Comments

• Sascha

  June 20

  Deductive Reasoning: Einführung in die Logik by Ansgar Beckermann.
  Inductive Reasoning: An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic.

  This is the foundational starter kit imho.

  I am a Zettler
• wjenkins81

  June 21 edited June 21

  @harr said:
  My favorite bot recommends:

  • Concise Introduction to Logic by Patrick J. Hurley. (goodreads)
  • A Concise Introduction to Logic by Craig DeLancey. (open library)

  What are your experiences? What textbooks did you read and find helpful? What textbook would you recommend?

  I'd also like to find something good. I just checked Patrick Hurley's Concise Introduction to Logic and it's over 600 pages, so Introduction in the name has some irony. But I notice that a lot in books calling themselves introductory, they are often 500 to 700 pages, and books calling themselves comprehensive or mastering are about 200 to 300 pages. At first I found that annoying, and now I just find it funny.

  I think someone would have to set aside a lot of time for Hurley's book as a special project.

  At 322 pages, the Ian Hacking book that Sascha recommended (Inductive Reasoning: An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic) is a good start. There is some maths in it though, but it'll be hard to find a good logic book without any maths.

  I think what you're describing leans more towards rational/critical thinking as opposed to pure logic. So perhaps searching for rational/critical thinking instead might help with your search results.
• tomp

  June 21

  @wjenkins81 said:

  @harr said:

  I think what you're describing leans more towards rational/critical thinking as opposed to pure logic. So perhaps searching for rational/critical thinking instead might help with your search results.

  I agree. Here's the Merriam-Webster Online's first entry for "logic":

  a(1)
  : a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration
  : the science of the formal principles of reasoning

  I personally don't think those two are quite equivalent, but maybe that's just me.
• harr

  June 21 edited June 21

  This is how Hurley prefaces the book:

  The most immediate benefit derived from the study of logic is the skill needed to construct sound arguments of one's own and to evaluate the arguments of others. In accomplishing this goal, logic instills a sensitivity for the formal component in language, a thorough command of which is indispensable to clear, effective, and meaningful communication.

  That's exactly what I am looking for. I still have to check out other recommendations.

  Post edited by harr on June 21
• ZettelDistraction

  June 21

  I'd get an older second-hand edition. The cost of the latest edition is eye-watering.

  Zettel GitHub. Zettel Wiki Erdős #2. Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by hitting back. -- Piet Hein. PROBLEMS. Grooks, 1966. CC BY-SA 4.0.
• harr

  June 21 edited June 21

  @ZettelDistraction said:
  I'd get an older second-hand edition. The cost of the latest edition is eye-watering.

  I have a subscription service for academic books that includes Hurley and Beckermann.

  Hacking is not available and Beckermann only in German. So I'll stick with Hurley for now. :-)

  However there are other relevant books included. A search for "critical thinking" produced helpful results, thanks for the tip @wjenkins81 ! For example, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills - Seventh Edition by William Hughes, Jonathan Lavery, Katheryn Doran looks promising.
• John

  July 1

  Late addition but I got some mileage out of this tiny book during my undergraduate courses.
  Wilfrid Hodges (1980) Logic: An Introduction to Elementary Logic
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1527977.Logic

  I am a Zettler, ie 'one who zettles'
  research: pragmatism, 4e cognitive science, metaphor | you can't be neutral on a moving train