to those who were not able to take the part 1 (ORALS) of the final exam, i have no other option but to give you an INC (Incomplete) remark. i believe, giving an INC remark is fair and just. furthermore, in lieu of taking the oral exam you are going to submit a reaction paper. topics are as follows:
1. cogito, ergo, sum. (i think therefore i am)
2. nothing is constant except change.
3. ignorance is the beginning of knowledge.
you chose of one the topics and submit your reaction paper to the CMIT secretary. your reaction paper must not be more than two pages. it must be written in a short bond paper.
God bless!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
THE PREDICAMENTS AND PREDICABLES
This part is given as an introduction to the next topic on definitions. Whenever we attempt to define things, we try to find out what is the feature that the thing has in common with other objects so that we may readily disclose the nature of the thing from such common feature. Then when we proceed to look for the feature that distinguishes the thing from other objects and manifests the specific nature that is proper to the thing.
THE TEN PREDICAMENTS
The first predicament is that of Substance. The other nine predicaments are classifications of the so-called metaphysical accidents, which are non-essential modification of the substance.
1. SUBSTANCE – is a being that exists by or for itself and does not need any other subject in order to exist. Ex. Man; house. It answers the question “who or what is this thing?”
ACCIDENTS – is any thing that cannot exist by itself and must be attached to a substance. The following as the accidents:
2. Quantity – an accident which determines the spatial extension of a thing in the form of magnitude or multitude. Ex. The pole is 10 feet long. It answers the question “how much or how big?”
3. Quality – is an accident which specifies or characterizes a thing. Ex. Intelligent; brave. It answers the question “what sort of a thing it is?”
4. Relation – is an accident which logically or really connects one thing with another. Ex. Fatherhood; taller than. It answers the question “to what or to whom does it refer to?”
5. Action – is the motion of the substance commonly inducing a result on doing something in another time. Ex. Painting; running. It answers the question “what hr is doing?”
6. Passion – is the reception of an effect from another. Sometimes, it is called reaction. Ex. Being heated; being killed. It answers the question “what does it do to another?”
7. Time – is an accident that measure the duration of mobile beings. Ex. Yesterday; at
8. Place – is an accident that determines the location. Ex, in Calbayog; in the air. It answer the question, “where?”
9. Posture -– is an accident which tells the position of part of the body. Ex. Standing; to sit down.
10. Habit – is an accident signifying the coverings of the things that are placed around the body. Ex. Clothed; armed. It answers the question “how surrounded, equipped or conditions?”
THE PREDICABLES
The predicables are the different kinds of logical universals, that is, universal concepts that may applied to many subjects. Taken as classifications, they are universal concepts bearing different kinds of logical relationship to the subject.
1. Genus – a universal term that expresses the essential feature which a things has in common with other species; e.g., man is an animal. The predicate animal is the genus or generic feature which man shares with the brutes.
2. Specific Difference – a universal tern that expresses the essential feature which distinguishes the essence of the subject from the essence of other things with which the subject shares the same genus; e.g., man is a rational being. Rationality is the essential feature which distinguishes the essence or nature of man from that of brutes.
3. Species – a universal term that expresses the whole essence or nature of the subject. It embodies both the genus and the specific difference as constituent or essential features of the subject; e.g., man is a RATIONAL – ANIMAL.
4. Property – a universal term that expresses a feature that does not form part of the essence of the subject, but necessarily derives from its essence in an exclusive and distinctive manner; e.g., man is a being capable of education, of wonderment, of religious sentiment, etc.
Logically considered, property is not any attribute that derives from or goes with the nature of man, e.g. three – fold dimension, mortality, etc.; but only a feature that is exclusive of the essential nature of man and hence derives primarily from his specific constituent feature (specific difference).
5. Accident – a universal term that expresses a feature which is not part of the essence of the subject, not necessarily connected with it, but is found in the subject only in an accessional or contingent manner; e.g., Pedro is healthy, handsome or virtuous. Contingent means that the feature may be present or may be absent from the subject.
Logical Properties of Terms
As employed or found in the sentence, terms have the following functions or roles; supposition and appellation. Supposition and appellation in modern terminology is called as logical or philosophical semantics. Semantics is the science of the meanings of words, as distinguished from phonetics which is the science of the sounds of words.
SUPPOSITION
Supposition may be taken either as the function whereby a term stands for a meaning in the proposition, or it may be taken for the meaning itself for which the term stands (for from the Latin supponere, “to substitute”). It is this meaning with which we are now concerned. For, whereas a term may have several different meaning in the dictionary, when employed in a sentence it is used to bear one meaning only.
Supposition may be classified:
I. ACCORDING TO THE OBJECT
The supposition is:
Real - when the term designates something found in the external world; E.g. the Republic of the
Logical or Conceptual – when the term designates some product of the mind; E.g. ¾. Under this conceptual category, the supposition may also be ideological, mathematical, superstitious, hypothetical, fictitious, etc. as the designated conceptual object may be.
Metaphorical – when the term designates another thing aside from its literal meaning, from the formal resemblance of the former to the latter; E.g. the Stars and Stripes, namely, the American Nation; Mr. Juan de la Cruz, namely, the common Filipino.
II. ACCORDING TO EXTENSION
The supposition is:
Individual – when the term denotes a definite individual; E.g. the President of the First Philippine Republic;
Universal – when the term denotes distributively all the individuals of the expressed nature or category, or when the term designates a universal formal reason or a universal individual; E.g. men are progressive beings; drunkenness is not a virtue, whereas temperance is; man is mortal. – observe that a grammatically singular term may have a universal supposition.
Particular – when the term denotes only a part of the extension of the universal; E.g. some students are lazy; men (not all but most) are stronger than women (not all but most); men are less emotional than women. – observe that a grammatically plural term may have a particular supposition.
Collection – when the term designates a group, or individuals as constituting a group; E.g. the TTMIST computer hackers team; the SCUAA team.
III. ACCORDING TO COMPREHENSION
The supposition is:
Material – when the term denotes the subject expressed, merely as identified by the quality, form or nature expressed, but not as qualified by it; e.g. the physician sing, or killed a man. He does so not is his capacity as physician but as a human being.
Formal – inasmuch as the term stands for a subject as identified and qualified by the nature or qualification expressed. E.g. this physician has healed many patients. He did so in his capacity as physician.
IV. ACCORDING TO THE MEANING
The supposition is:
Precise – when the term bears only one meaning in the proposition. E.g. I am a Filipino citizen.
Ambiguous – when the term beards several possible meanings in the sentence. E.g. the UST Medical team has arrived. It may mean the playing team, or the professional team. Although the speaker may have definite meaning in his mind yet the listeners is not sure of it.
Proper – when the term stands for its proper object. E.g. Calbayog is the only city in
Figurative – when the term stands for another thing that it suggest. E.g. the
V. RULES ON SUPPOSITION OF TERMS
Sometimes the extent of the supposition of a term does not appear at first glance as we have seen in the examples given. In order to determine the supposition of such term, the following are some general rules obtained from the analysis of the given examples:
1. The extension of the supposition of the subject must be determined from the precise meaning it has in the sentence. E.g., Man is a corruptible being, mean all men distributively.
2. The predicate in an affirmative proposition, whether the proposition is universal or particular, has particular supposition. E.g., mean are mortal (there are other mortal beings aside from men); women are very talkative (there are also men who are talkative than that of women).
Exceptions to this rule are instances in which the predicate is the definition of a universal subject, or the specific part of its definition, or a property of the universal nature of the subject; e.g. man is a rational being. Take note that only man is a rational being.
3. The predicate in a negative proposition, whether the proposition is universal or particular, has universal supposition; e.g. men are not angels; some students are not intelligent.
4. A change or shift in the supposition of an apparently identical term introduces surreptitiously four conceptual terms in a syllogism, which apparently employs only three terms. The syllogism becomes fallacious.
Example:
All plants grow.
Atqui, ice plant is a plant.
Ergo, ice plant grows.
APPELLATION
Appellation literally means the calling of an object. In logic it means the function of a term denominating another term; or conversely, the denomination of a term by another. The denominating term is called the appellant; the denominated term is called the appellate. E.g. A wise (appellant) philosopher (appellate).
When an appellating term is applied to a concrete term, it may affect: a) the subject only as identified by the feature or nature expressed, although not as qualified by it; e.g. a good carpenter, i.e., a good man, although he may not be excellent in carpentry: or b) the subject as identified and qualified by the feature or nature expressed: e.g., a good carpenter, i.e., one who is expert in carpentry.
KINDS OF APPELLATION
Material – when the appellant is applied to the subject only as identified by the feature or nature expressed, but not classified by it. E.g. a poor philosopher, that is, a financially hard up man who is a philosopher.
Formal – when the appellant is applied to the subject as identified and qualified by the feature or nature expressed. E.g. a poor philosopher, that is, one who is not adept in philosophy.
Precise – when the sense of the appellation is definite and clear. E.g. excellent students are assets to the school.
Imprecise – when the sense of the appellation is not definite and clear. E.g. poor students are burden to the school. It may mean financially poor, or academically poor students.
Remarks – a shift or change in appellation changes also makes four terms in a syllogism which apparently emplies only three terms.
Example:
a good artist is an expert performer.
But, Pedro is a good artist (a good man)
Therefore, Pedro is a an expert performer. (it does not follow)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
THE TERM, SIGN OF THE CONCEPT
The term, from the Latin terminus would literally mean the last element into which a proposition may be resolved, namely, the spoken, or the written word.
1. DEFINITION
Term is a sensible conventional sign expressive of a concept.
Sensible: the spoken or written words are sensible, that is, they are perceivable through the senses.
Conventional: this is said by distinction from natural signs. A natural sign is one whose connection with the object it manifest is given by nature: e.g. smoke is a natural sign of fire; heavy dark clouds, of rain. A conventional sign is one whose connection with the thing it manifest is provided by common understanding or agreement, which is usually tacit; e.g. the flag of a nation.
Sign: This is something that manifests another object, aside from itself. If it manifests only itself, it is not a sign.
Expressive of a concept: the term expresses immediately the concept. However, since the concept is essentially expressive of the object, its sign, which is the term, is also expressive of the object.
2. SIGNS
a. Formal sign – one that manifest an object from its likeness or resemblance to it: e.g., a photograph is a formal sign of the physical appearance of a person, or a thing, from the resemblance it bears to the physical appearance of the latter.
b. Instrumental sign – one which manifests an object from any other connection it bears to the latter, aside from resemblance: e.g., footprints, flag, and insignia.
3. CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS
Terms are instrumental signs whereas Concepts are formal signs. The following are some of the classifications of terms.
According To Meaning
a. Univocal or homologous: term bearing the same meaning as applied to several individuals. E.g. man, cat, scientist, student, etc. Pedro is man. Juan is man. Man is taken as a univocal/homologous term.
b. Analogous: term expressing kindred meanings. The Greek word analogy means associated meaning. It may be analogous:
i. BY PROPORTION or by the association of the objects to which the term is applied. It is also known as logical analogy. e.g., the term HEALTHY is analogous by proportion, when applied to a man as subject of health, to climate as factor and to color as sign of health.
ii. BY PROPORTIONALITY, or by virtue of the kindred similarity of the conceptual and formal reasons denoted. It is also known as metaphysical analogy. e.g., between the goodness of a mother and the goodness of a pair of shoes, between the 1/3 of 27 and the 1/3 of 9. Lungs are man and gills are to fish.
The formal reasons of things are intrinsic to them, the said similarity of proportionality is to said to be intrinsic, by distinction from the external or physical similarity of things.
c. Equivocal: term outwardly or apparently the same, but expressing different meanings. The Latin original equivocal denotes sameness as to term only. The term may be equivocal:
i. In pronunciation only. E.g., sweet and suite; week and weak; sun and son; hens and hence; key and quay.
ii. In writing only. E.g., bow [bou] means inclination of head, with or without bending the body and bow [bō] which means weapon shooting arrow; dingy (rowboat or dirty).
iii. In both pronunciation and writing. E.g., ball (spheroid or dance); bat (animal, or club); club (weapon, group, or building); ring (circular device or sound).
d. Metaphorical: term transferred from its proper meaning or object and applied to something lese, on account of the latter’s resemblance to the former and to denote such resemblance. E.g., the king of animals; henpecked husband; tomboy; hand of hand; school head.
According To Extension
a. Common: Term which may be applied indiscriminately to many persons, or objects. E.g., man, house, teacher.
b. Singular or Individual: term which can be applied only to one subject, or to one object. It may be:
i. The proper name: Joseph M. Bello; TTMIST; Senate of the Philippines.
ii. A common term restricted by a particular circumstance of place, time, incident, or object. E.g., the Dean of CMIT; the author of Fundamental logic; the present Pope.
iii. A common term restricted by a demonstrative pronoun. E.g., this computer, that girl.
According To Comprehension
Terms may be concrete, or abstract. Aside from this, term may also be:
a. Generic: when it expresses the common constituent or the common essential feature of the object. E.g., a hammer is TOOL; a man is an ANIMAL.
b. Specific: when it expresses the distinctive constituent or the distinctive essential feature of the object. E.g., man is RATIONAL animal.
1. DEFINITION
Term is a sensible conventional sign expressive of a concept.
Sensible: the spoken or written words are sensible, that is, they are perceivable through the senses.
Conventional: this is said by distinction from natural signs. A natural sign is one whose connection with the object it manifest is given by nature: e.g. smoke is a natural sign of fire; heavy dark clouds, of rain. A conventional sign is one whose connection with the thing it manifest is provided by common understanding or agreement, which is usually tacit; e.g. the flag of a nation.
Sign: This is something that manifests another object, aside from itself. If it manifests only itself, it is not a sign.
Expressive of a concept: the term expresses immediately the concept. However, since the concept is essentially expressive of the object, its sign, which is the term, is also expressive of the object.
2. SIGNS
a. Formal sign – one that manifest an object from its likeness or resemblance to it: e.g., a photograph is a formal sign of the physical appearance of a person, or a thing, from the resemblance it bears to the physical appearance of the latter.
b. Instrumental sign – one which manifests an object from any other connection it bears to the latter, aside from resemblance: e.g., footprints, flag, and insignia.
3. CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS
Terms are instrumental signs whereas Concepts are formal signs. The following are some of the classifications of terms.
According To Meaning
a. Univocal or homologous: term bearing the same meaning as applied to several individuals. E.g. man, cat, scientist, student, etc. Pedro is man. Juan is man. Man is taken as a univocal/homologous term.
b. Analogous: term expressing kindred meanings. The Greek word analogy means associated meaning. It may be analogous:
i. BY PROPORTION or by the association of the objects to which the term is applied. It is also known as logical analogy. e.g., the term HEALTHY is analogous by proportion, when applied to a man as subject of health, to climate as factor and to color as sign of health.
ii. BY PROPORTIONALITY, or by virtue of the kindred similarity of the conceptual and formal reasons denoted. It is also known as metaphysical analogy. e.g., between the goodness of a mother and the goodness of a pair of shoes, between the 1/3 of 27 and the 1/3 of 9. Lungs are man and gills are to fish.
The formal reasons of things are intrinsic to them, the said similarity of proportionality is to said to be intrinsic, by distinction from the external or physical similarity of things.
c. Equivocal: term outwardly or apparently the same, but expressing different meanings. The Latin original equivocal denotes sameness as to term only. The term may be equivocal:
i. In pronunciation only. E.g., sweet and suite; week and weak; sun and son; hens and hence; key and quay.
ii. In writing only. E.g., bow [bou] means inclination of head, with or without bending the body and bow [bō] which means weapon shooting arrow; dingy (rowboat or dirty).
iii. In both pronunciation and writing. E.g., ball (spheroid or dance); bat (animal, or club); club (weapon, group, or building); ring (circular device or sound).
d. Metaphorical: term transferred from its proper meaning or object and applied to something lese, on account of the latter’s resemblance to the former and to denote such resemblance. E.g., the king of animals; henpecked husband; tomboy; hand of hand; school head.
According To Extension
a. Common: Term which may be applied indiscriminately to many persons, or objects. E.g., man, house, teacher.
b. Singular or Individual: term which can be applied only to one subject, or to one object. It may be:
i. The proper name: Joseph M. Bello; TTMIST; Senate of the Philippines.
ii. A common term restricted by a particular circumstance of place, time, incident, or object. E.g., the Dean of CMIT; the author of Fundamental logic; the present Pope.
iii. A common term restricted by a demonstrative pronoun. E.g., this computer, that girl.
According To Comprehension
Terms may be concrete, or abstract. Aside from this, term may also be:
a. Generic: when it expresses the common constituent or the common essential feature of the object. E.g., a hammer is TOOL; a man is an ANIMAL.
b. Specific: when it expresses the distinctive constituent or the distinctive essential feature of the object. E.g., man is RATIONAL animal.
Monday, December 15, 2008
CONTRADICTORY AND CONTRARY CONCEPTS
a. CONTRADICTORY – one of which expresses a positive conceptual reason or formal feature, and the other is negation.
EXAMPLE: White or non – white; Living or non – living.
Between them no intermediate or alternative is possible. a man is either living, or non – living: he may be dying but he is still living.
RULE: one is necessarily true, and the other is necessarily false. Hence, both cannot be affirmed, or denied at the same time of the same thing. If one is affirmed, the other is denied; and vice versa.
E.g., the plant is alive. Therefore, it is not non – alive. The stone is non – alive. Therefore, it is not alive.
b. CONTRARY – concepts that express conceptual reason or formal features which are opposed to each other as extremes in a certain order or class.
EXAMPLE: rich and poor; black and white; clever and stupid.
Between such extremes there are many intermediates possible: a man may neither be white, nor black, but brown; he may not be clever nor stupid, but average.
RULE: both cannot be true; but both can be false. Hence, if one is affirmed, the other must be denied. But, if one is denied, the other is doubtful: it may be affirmed or denied.
E.g., this paper is white; therefore, it is not black. It is not black; it is doubtful if it is white. It cannot be white and black at the same time; but it may not be white nor black.
EXAMPLE: White or non – white; Living or non – living.
Between them no intermediate or alternative is possible. a man is either living, or non – living: he may be dying but he is still living.
RULE: one is necessarily true, and the other is necessarily false. Hence, both cannot be affirmed, or denied at the same time of the same thing. If one is affirmed, the other is denied; and vice versa.
E.g., the plant is alive. Therefore, it is not non – alive. The stone is non – alive. Therefore, it is not alive.
b. CONTRARY – concepts that express conceptual reason or formal features which are opposed to each other as extremes in a certain order or class.
EXAMPLE: rich and poor; black and white; clever and stupid.
Between such extremes there are many intermediates possible: a man may neither be white, nor black, but brown; he may not be clever nor stupid, but average.
RULE: both cannot be true; but both can be false. Hence, if one is affirmed, the other must be denied. But, if one is denied, the other is doubtful: it may be affirmed or denied.
E.g., this paper is white; therefore, it is not black. It is not black; it is doubtful if it is white. It cannot be white and black at the same time; but it may not be white nor black.
IDEA, ABSTRACTION AND PROPERTIES OF IDEAS
Ideas are the building blocks of knowledge and of inference.
Idea is defined as the intellectual “image” or representation of a thing. It is the same as the concept in the mind. The term idea comes from the original Greek which means image. As applied to the idea, the term image be taken metaphorically, in an analogous sense.
The idea is an abstract representation of things, and may be expressed or defined by meaningful terms.
Example: an igorot may intellectually identify and distinguish a watch from other objects; but if he does not know what it is for, or does not know that it is a mechanical device for telling time, he has no idea of it.
1. IDEA AND PHANTASM
The idea must be carefully distinguish from the phantasm.
Phantasm is a sensible image existing in the imagination, which is one of the internal sense – faculties located in the brain. It is defined as the sensible representation of the material features of a thing, usually a kind of pictorial image, bearing a shape or figure.
The idea is the meaning of the phantasm. In our present condition a phantasm usually accompanies the idea. It helps fixate our thoughts.
In the case of the abstract things, as democracy, rights, science, unity, etc., the idea is accompanied by the respective term in the imagination. Oftentimes, however, we create new phantasms and literary expressions to respond to our new ideas.
The chief differences between IDEA and PHANTASM are:
Idea | Phantasm |
ü Found in the intellect ü Universal ü Constant ü Possible of complex and immaterial things | ü Found in the imagination ü Individual ü Changeable ü Not possible of complex and immaterial things |
2. ABSTRACTION OF IDEA
Imagination External senses sense memory Common sense cogitative sense PERCEPT PHANTASM Agent Intellect Possible Intellect ABSTRACTED NATURE THING IDEA
3. PROPERTIES OF IDEA
a. Comprehension – is the set of thought elements or conceptual features contained in an idea. It is also referred to as the implication, or the connotation of the idea.
Thus, when someone asks for the meaning of a term, he expects an answer from its comprehension. E.g., What is philosophy? – a science of all things by their ultimate causes and principles as known by natural reason alone.
b. Extension – is the range or scope of individuals and classes to which idea may be applied. It is also referred to as denotation, application.
Thus, when a student asks for an example of Philosphy, he expects an answer from its extension, as Logic, Epistemology, etc.
The general law on comprehension and extension of idea is that: THE GREATER THE COMPREHENSION, THE LESS IS THE EXTENSION; AND VICE VERSA. This principle also applicable in Terms.
Comprehension | Extension |
Substance | Spirits, minerals, plants, brutes, men |
Material substance | minerals, plants, brutes, men |
Living material substance | plants, brutes, men |
Sentient living material substance | brutes, men |
Rational sentient living material substance | Men |
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
CHAPTER VIII: LOGIC
Logic is generally given as the first part of philosophy. This is does not mean that Logic is the easiest branch of philosophy. It is quite the contrary.
However, Logic is given in the first part of philosophical study because logic imparts the knowledge of correct inferential thinking, and philosophy makes ample use of inferential thinking. In this manner, the student of philosophy is equipped with the intellectual means for gauging and appreciating the validity of the philosophical inferences and for determining the truth of their conclusions with certainty.
On the other hand, the knowledge of logic empowers us not only to make valid inferences, but also to establish the truth of his own conclusions by way of rational demonstrations. This is not of little importance, considering that philosophy deals with abstract matters, and that in the realm of abstract matters, truth and certainty are rather elusive.
ORGANON
For this reason Aristotle designated logic as organon that is to say, the universal rational instrument for the acquisition of philosophical knowledge. It is also the main instrument for pushing forward the frontiers of philosophical knowledge by expanding its conclusions.
Logic is also useful and necessary for equipping the mind with “knowledgeability” for making correct inferences and determining the correctness of the inferences people make regarding abstract things and topics, as freedom, rights, social justice, etc.
LOGIKE
The founder of logic is Aristotle; however, the actual name of logic was introduced by Zeno the Stoic. Coming from the Greek logike, it would etymologically denote a treatise on matters pertaining to thought.
Really, logic is defined as the science and art directing the very act of reason, through which man in the very act of reason proceeds orderly, easily and without error. Thus, it is commonly defined as the philosophical science of correct reasoning or inferential thinking.
Reasoning and thinking do not refer to the act of the mind proper, BUT to the mental product thereof, namely, the syllogistic argument.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LOGIC
Natural Logic – is the innate inclination and aptitude of the intellect for right discourse. Common sense is a natural logic.
Artificial Logic – is the doctrine which acquired through study and work and contains an ordered collection of rules, by which the intellect is directed promptly and effectively to right reasoning.
KINDS OF ARTIFICIAL LOGIC
Minor Logic (Dialectics) – is based from the way according to form because it treats on, the rules after which conclusions are legitimately deduced.
Major Logic (Critics/Epistemology) – is based from the way according to form because it treats on the truth of the conclusion and furthermore, it inquires on what constitutes the truth, the ways in acquiring truth and criterion to distinguish the false from the conclusions.
DIVISION OF LOGIC
Logic is commonly divided according to the three acts of the mind, which provide the different elements of the subject – matter and the different bases of the different inferential functions.
I. Apprehension, Idea, Predictability of Ideas.
II. Judgment, Enunciation, Predication of Ideas.
III. Reasoning, Argument, Inference of new predication.
DEDUCTIVE LOGIC AND INDUCTIVE LOGIC
This division is applicable only to the Third Part of Logic. It covers only the discussion about inferential process from the Universal to the Particular (deduction).
Example:
All TTMIST students are intelligent. (Universal)
But, Gorgonia is a student of TTMIST. (Particular)
Therefore, Gorgonia is intelligent. (particular)
And from Individuals to the Universals (induction). It is also an inadequate division of the whole science.
Example:
This bag falls, this book falls, this pen falls, this pad of paper falls.
Therefore, all material/bodily objects fall.
However, Logic is given in the first part of philosophical study because logic imparts the knowledge of correct inferential thinking, and philosophy makes ample use of inferential thinking. In this manner, the student of philosophy is equipped with the intellectual means for gauging and appreciating the validity of the philosophical inferences and for determining the truth of their conclusions with certainty.
On the other hand, the knowledge of logic empowers us not only to make valid inferences, but also to establish the truth of his own conclusions by way of rational demonstrations. This is not of little importance, considering that philosophy deals with abstract matters, and that in the realm of abstract matters, truth and certainty are rather elusive.
ORGANON
For this reason Aristotle designated logic as organon that is to say, the universal rational instrument for the acquisition of philosophical knowledge. It is also the main instrument for pushing forward the frontiers of philosophical knowledge by expanding its conclusions.
Logic is also useful and necessary for equipping the mind with “knowledgeability” for making correct inferences and determining the correctness of the inferences people make regarding abstract things and topics, as freedom, rights, social justice, etc.
LOGIKE
The founder of logic is Aristotle; however, the actual name of logic was introduced by Zeno the Stoic. Coming from the Greek logike, it would etymologically denote a treatise on matters pertaining to thought.
Really, logic is defined as the science and art directing the very act of reason, through which man in the very act of reason proceeds orderly, easily and without error. Thus, it is commonly defined as the philosophical science of correct reasoning or inferential thinking.
Reasoning and thinking do not refer to the act of the mind proper, BUT to the mental product thereof, namely, the syllogistic argument.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LOGIC
Natural Logic – is the innate inclination and aptitude of the intellect for right discourse. Common sense is a natural logic.
Artificial Logic – is the doctrine which acquired through study and work and contains an ordered collection of rules, by which the intellect is directed promptly and effectively to right reasoning.
KINDS OF ARTIFICIAL LOGIC
Minor Logic (Dialectics) – is based from the way according to form because it treats on, the rules after which conclusions are legitimately deduced.
Major Logic (Critics/Epistemology) – is based from the way according to form because it treats on the truth of the conclusion and furthermore, it inquires on what constitutes the truth, the ways in acquiring truth and criterion to distinguish the false from the conclusions.
DIVISION OF LOGIC
Logic is commonly divided according to the three acts of the mind, which provide the different elements of the subject – matter and the different bases of the different inferential functions.
I. Apprehension, Idea, Predictability of Ideas.
II. Judgment, Enunciation, Predication of Ideas.
III. Reasoning, Argument, Inference of new predication.
DEDUCTIVE LOGIC AND INDUCTIVE LOGIC
This division is applicable only to the Third Part of Logic. It covers only the discussion about inferential process from the Universal to the Particular (deduction).
Example:
All TTMIST students are intelligent. (Universal)
But, Gorgonia is a student of TTMIST. (Particular)
Therefore, Gorgonia is intelligent. (particular)
And from Individuals to the Universals (induction). It is also an inadequate division of the whole science.
Example:
This bag falls, this book falls, this pen falls, this pad of paper falls.
Therefore, all material/bodily objects fall.
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