Logic in Daily Life Sociology Essay

It is believed that a person can think properly without knowing the exact rules and laws of logic, using them only on an intuitive level. After all, there are musicians who can play any musical instrument, without knowing the printed music. However, these musicians are limited in their creativity. They cannot fulfill the work written with the help of printed music or record a melody composed by them. The person who has mastered logic thinks more clearly, his/her arguments are more convincing than of those who do not have logical thinking. People constantly use logic in everyday life.

Logic is a study of methods of evidence and refutation. The author Patrick Hurley (2011) gives the following definition “Logic may be defined as the organized body of knowledge or science that evaluates arguments” (p. 1). It is a set of scientific theories, each of which addresses specific ways of evidence and refutation. In the book Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking, it is mentioned that “Logic is about clear and effective thinking” (McInerny, 2004, p. 1). Logic is a science of forms and laws of correct thinking. The word logic is derived from the Greek word logos, which can be translated as a concept, reason, and argument (Maldonato & Dell’Orco, 2011). Currently, it is used in the following principal values; firstly, these words represent regularities in change and development of things and phenomena of the objective world (Maldonato & Dell’Orco, 2011). Patterns of change and development of things and phenomena of the objective world are called objective logic. Secondly, the word ‘logic’ refers to special regularities in the connections and the development of thought (Maldonato & Dell’Orco, 2011). These laws are called subjective logic. Patterns in the development of relations and thoughts are a reflection of objective laws. Logic is also known as a science of laws of the development of connections and thoughts.

This science appeared approximately in the V century BC in ancient Greece (Shenefelt & White, 2013). A famous Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle is considered to be the creator of this science (Hurley, 2011). Logic is an ancient science. Nevertheless, it still retains its practical significance. Many different sciences and arts of the ancient world have forever gone in the past and present only a museum value and are interesting as monuments of the past only. However, some of them have survived the centuries and people continue to use them these days. They include Euclidean geometry and the logic of Aristotle (Hurley, 2011). In the XIX century, a new science appeared and began to develop rapidly (Hurley, 2011). It is symbolic – mathematical or modern – logic, which is a branch of higher mathematics.

The comprehension of foundations of any science is a complex and painstaking work that requires much time. Logic is a special world, which opens not for everyone, but only for those who make great efforts for this. In other words, knowledge of the basics of science is a treasure in the receptacle of an educated person.

Logic is an extremely important part of everyone’s life. It helps people to properly build their thoughts and express them, convince others, better understand the interlocutor, explain and defend the points of view, and avoid errors in reasoning. On the content, human mind is infinitely diverse, as people can think about anything, for example, about the world and the origin of life on Earth, the past of mankind and its future, books and movies, today’s affairs, and coming holidays. Each person has a certain logical culture, the level of which is characterized by the set of logical methods and ways of reasoning that a person understands, as well as a set of logical tools that he/she uses in the course of learning and practice (Shenefelt & White, 2013). Logical culture is acquired in the course of communication, learning, and reading literature.

Logic is not all about the content of thinking, but it examines only the forms of thoughts. It is not interested in what people think, but how they think. Thus, it is often called formal logic. Aristotelian logic is also often called traditional. Logic deals with a form of thinking. A form of thinking is a way of expression of thoughts or the scheme of their construction. There are only three types of thinking. The first one is the concept. It is a form of thinking, which represents an object or an attribute of object. The second type of thinking is judgment. This form consists of concepts related to each other. Judgment always claims or denies. The last type of thinking is inference. It is a form of thinking, in which a new proposition or a conclusion follows from two or more initial judgments (Hurley, 2011).

In addition to the forms of thinking, logic is also engaged in the laws of thinking. The laws of thinking are the objective principles or rules of thought, the observance of which always leads the argument, regardless of the content to the real conclusions on the condition of truth of initial judgments. There are four basic laws of thought. They include identity, contradictions, the excluded middle, and sufficient reason. Violation of these laws leads to different logical errors and false conclusions. Sometimes, the laws of logic are violated unintentionally and out of ignorance (Hurley, 2011). However, it is sometimes done deliberately to confuse the interlocutor and present a false idea.

Knowledge of logic increases the culture of thinking, develops skills to think more intelligently, and develops a critical attitude. Logic teaches one to argue correctly. It allows people to correctly defend their opinion, refute the erroneous belief of the opponent, find compromises, and expose the unfair practices and tricks. Finally, logic adopts the habit of thinking. Modernity forces people to know much. In such a way, school and higher education systems seek to enclose much information in students. In the book Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, the author Merrilee Salmon (2012) states that “Information must be processed – understood, sorted for relevance, checked for accuracy and completeness, balanced against competing information, organized coherently, and analyzed for its application” (p. 2). However, they do not teach one to think. They do not tend to develop this human ability. Nevertheless, thinking is an extremely important aspect in person’s life. Therefore, the notion that the study of logic does not have a practical significance is untenable. Many great philosophers and prominent figures of science and culture, such as Plato, Hobbes, and others attached great importance to the study of logic, knowledge of its laws, and pointed to the need to develop the ability to think logically. Logic is a necessary tool by releasing extra and unnecessary memorization. It helps to find the necessary notions in the mass of information. Knowledge of logic is necessary to any expert – mathematician, physician, biologist, and others.

To some extent, logic was necessary for people at the most different historical epochs. However, it is especially necessary for precision of thought in the modern era. It is associated with the fact that the higher the level of society’s development, the greater are the requirements for the men, the own level of development, general, and special culture. In such a way, the need for the ability to think and reason and deeply understand the processes, occurring in public life, becomes extremely urgent. Accordingly, the role and importance of logic, as a science of thinking, is enhanced.

Due to its extreme generality and abstraction, it is relevant to virtually all specific industries of science and technology. Despite the fact that these industries are different and unique, the laws and regulations of thinking, on which they are based, are united. Knowledge of logic is required for all people. However, there are sectors of human activity, professions, and specialties, where this knowledge is particularly necessary. Thus, logic knowledge is especially important for employees of public education (Sinnott, 2013). After all, these people are involved in an extremely important social process – the transfer of knowledge accumulated by mankind from one generation to another. Their activities are also largely associated with the formation of younger generation’s thinking. For them, it is important not only to think clearly, but also to teach thinking clearly and form a logical culture of students. Knowledge of logic is imperative to the workers of press and media. After all, their thoughts and words are addressed to the vast masses of population and can cause serious social consequences. Therefore, it is extremely important that information is strictly calibrated, balanced, and accurate. The need for knowledge of logic is obvious for health professionals (Sinnott, 2013). They deal with life and health. Therefore, logic errors are especially dangerous in analysis of the signs of the disease and diagnosis, and, thus, the determination of treatments. Knowledge of the laws and regulations of normally proceeding thinking is used in psychiatry as a mean of detecting violations of mental activity in psychiatric patients. Such logical methods as analysis, synthesis, generalization, and classification are usually used (Sinnott, 2013).

Logic is of particular importance in the activities of lawyers. Cicero speaking of the court cases advised the speaker to carefully and thoroughly understand all the cases. In today’s legal practice, substantially all the arsenal of logical means is widely used. It includes definition, division, summing up under a concept, the version as a kind of hypothesis, inference, proof, and refutation (Sinnott, 2013). Thinking logically means to think accurately and consistently. Contradictions in arguments should be avoided. These qualities of thought are important in any field of scientific and practical activities, requiring the precision of thought and the validity of conclusions.

Logic plays an extremely important role in everyday life. It organizes the correct methods of reasoning, as well as common errors in reasoning. It provides logical means for a clear expression of thoughts, without which, any intellectual activity is ineffective. Knowledge of logic raises the culture of thinking, advanced skills of thinking, and develops a critical attitude towards people’s thoughts. Knowledge of the rules and laws of logic is not the ultimate goal of its research. The ultimate goal is the ability to use its rules and laws in the process of thinking. The truth and logic are interconnected. Therefore, knowledge of logic is impossible to overestimate. Logic helps to justify the true judgment and to refute the false one. It teaches people to think correctly and succinctly. Thus, logic is a philosophical science of forms of human thinking and laws, to which it is subject. In such a way, logic is necessary for all people.