Keeping Your Thinking On Track
Kenneth Richard Samples
Logic, often defined as "the principle of correct reasoning," helps to order thinking so a person can arrive at truthful, rational conclusions. Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was the first to systematize the principles of logic and referred to logic as a "tool" or "instrument" that helps one arrive at truth.
Logic is used to prove (verify) things through the use of arguments, which consist of two essential parts: (1) a claim (or conclusion), and (2) support for the claim (or premises) in the form of reasons, evidence, or facts. A good argument (sound or cogent) requires that the premises genuinely support the conclusion—a necessary connection called an inferential relationship must exist. A breach in this relationship results in a breakdown or failure of the argument to prove the conclusion. Various fallacies (errors in reasoning) describe breakdowns in the premise(s)-conclusion relationship.
The following acrostic may serve as a guideline to keep one’s reasoning on the logical TRACK:
True support: All premises must be factually true or intellectually acceptable.
Relevant support: The premises must be connected and readily applicable to the conclusion.
Adequate support: The premises must provide enough support—sufficient in number, kind, and weight—to justify the conclusion.
Clear support: The premises must possess clarity, thus avoiding vagueness, ambiguity, and grammatical error.
Knowledgeable support: The premises must qualify as knowledge (justified, true belief), avoiding unwarranted presumption and vulnerability to possible counter evidence.