom Petty fans love rock music 2. Bob loves rock music 3. Therefore Bob loves Tom Petty b. Soundness refers to the premises on which the conclusion is based and speaks to their accuracy beyond the simple formula. i. An unsound syllogism is based on faulty premises/propositions 1. The way to a mans heart is through his stomach! 2. I plan on cooking for Zach Braff 3. Zach Braff will fall in love with me ii. This one gets tossed around all the time in clichs about men and women all the time!

It is not very common to run into a formal syllogism in public! Most of these things are implied and thus. . . 13. Enthymeme 14. In an enthymeme, the speaker builds an argument with one element removed, leading listeners to fill in the missing piece 15. An informally stated syllogism with an implied premise a. A premise is ALWAYS left out in the real world. . . 16. Basic Form: a. All A are B Major Premise b. C is therefore B Conclusion 17. Example: a. All Men are Pigs Major Premise b. Chris is a Pig Conclusion c. Or. . . d. Chris is a Pig Conclusion missing both premises e. From the Real World. . . "Hungry? Grab a Snickers." (advertising slogan for Snickers chocolate bar) f. We cannot trust this man, for he has perjured himself in the past. In this enthymeme, the major premise of the complete syllogism is missing: g. Those who perjure themselves cannot be trusted. Major premise - omitted h. This man has perjured himself in the past. Minor premise - stated i. This man is not to be trusted. Conclusion - stated 18. We must not forget about Soundness of the argument here! a. Activity: i. Get together into groups of 3-4 people ii. Write down as many cultural truisms that we state in enthymematic form as you can think of. . .most of these will be pretty funny if you think about what they are based on. iii. Example: If you want to get out of the dog house. . .send her some roses iv. We will come back together and share our results! Toulmin Review! 19. Toulmin arguments are composed of three basic elements: 20. Data 21. Warrant. . . 22. Claim. . . 23. Example Time