Why Logic?

Mrs. Dorothy Sayers anticipates this question in her essay "The Lost Tools of Learning". She observes that “(n)eglect of formal Logic in the curriculum is the root cause of nearly all those disquieting symptoms we have noted in the modern intellectual constitution,” including the inability of student to resist propaganda, argue well, follow a sustained argument given by someone else, distinguish between scholarly and slipshod writing, and learn on their own. Sayers argues that the reintroduction of formal Logic into the curriculum will help solve problems such as these. Logic improves reasoning, and it aids in understanding God and His revelation. Logic is an area of study in its own right, but also provides a foundation for other disciplines such as rhetoric, philosophy, ethics, meta-physics, theology, mathematics, law, computer science, and electronics.

Logic as a Science
Logic can be defined as the science of the formal principles of reasoning.
Logic as a science differs from most other sciences that observe the tangible aspects of creation. For example, biology is the study of living things and astronomy is the study of the heavens. Logic observes the human mind as it reasons, as well as the mind as it recognizes fallacious reasoning. It also studies the laws that describe how we do this. More specifically, it aims to reveal the laws that may be used to distinguish good reasoning from poor reasoning.

Logic as an Art
Logic is something to be practiced, not merely known. While logic as a science discovers rules, logic as an art teaches us how to apply those rules in various situations. In particular, it teaches students how to recognize the form of someone else’s argument, and to effectively arrange the components of their own arguments – whether in casual conversation, a serious discussion, a letter to the editor, a formal essay, or a formal debate.