Logics vs Thinking

[gL.edu] This article gathers contributions being developed by David Schlaffer, within the context of the Conceptual clarification about "Information, Knowledge and Philosophy", under the supervisión of J.M. Díaz Nafría.

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Overview

This article deals with the difference between Logics and Thinking. While logic emphasizes formal reasoning and deductive processes, thinking includes a broader spectrum of cognitive processes, including creativity, intuition, and subjective experiences. To get a comprehensive understanding of knowledge and truth, it is important to understand the distinctions between logic and thinking.

Definition of Logic

"Logic can be described as the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning." (Copi et al., 2014, p.2)

When we are arguing about certain topics, we tend to be biased towards arguments that confirm our intuitive beliefs (Confirmation Bias). If we want to find out what is true, we need to eliminate those biases by using objective criteria to qualify whether information is good or bad. Logic aims to discover and use these criteria to make unbiased and correct decisions about what can be considered true or not.

Definition of Thinking

The process of thinking encompasses a variety of mental processes through which we engage with information. It includes cognitive activities like perception, memory, conceptualization, problem-solving, intuition, and creativity.

These processes are usually subconscious, and we only consciously receive the results of our thinking, not the processes themselves.

Distinctions and Interactions

Logic and thinking differ in their approaches and scope. While logic focuses on formalized reasoning, thinking uses a broader range of cognitive activities. Logic provides a structured framework for deductive reasoning. Thinking involves intuition, creativity, and subjective experiences. Both are strongly interconnected, as logical reasoning can assist our thinking processes, while thinking can challenge and expand the boundaries of our logical systems.

Logic

Historical Development

The origin of Logics in China, India, and most importantly ancient Greece. Many Greek philosophers have made great contributions to the discipline of Logic, with some of their ideas still holding validity until today. Some of the most important Greek philosophers were Thales, Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, who collected his ideas in the “Organon”. Aristotle’s concept of logic is based on the term “Syllogism”, which describes a logical argument that consists of two given premises and a conclusion. His work served as a foundation for many logical concepts that were invented later. Another important role in the development of Logics were the Stoics, who further developed the logical principles of their predecessors.

Between the 5th and the 14th century, Christian and Islamic philosophers like Boethius, Ibn Sina and Thomas Aquinas made various contributions to Logics. They all based their works mainly on the ideas of Aristotle. William of Ockham was the first to stray away from the Aristotelian ideas and follow a more methodical approach. His formulation of “Ockham’s Razor” states that among competing hypotheses, we should prefer the one with the fewest assumptions. Jean Buridan, one of Ockhams students, established many concepts that helped systematizing the findings that his predecessors had made.

The time between the 14th and the 19th century was largely dominated by empirics and the development of logics hardly played a role until the middle of the 19th century, when the modern symbolic and mathematical logic were developed.

Formal Logic

Formal logic deals with principles and methods of reasoning. The goal is to validate arguments with the use of formal systems.

Two important methods of formal logic are:

Propositional Logic

Within propositional logic, we are examining at how different propositions behave towards each other. A proposition is a declarative statement, that can either be true or false. We can connect multiple statements with logical connectives to create more complex propositions. These logical connectives can be verbalized as “and” (conjunction), “or” (disjunction), and “not” (negation).

In this example, we have two propositions: A: “The sun is shining.” B: “I will go outside.”

These propositions can be combined to: A and B: “The sun is shining, and I will go outside.” A or B: “The sun is shining, or I will go outside.” Not A: “The sun is not shining.”

Predicate Logic

Predicate logic is used to find relationships between logical arguments. To find these relationships, we use predicates to express properties or relationships, variables to represent objects, and quantifiers to indicate the scope of the variables.

In this example, we have the following predicate: “x is prime number.”

Universal Quantification: (∀x): ∀x P(x) ("For every x, x is a prime number.")

Existential Quantification (∃x): ∃x P(x) ("There exists an x that is a prime number.")

Informal Logic

Informal Logic focuses on the content and context of arguments. When using informal logic, we look at the relevance and coherence of different arguments. Unlike within formal logic, personal experience subjective feeling is considered in the decision making.

Logic as a Tool

We can use logic in our everyday lives to help us form better resolutions. There are different areas, in which logic plays a crucial part, such as:

• Decision Making: Logic can help to analyze and evaluate options before making a choice. By using logical reasoning, we can consider different factors, weigh pros and cons, and make informed decisions.
• Problem Solving: Logic provides a very structured approach to problem-solving. Applying logical rules to different solutions can help us to find the most effective way to conquer a problem.
• Argumentation and Critical Thinking: When following logic rules, we can evaluate our ideas and discover fallacies and inconsistencies within our thinking.

Limitations of Logic

While logic offers valuable tools for reasoning, it has limitations. Logic does not take intuition, creativity, and emotions into account. Logic reasoning might also fail to grasp the complexity of larger problem or oversee unknown connections.

Knowing where the limitations of logic lie, helps us to counter steer against them and be aware of potentially false conclusions.

Thinking

Cognitive Processes

When we are thinking, we make use of a wide range of cognitive processes. These processes can be distinguished into the five subareas perception, attention, thinking, memory, and speech.

Intuition and Creativity

Intuition and creativity play a crucial role in thinking. Intuition provides us with fast, subconscious insights, while creativity creates novel ideas and perspectives. These processes can surpass logical constraints and thereby lead to new findings.

Subjectivity and Bias

Thinking is always subjective and therefore susceptible to tilt towards irrational conclusions. Every person is influenced by personal experience, social and cultural factors, and various biases.

Thinking Styles

Humans have different thinking styles. The style of our thinking hugely impacts the results of our thoughts. We can differentiate between three thinking styles.

• Analytical Thinking focuses on logical reasoning and tries to solve problems one after another.
• Holistic Thinking takes a wider context into consideration and emphasizes the interconnections and relations of different information.
• System Thinking aims towards understanding complex systems and the way they correlate with each other.

While there certainly are overlaps between the thinking styles, each style of thinking might answer the same question quite differently.

Logic and Thinking in Relation to Truth and Knowledge

Thinking helps us to gain new information and form hypothesizes that we can test against our given knowledge. Logic can be used to validate assumptions. We can consider our assumptions to be true, if it logically corresponds to the given facts that we consider to be true.

In order to gain actual knowledge, both systems are needed.

Sources

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4. Copi, I et al.. (2014). Introduction to Logic. Pearson Education.
5. Gardner, H. (2011). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books.
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7. Klement, K. (2020). Propositional Logic. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (https://iep.utm.edu/propositional-logic-sentential-logic/).
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