I’m looking for a good summer read about logic. Anything in the general field would do, does anyone have recommendations for a good read?
Like a textbook or a book book? I’m in a logic class and the textbook we use is “A concise introduction to LOGIC” by Hurley (7th ed.) It’s decent.
Sorry, I should be more clear…I’m looking for a regular book (that I could get out of the library).
Best to go to the library and see what they have.
Anyway, there are two (very different) approaches to the subject, formal and informal. I don’t know much about informal logic, but a standard textbook for formal logic is Mendelson Introduction to Mathematical Logic. You might not be able to find that one at your library, and you might not find it very easy reading–logic is a mathematical discipline, and that’s what this book is about.
I need to understand where you are coming from.
My question is what type of intelligence are you? NOT are you intelligence or how intelligence but what type. Logic is not an absolute, like say water or fire or woodshop (snort). Nor is it an exact structured way of thinking. It is an art form and your art may not match anyone else’s artistic view. If subject “A” and subject “B” look at the same puzzle, the pieces no matter what, need to go together the same way. However, A and B will put them together differently matching up pieces and grouping them in a completely different order.
So… what are you?
Assuming that you are looking for something a little more interesting than a textbook, I would recommend Labyrinths of Reason by William Poundstone.
Very readable and very interesting.
Gödel, Escher, Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid was certainly and entertaining read. It deals somewhat with logic but other topics as well. I love the stories about Achilles, Tortoise and the Crab and a few others.
No, to think about it again it sounds like you might be interested in a more straightforward book. Plus it’s old, 1979.
** epraz**—I’m with everyone else…you really need to give us a little more to go on here. What type of book, exactly, are you looking for? Something that will explain the basics of logic in an easy to understand manner? Like a non-fiction book? Or a fiction book that has a lot of logical analysis? Help us out here…
I’ll take a stab in the dark & suggest some mysteries. They are often solved through logic & reasoning, and can be quite educational. Check out Isaac Asimov’s Black Widower Mysteries.
So not all logic books are text books.
Text books are not ‘regular’ books.
Therefore, all logic text books are not ‘regular’ books.
(I kept that book too SouprChckn)
There is a book, although not logic persay, but more philosophy that addresses logic… “Sophie’s World” by Jostein Gaardner. It is fiction, but it goes alot into the history and evolution of philosphy and thinking, and has an interesting plot all at the same time.
Was this an example of a bad syllogism?
Two friends of mine from university have written an excellent Introduction to Logic - it’s not a text book, it’s an easy-to-read introduction to the history and mechanics of how logic works. And it has pretty pictures! I recommend it not just because they’re friends of mine (and I was there with them while they writing parts of it!), but because it really does make it nice and simple and yet doesn’t patronise the reader.
[sub]No, I’m not jealous that someone I graduated with two years ago already has a book out. Not at all. Nu-uh.[/sub]
“bad syllogism”?
I gocha, ultra. It is a bad one. Hey, I was trying.
Alrighty: I’m taking a logic course next semester (In the fall), but I’m interested right now, so I’m looking for something less than a textbook (at the very least, for $$ purposes, and also for the sake of not being bored), but instead, something that addresses logic in a socially academic way.
If you follow me. Books (on other topics) that take a similar approach to what I’m talking about are The Alphabet Versus the Goddess and Guns, Germs, and Steel
Thanks for all your help, guys!
Check this book out: it’s a collection of examples of logical problems in life, and a great introduction to thinking about logic. And it’s constructed to be read in short bursts, as much or as little as you like–a “flip through” book, not at all like a textbook.
You could try How We Know What Isn’t So by Thomas Gilovich.
I recommend Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The Use of Reason in Everyday Life by Howard Kahane and Nancy M. Cavender. It’s a textbook, but it’s also a good read. The early chapters on logical fallacies are pretty good, but it’s the later chapers about applying logic to things like advertising, news stoies, and political campaigns that are truly brilliant.
Ultra, Is this better?
Elfie finds math hard
Logic is a type of Math
therefore Elfie found logic hard(and barely passed the class.)
I wonder if I would have had an easier time taking a stats class to fufill my math requirement…
Yep, that’s a good one.