Preface

L OGIC IS ABOUT clear and effective thinking. It is a science and an art. This book is intended to introduce readers to the rudiments of the science as well as to the basic skills associated with the art.

We all know people who are very bright but who do not always shine when it comes to being logical. They have the ability to think logically—that is, clearly and effectively—but that ability does not habitually manifest itself. The likelihood is that it has never been properly developed, pointing to a deficiency in their education. Indeed, logic is the very backbone of a true education, and yet it is seldom taught as such in American schools. To my mind, logic is the missing piece of the American educational system, the subject that informs every other subject from English to history to science and math.

Some readers, especially if this book represents their first serious encounter with logic, might react skittishly to what appears to be an overly technical vocabulary, or to the symbolic notation that logic makes frequent use of. Don’t be scared off by initial impressions. I have made a concerted effort to present whatever technical matters I deal with here (which in any event are not all that trying) in as simple and uncomplicated a way as possible. At the same time, however, I have tried to avoid lapsing into the simplistic. A dumbed-down logic is not logic at all. Other readers might be put off by what they perceive to be an emphasis upon the obvious. I do, in fact, place a good deal of stress on the obvious in this book, and that is quite deliberate. In logic, as in life, it is the obvious that most often bears emphasizing, because it so easily escapes our notice. If I have belabored certain points, and regularly opted for the explicit over the implicit, it is because I adhere to the time-honored pedagogic principle that it is always safest to assume as little as possible.

Logic, taken as a whole, is a wide, deep, and wonderfully varied field, and I would be pleased if my readers, as a result of their encounter with this little book, were moved to become more familiar with it. However, my aim here is very modest. This is neither a treatise in logical theory nor a textbook in logic—though I would not be disappointed to learn that it proves useful in the classroom. My governing purpose was to write a practical guidebook, presenting the basic principles of logic in a way that is accessible to those who are encountering the subject for the first time. Being Logical seeks to produce practitioners, not theoreticians—people for whom knowing the principles of logic is in the service of being logical.

In the hope of better serving the practical ends of the book, I have adopted a somewhat informal style, often addressing the reader directly, and, in the manner of a tutor or coach, sometimes assuming a distinctively directive tone. I treat logic in five stages, represented by the five parts of the book, each successive stage building upon the one that preceded it. Part One is preparatory, and deals with the proper frame of mind that must be established if logical thinking is to take place at all. In Parts Two and Three, the heart of the book, we pass into the realm of logic proper. Part Two explains the foundational truths that govern logical thinking, while Part Three focuses on argument—the public expression of logical thinking. In Part Four, I discuss attitudes and frames of mind that promote illogical thinking. Finally, Part Five concentrates on the particulars of illogical thinking—the fallacies.

A final word, of admiration and appreciation, for a sparkling little book called The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, which was the inspiration for Being Logical. What I have managed to accomplish here is no match for the unique achievement of Strunk and White, but I hope that Being Logical might to some degree succeed in doing for the cause of good thinking what The Elements of Style has done for that of good writing. My earnest wish is that this book may succeed in convincing its readers of the intrinsic importance of logic—and that it engender in them an appreciation for the priceless satisfaction which inevitably accompanies the happy state of being logical.