Logic is concerned with the organization of reasoning. In human history, logic is one of the oldest intellectual disciplines that date back to Aristotle. Humans use logic in just about everything they do – from their professional discussions to personal conversations. People use logic to define ideas, affirm observations, and formalize theories. Again, to derive conclusions from these pieces of information, people use logical reasoning. Even when convincing others of the conclusions someone has drawn, they depend on logical proofs.
In the domain of education, logic is a vital tool as it helps in correct reasoning and avoiding fallacies. It’s also an indispensable tool for philosophical and scientific thinking, and helps in the realization of educational objectives and conceptualizing educational policies. Additionally, it empowers teachers with the correct reasoning and language for delivering the curriculum content.
For several STEM disciplines, particularly computer science, logic is essential. That’s because computers are increasingly using logic for a wide variety of tasks – from validating engineering designs, proving mathematical theorems, and identifying failures to encoding and examining laws and regulations and business rules. As a result, in-depth knowledge of logic is becoming vital for handling “logic-enabled” computer systems and even building such systems (via logic programming).
Logic involves learning structural thinking based on either inductive or deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning refers to the application of a general set of rules to a specific situation. In contrast, inductive reasoning involves using the details, rules, and principles that apply to a situation to understand it and decide the best steps to take.
For instance, consider the following:
· All university students are good.
· David is a university student.
Therefore, David is good. This is an example of deductive reasoning where it’s important to state the first two statements before the third can follow. Such reasoning is common in religion, philosophy, and mathematics.
An example of inductive reasoning is this:
· The coin Harry pulled from the bag is a dime.
· That coin is a dime.
· A third coin pulled from the bag is a dime.
Hence, all the coins in the bag are dimes.
However, inductive reasoning can let the conclusion be false even if all the premises are true in a statement. This example can make things clearer:
· Arnold is a grandfather.
· Arnold is bald
Therefore, all grandfathers are bald. It’s important to notice how the conclusion here doesn’t follow logically from the statements. Inductive reasoning finds its place among scientific methods. It’s used by scientists to form hypotheses and theories.
