Philosophy and Logic Notes PDF

# 1st Semester ## Course Title - Logic, Philosophy ## Course Code - G.S.P. 207 ### Course Description: 1. A brief survey of the meaning and branches of philosophy: * Philosophy is a speculative discipline which begins in wonder. * Wonder makes us to reflect and in the process we begin to quest...

# 1st Semester ## Course Title - Logic, Philosophy ## Course Code - G.S.P. 207 ### Course Description: 1. A brief survey of the meaning and branches of philosophy: * Philosophy is a speculative discipline which begins in wonder. * Wonder makes us to reflect and in the process we begin to question, analyze and speculate about ideas, thoughts and our seen and unseen experiences * The moment we subject our speculations to critical analysis to get some understanding. # 2 We are involved in philosophical engagement - that is philosophizing. * To philosophize is to wonder about life, about wrong and right, love and loneliness, war and death, about freedom, truth, beauty, time and other things. * To philosophize is to explore life, break free to ask questions that are not resulting easy answers. * Philosophy is for those who still have the capacity for wonder. ### Definition Of Philosophy: * The word philosophy comes from the Greek word; *Phibo* to love and *sophie* “wisdom”. * Philosophy is the love of wisdom * Philosopher - a lover of wisdom. # 3 * The word philosophy was first used by Pythagoras - when he referred to himself = love of wisdom. * Phil for him is a rational, critical and objective inquiry. * Philosophy is generally regarded as perhaps the most abstruse (difficult to comprehend) and abstract of all subjects. * Three approaches that can be used to answer the question “what is philosophy: 1. Those who seek to define phil. by showing how it differs from other academic disciplines and social practicing. For them, phil. is a reflection on very general aspects of the world, especially those aspects that impinge or involve on the lives of human beings. *(Stroid, 2001:28)* # 4 2. The second group involves those who understand phil. purely as a normative enquiry - for this group, Phil focuses on the normative claims about either what we ought to think or what we ought to do. *(Heist. 2001 P.6)* 3. The third group includes those who agree that phil. is not reducible to a set of problems, a body of doctrines or a series of conclusions. For them, phil is a continuous critical activity or permanent of endless enquiry. *(Stroud. 2001)* * **Socrates** - as a reflective self-examination of principles of a just and happy life. * **Aristoth** - a systematic search for both. * **Cosmologists** - the study of the universe, its origins, elements and laws. # 5 * **The Rationalists** - a search for the rational principles that bind the Universe and the human life together into a single logical whole. * **An Epistemologist** - a critique and dissection of the mind’s power to know. * **Anotole G. Mazour** - an inquiry into the most fundamental questions of reality and human existence. * **Kwasi Wiredu** - is an analytic and rational investigation aimed at providing one with a fundamental outlook to life. # 6 ## Approaches to Philosophy 1. Common man Approach - personal attitude to life 2. Esoteric Sense (Mysticism) - as something mystical or spiritual, etc. 3. Professional / academic Approach - love of wisdom, critical search for principles of reality, search for truth, critical analysis of language and concepts and dead. ## Characteristics of Philosophy: 1. Love or search for the true meaning of every subject matter seen or imagined 2. Universalism - It seeks universal principles or the principles of all things 3. Comprehensiveness - It treats the whole, not parts like chemistry. # 7 4. Criticism - uses arguments to arrive at its position or conclusion. 5. Rational Approach - essentially rational, not experimental like physics and chemistry . 6. Questioning for understanding and exploring every issue. 7. Speculative and critical. 8. Broad and correct meaning. # 8 ## Brief History of Philosophy * It is as old as man. * Academically - phil. started when humans started trying to understand reality by the use of reason. * For Westerners - phil. started/began in Greece around the 4th-5th Century B.C. * The Milesian philosophers - Thales, Anaximenes and Anaximenes were the first to move from the poetry of the Homer and Hesiod, to begin and engage in critical reflection. They asked questions, what is this world made of? # 9 - However, the teaching of Socrates and the works of Plato and Aristotle, phit. assumed a more systematic dimension. - Some argued that the Greek origins is fictitious - because for them, it was in Africa precisely in Egypt. Innocent Cycloney argued in his book - *African origin of Greek Philosophy 2018* - For him (Oxycurenje) the Greek Phil started as a result of the significant influence it got from Egypt. To substantiate this, he recalled the numerous travels of Socrates, Pythagoras and others to Egypt and how one can find Egyptian prototypes in their philosophy. # 10 ## Kinds of Philosophy 1. African philosophy 2. Philosophies in the East - Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islamic philosophy, Jainism, Shintoism Judaism and Judaes -xian philosophy. 3. Western philosophy. ## Epochs in Philosophy: 1. Ancient period (600BC - 5000 AD) - this is the period of Shaping of philosophic mind, by raising some fundamental questions about life and searching for solutions. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Hypocritus, Zeno, Heraclitus etc. # 11 2. Medieval period ( 354 AD - 1400 AD) - Dominated by Xian thinkers - The Conference of phil and theology. They interpreted life issues from God’s eye-view. St. Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, Bocuis, St Anselm, John on Scotus etc. 3. The Renaissance Period -1276-1667 - Re-applying religious thoughts and sound reasoning. 4. Early Modern Period ( 1400 AD- 1800 AD) - phil and the unfolding of the world of Science. It magnate the era of scientific thinking - Francis Bacon, Galilee Galiloo, Rene Descartes, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, Immanuel Kant etc. # 12 5. Later Modern Period (1800AD - 1900 AD) - This is the period of intellectual revolution. Further enlightenment in philosophical. George Hegel, Auguste Comte, Soren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche etc. ## Use/Importance of Philosophy: 1. It makes an individual to be reasonable - it helps one to make good choices, live a better life, accomplish life set-goals, and become a better person. It helps to engage in reasonable arguments, and discover stronger arguments. 2. It helps us to be moral agents. - it helps to shape our morality. # 13 3. It offers us knowledge: it offers us the thinking necessary for the development of natural sense, discovers new ways of making life better, insights on how to solve controversial life issues. 4. It is enjoyable: it makes us to enjoy seeking for knowledge. It enriches our living. 5. It Satisfies our sense of being human in a unique way. 6. It helps us to live a better life. 7. It helps us to identify deception. 8. It helps us to understand the history of thought. # 14 9. Be equipped with tools with which to handle complex issues in life. 10. Refine and upgrade the sciences and other fields of learning. 11. Search for ideal life, ideal society, and ideal world. ## Major Branches of Philosophy: 1. Metaphysics: This is the study of the nature of being or existence. It is the theory of Reality or what is real. It is an attempt to penetrate beyond the surface of experience and obtain knowledge about what lies beneath. # 15 2. Epistemology: The word epistemology – is derived from two Greek words: episteme – meaning – knowledge and logos – meaning theory. Thus, *epistemology* means *Theory of knowledge*. It raises the following questions: * What is knowledge? * How is knowledge acquired? * Can what we call knowledge be certain that it cannot be doubted? * What are the sources of knowledge: what is truth? # 16 3. Ethics: (Moral Philosophy) This is concerned with the rightness or wrongness of our actions. It gives us the guide or principle of conduct. 4. Logic: This is the theory of correct reasoning which seeks to investigate and establish the criteria of valid inference and demonstration, plus the laws and procedures of arguing. # 17 5. Axiology: This is the study of values. It studies how man determines his choices in life and how those choices determine his behavior. It studies how values give directives to life. 6. Aesthetics: This is the philosophical theory of art, and it involves judgements about art and beauty in general. ## Philosophy of Other Sciences/Discipline 1. Theodic / Phil of Religion 2. Philosophical Anthropology 3. Philosophical Psychology (phil of Mind) 4. Social/Political Phil. 5. Phil of language/literature 6. Phil of Art 7. Phil of Education 8. Phil of Science 9. Phil of Law/Jurisprudence 10. Phil of History 11. Medical Ethics 12. Mathematical Logic 13. feminist phil # 18 ## Concluding Remarks: * To avoid regrets and wrong choices we need phil. * A lot of people wallow in lack of knowledge. Poverty of the pocket and of the mind are dangerous and shocking. * If we are to give meaning to life, we need phil. * If we are to live well, make right choices and maintain decent quality of environment, we need phil. * If we are to make good educational systems, we need phil. * Without the knowledge of phil. life is meaningless. # 19 ## Logic: * The term logic is derived from the Greek word *logos* which means - story, or discourse, manner, word. * Cope - sees logic as the study of the methods and principles of differentiating correct from incorrect reasoning/arguing. * Logic is then the science of good reasoning. * It is the most essential instrument of phil. * It is also indispensable to other branches. * **Offer (Copé)** - defines it as a branch of phil. that teaches us the basic principles, techniques and procedures for distinguishing good arguments from bad ones. * Logic sometimes been characterized as a discipline that deals with sets of sentences or propositions as logicians choose to call it. # 20 ## Types of Discourse * **What is discourse?** Discourse is what is produced in different types of language used in different kinds of social situations or contexts, and as a result of different ways of structuring language for social practice. *(Fairclough 2006:2) * * Note that in linguistics, discourse is sometimes used to refer to explicit samples of spoken dialogue in contrast with written texts. ## Types of Discourse: A. **Classification of Discourse Based on Mode of Presentation** - 2 ways: * **Written & Oral** - written discourse in writing, oral in oral. B. **Classification Content - 2 types:** * **Informative Discourse** & **Persuasive Discourse** # 21 ## 1. Informative Discourse: This is a type of discourse that is meant to pass on information, such as what we see in scientific discourses or newspaper discourses. * Here, there are not a lot of arguments since the focus is on information *(science, explaining, comparing etc.)* * **Combination of Discourse:** * **Description** - to describe. * **Comparison** - these two also attempt to explain why something happens. * **Explanation** *(there are two types of explanation:* 1. **Physical** which appeals to some natural cause to account for an event. # 22 ## Psychological: This appeals to mental states as explanations for a particular effect. * One funny man bought a dog, wrote the word *“Behavior”* on a sheet of paper and placed it around the dog’s neck, like a tag. ## 2. Persuasive Discourse: This is a type of discourse in which information is not just being presented but more than that, ideas are being presented in a way to persuade others to think in the same or similar line as the presenter of the discourse. * This is common in political, religious, and philosophical discourse. * In this type of discourse - pieces of information are presented, not for the purpose of explaining, but for the purpose of convincing the listener or reader that based on ideas X,Y, and Z, it is reasonable to accept Q. * Eg = Given that Anthony has chosen to be absent during all classes this semester, it makes sense that he is not interested in making a good grade in this course. # 23 ## Nature of Arguments In our daily activities everywhere, as every time, during formal and informal, personal, group, reflections, discussions we speak or write or read during which we speak or write, we speak or write with an intuition = to identify our actions or reactions as, whether right or wrong, blame or praise worthily. # 24 ## To explain something to someone or grasp * Every movement from one idea to another, whereby the second is logically dependent on the first, is known as a rational process, and the person who engages in the process is said to be engaged in reasoning or in an argument. * An argument occurs when we try to take a position based on one or more other ideas provided as a rationale for our taking the position. * These first ideas presented as the basis for another or others are known as *Premises*. * Whereas the position arrived at from them is known as *Conclusion*. - In arguments, Premises are the propositions upon which inferences are based. ## *- Argument is a connected series of sentences, statements or propositions called premises that are intended to give reasons of some kind for a sentence, statement, or proposition, called the Conclusion.* (Innott-Armstrong & Fogelin 2010:3) * *Sentences and propositions are the same in the sense that each of them is meant to convey meaning.* - *Difference b/w Statement and proposition*= * A statement may just be for instruction * Every proposition is a statement that requires affirmation or negation. * *Eg* All *Nig. Student’s are Smart & intelligent* = is a proposition - it demands by its nature, an affirmation or negative position. # 25 * 3 Levels of Logical Process: 1. Simple Apprehension 2. Judgment 3. Reasoning/Argument ## 1. Simple Apprehension: This refers to the action of the mind in forming a neutral concept without inputting any positive or negative trait to the concept. * *Eg* *Look at this bus. This is simple apprension because nothing was affirmed or denied.* - *Judgment/Statement/Proposition:* * *Judgment* is seen as opposite of Simple Apprehension. * This refers to the act of asseveration or affirmation of a fact for a given object or person. *Eg* - My VC is very tall - one has applied judgement by affirming that his VC is tall. * In logic the word *“judgment, Statement, and proposition”* are all interchangeable used; hence, they are synonymous - even though they may not exactly be the same *(S/P/Pr)* * - *Statement/ Judgment/ Proposition* - State facts. - *They are verifiable sentences* - *Nigeria is a poor country* = this sentence can be verified either to affirmation or negation. # 26 * From the above explanations, one notices that all statements/propositions are sentences, but not all sentences are propositions. ## Types of Propositions/Judgment = to affirm or denying a state of affair: 1. **Universal Affirmative Proposition (A)** * **This proposition affirms something of every member of a given class of objects/animals/people. Eg =** *In Sihuas, all students who offer 45 courses now take Computer-Based Examination (CB)*. 2. **Universal Negative Propositions (E)** **As the name implies, this proposition denies something of every member of a given class of objects/animals or people.** * **Eg =** *No Fulani man hates rice 1960.* * **Particular Affirmative Proposition (I)** * This proposition affirms something for some members but not all members of a given class of objects/animals or people. * **Eg =** *Some students are very hungry.* # 27 4. **Particular Negative Proposition (O)** * This proposition denies something of some members of a given class of objects/animals or people. * **Eg =** *Some Nigerians will not vote for Tinubu.* ## Alphabets Representation of Propositions and Judgement: 1. **Universal Aff. Pro = A** 2. **Universal Neg. Pro = E** 3. **Parti Aff. Pro = I** 4. **Parti. Neg. Pro = O** # 28 ## All S is P = A = Sap. ## No S is P = E = Sep. ## Some S are P = I = sip. ## Some S are not P = 0 = Sop. - The letters *sap* represent the Subject and predicate terms respectively. # 29 * Every proposition has 3 basic parts; the Subject, the Predicate, and the Copula. * The Subject is the object/animal/person referred to in the predicate in what is referred about the subject * While the Copula is the connecting verb. * **Eg =** *All students of SumAs are smart*. * **All Students** = is a Subject. * **Smart =** is a Predicate. * **are =** is a Copula # 30 ## Reasoning and arguments. * This is the 3rd and last stage of any logical process. * From here, the mind progresses from one given idea to an even more complex one, forms a new and fruitful proposition. * An argument is a set of statements, in which one called a conclusion is claimed to be the consequence of or to be justified by the others called variously as evidence, reasons, grounds or premises. ## Every argument has a * *Premise* is just those particular propositions, which in a given situation provide logical support for a conclusion. * *Eg* * *Premise 1* = All SumAs students are smart. * *Premise 2* = Peter is a SumAs Student. * *Conclusion* = Therefore, Peter is smart. # 31 * *When a deductive argument has two premises,* is called a ***syllogism*:* * *Eg* * *1st Pre* = *All Senators in Nig* have many cars. * *2nd Pre* = *Dele is a Senator.* * *Coucl* = *Therefore Dele has many cars.* # 32 ## Deductive & Inductive Arguments 1. **Deductive Argument** - originates from Aristotle - here Aristotelian logic. * In deductive met, the evidence is derived from a universal proposition (Premise) to a particular proposition (Conclusion). * **1st Premise:** All men are mortal. * **2nd Premise:** Emeka is a man. * **Conclusion:** Therefore Emeka is mortal. * In every deductive argument, the premises imply the conclusion. The conclusion is necessarily connected to the premises. - **In deductive arguments/reasoning, we move from a universal thing to a particular thing:** - ***When a deductive argument has two premises and a conclusion,* it is called a **syllogism.** * ***Eg* *1st Pre* = *All Senators in Nig* have many cars. *2nd Pre* = *Dele is a Senator* **Coucl** = *Therefore Dele has many cars.* # 33 ## Inductive argument * This was founded by Francis Bacon hence it is also called **Baconian method:** * **Unlike deductive reasoning, which goes from general to particular, Ind. reasoning moves from particular to infer a universal thing.** * **Eg:** * *1st Pre* = Ali boils water at 100°C. * *2nd Pre* = You boils water at 100°C. * **Conclusion:** Therefore probably water boils at 100°C * The diff b/w Ind and deductive reasoning is that the conclusion of deductive reasoning is necessarily certain, while the conclusion of inductive reasoning is probable. * *Here, the conclusion does not necessarily follow the premises but could probably be inferred.* # 34 * The probability nature of Ind reasoning makes it the most veritable - more of argumentations used in most scientific experimentations or theories as we have in Chemistry, Physics and Biology. * **Eg:** * *Chris* = *Ronaldo is a Portuguese and a football star*. * *Lus Pre* = *Wani is Portuguese and a football star*. * *One therefore* = *Probably all Portuguese are football stars.* # 35 ## Fallacies: pg. 79-96 1. **What is a fallacy?** 2. **Classification of informal fallacies.** 3. **Fallacies of Relevance:** * **Appeal to pity** (*argumentum ad misericordian*) * **Appeal to force** (*argumentum ad baculum*) * **Argument against a person** (*argumentum ad hominem)* * **The Straw Man fallacy** * **The Red Herring** * **Miss the point** (*Ignoratio Elechi*) 4. **Fallacies of weak induction:** * **Appeal to inappropriate authority** (*argumentum ad verecundiam*) * **Argument from ignorance** (*argumentum ad ignorantiam*) * **Hasty generalization** (*Converse accident*) * **False cause** (*Non causa pro causa)* * **Weak analogy** # 36 5. **Fallacies of Presumption:** * **Fallacy of Accident** * **Complex question** (*plurium interrogation*) * **Begging the question** (*petitio principii*) * **False dichotomy** 6. **Fallacies of Ambiguity:** * **Equivocation** * **Amphiboly** 7. **Fallacies of grammatical analogy:** * **Composition** * **Division** 8. **How to detect fallacy fallacies** 9. **Avoiding fallacy** # 37 ## Basic Symbolic Logic: * **Introduction** * **Sentences and Arguments** * **Symbols and their usage** * **Logical connectives and truth-tables** * **Conjunction** * **Disjunction or Alternation** ## Law of Thought: * **Law of thought** * This is the way of thinking - the entire world is governed by laws. * **Three universal laws of thought:** 1. **Law/Principle of Identity** 2. **Law/Principle of Contradiction** 3. **Law/Principle of Excluded middle** # 38 1. **Law of Identity:** * This law asserts that what is, is. Any statement that is true is true. If I am Emeka, then I am Emeka. 2. **Law/Pr. of Contradiction:** * Can also be called *Principle of non-contradiction*. * It affirms that no entity can be what it is and, not what it is at the same time. * It implies that nothing could be A and not A at the same time. 3. **No Judgement Could be true & false at the Same Time** *(If you were, you are, you can't be true. If you were you are, you can't be false. )* * *So if you are a student then you are a student*, or If you are a student then you are not a student. You see, this is the same question asked in different ways. - **Law/Pr of Excluded Middle:** * This law states that in-between truth or falsehood, there is nothing. * Hence, the middle is empty *(if I am Emeka, I am Emeka. Or if I am Jude, I am Jude)*. # 39 * **I am Jude. I cannot be partly Jude, and partly Stella. There is no middle way between Elecka & Jude.** ## Basic Interpretations In Law: 1. **Critical Thinking:** * **Critical - *Greek* = Kritikos ** = *able to judge or discern.* C.T - is a *basis of thinking* in which you question, analyze, interpret, evaluate and make a judgment about what you read, hear or say or write * **C.T. Skills** = *Analysis, Inference, Communication, Problem solving* # 40 ## Creativity and Innovation * **Creativity** is the act of conceiving something new. * **Innovation** is the act of putting something into practice. * **Creativity** is thinking up the idea of flying into space. Whereas, **innovation** is building the rocket. # 41 ## Human Rights and Social Justice * **Human Rights** are justice - the privileges that come to one as a human person. * The idea of fair and just interactions between the individual and society is known as **social Justice**. * **Social Justice** in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. # 42 * **Social Justice** is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities ## Types of Social Justice: 1. * **Distributive** - determines who gets what. 2. * **Procedural** - how fairly people are treated. 3. * **Retributive** - based on punishment for wrong-doing. 4. * **Restorative** - to restore relationships to “rightness.” ## Man’s Duties and Responsibilities To The State and vice versa: * The prime duty of the government is to serve and protect the people. * The government may call on the people to defend the state, and in the fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required under conditions provided by law to render personal, military or civil service.