Logic Books!

[ReformedChapin]

I want to learn logic. I have a basic understanding of the aristotelian method. But does anyone have any book suggestions?

 

[Iosias]

You could do worse that Gordon H. Clark's Logic.

A review can be found here.

 

[BBAS 64]

Good Day,

I have not read this, but it comes highly recommended.

Logic, or the Right Use of Reason: Watts

http://www.christianbook.com/Christ...&netp_id=103297&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW#curr

In Him,

Bill

 

[xapis]

Good Day,

I have not read this, but it comes highly recommended.

Logic, or the Right Use of Reason: Watts

http://www.christianbook.com/Christ...&netp_id=103297&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW#curr

In Him,

Bill

Yes. Sproul recommended this one. It's on my wish list.

 

[Jon_]

I want to learn logic. I have a basic understanding of the aristotelian method. But does anyone have any book suggestions?

Do you want to learn term logic or some sort of mathematical logic? Or are you interested in the philosophy of logic?

A must-read is is Kneale and Kneale, The Development of Logic. It is an historical survey of logic from the dialectic of the ancient Greeks to modern Fregean mathematical logic.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

 

[ReformedChapin]

philosophic logic sir

 

[Jon_]

philosophic logic sir

Kneale and Kneale is a definite must. You could read the hundreds of tomes on dialectic, rhetoric, and logic that came before the modern era, or you could just read what they have already digested for you. After that read Sainsbury, Logical Forms. That will catch you up on modern philosophical logic. Then read Sommer's, The Logic of Natural Language, to unlearn the nonsense that modern predicate logic has added to (and removed from) traditional formal logic (Sommer's terms).

You can read Clark if you want. I've read his book twice and found it to be outdated and much too cursory for study. Sommer's new term logic will serve you much better. If you're interested in mathematical logic, get Pospesel's Propositional Logic and Predicate Logic. You can try Russell and Whitehead, Principia Mathematica, if you're feeling ambitious. If you want a current spin on Aristotelian logic, read Kreeft's Socratic Logic. I don't recommend it, though. It's absolutely terrible.

I've got Biblical Semantic Logic currently sitting on my shelf along with Validity in Interpretation. I was working on these while trying to formally demonstrate term logic from Scripture. That always and inevitably ends you up at the philosophy of language, which is how I ended up reading Sommers. I'll tell you what, that's about as complicated a subject as it gets. I'm not sure we'll ever figure it out, but the resources I mention above should keep you occupied at least for the next year or so. If you're still hungry for more after that, you're either nuts or have a mind for the topic. I haven't quite decided which end of the spectrum I fit into, yet...

Oh, if you have trouble finding The Logic of Natural Language for a decent price (it's a textbook, so it runs around $100, normally) you can get a taste of Sommers philosophy through The Old New Logic, which is a collection of essays on Sommer's reformulation of term logic (which he calls, "term functor logic"). Some of them are complementary, some are not. Good book, all around.

Oh, and W.V.O. Quine is mandatory. His theory of the indeterminacy of translation has to be overcome for there to be a valid proof for the Bible. I'm pretty much convinced there isn't one.

Bah, I could go on and on. The above should suffice for now.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

 

[mlqurgw]

Has anyone read "Being Logical" by D.Q. McInerny? I am currantly in my second reading of it and find it to be very practical and easy to understand. The subtitle is, "A guide to good thinking."


BTW: I found it at Barnes and Noble I believe.

 

[ReformedChapin]

Thank you Jon!

 

[Jon_]

Thank you Jon!

No problem. I know it's a big list--you don't have to read them all. Development of Logic and Logical Forms will provide you a solid base, though. The other stuff will give you a wider berth of knowledge.

Feel free to ask questions, too.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon