- Feb 5, 2002
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“Oh, so you’re using logic,” said the young man when I pointed out he had contradicted himself. “I’m not confined by logic.” And Lord knows, he hadn’t been. That was one thing we could agree on.
If your math teacher asks, “What is 2 + 2?” and you answer “10,” and she says, “No, that’s not right,” it won’t help to say, “Oh, so you’re using mathematical logic? I don’t wish to be confined by that.”
Whatever “philosophy” you may have studied, two dollars plus two dollars does not equal ten dollars. And statements can’t be both true and false at the same time in the same respect. These aren’t just made-up “rules” that you can bypass like the rule against chewing gum in school. They are expressions of reality.
What’s at stake here isn’t merely an abstract “academic” debate about “logic.” The tragic result of rejecting logic is that it insulates you from taking seriously any meaningful critique of your views. One can always take refuge in the claim, “Oh, that’s just logic.” But that’s like saying: “Oh, so you think statements should make sense?” Well, yes, actually, I do. And quite frankly, so does everyone else!
Now, to be fair, this isn’t the only way people insulate themselves from meaningful critique. An even more common way is to commit a logical fallacy, mistaking it for a real argument.
Continued below.
www.thecatholicthing.org
If your math teacher asks, “What is 2 + 2?” and you answer “10,” and she says, “No, that’s not right,” it won’t help to say, “Oh, so you’re using mathematical logic? I don’t wish to be confined by that.”
Whatever “philosophy” you may have studied, two dollars plus two dollars does not equal ten dollars. And statements can’t be both true and false at the same time in the same respect. These aren’t just made-up “rules” that you can bypass like the rule against chewing gum in school. They are expressions of reality.
What’s at stake here isn’t merely an abstract “academic” debate about “logic.” The tragic result of rejecting logic is that it insulates you from taking seriously any meaningful critique of your views. One can always take refuge in the claim, “Oh, that’s just logic.” But that’s like saying: “Oh, so you think statements should make sense?” Well, yes, actually, I do. And quite frankly, so does everyone else!
Now, to be fair, this isn’t the only way people insulate themselves from meaningful critique. An even more common way is to commit a logical fallacy, mistaking it for a real argument.
Continued below.
Insulating Yourself from Critique - The Catholic Thing
Randall Smith: Remember when you argue, that the Prince of Peace is the divine Logos made flesh. Logos, in Greek, means “reasoned discourse.”
www.thecatholicthing.org
