A Crash Course in Logic

Rosnani Hashim
Centre for Philosophy in schools Malaysia
IIUM
 Deductive Reasoning
• Logic – the study of rules for argument
• Argument – a group of stmts having a
number of premises (reasons) that lead to
a conclusion.
Premise 1. Premise 2 (etc)  So, conclusion
Kitty is a cat. All cats are animals. So, Kitty is an
animal.
This move is also called inference.
Conclusion “follows from” the premises.
 Does it really follow?
The whole question of logic is: does it really follow? Or in other
ways:
• are the reasons good enough?
• Do the premises support (justify, entail) the conclusions?
• Is the move/inference from premises to conclusions justified?
• If we are sure of the premises, does that mean we can be
sure of the conclusion?
• If we accept all the premises, do we have to accept the
conclusion?
• Is there any way that all the premises could be true and the
conclusion be false?
 Truth vs Validity
• Premises and conclusions : True or false
• Argument: valid or invalid
• A valid deductive argument – truth perserving
i.e. conclusion is as true as premises
• A sound argument : an argument that is valid
and contain only true premises
• The validity of an argument has to be judged
independently from the truth or falsehood of
each premise.
 Valid argument yet could be
rejected
Miko is a Republican  So, Miko is conservative
(since: all Republicans are conservative)

There is a God  So, there will be a final judgemt

(since: if there is a God, there will be a final
judgmt)
To judge the truth of stmts, we have to use our
own experience or rely on some authority.
 Valid argument yet ..
Ipoh is the capital of Perak  so, Ipoh is
located in Selangor
(since: the capital of Perak is located in
Selangor)
Argument is valid (structure wise) but ..
Ipoh is the capital of Perak  So, Kuantan
is located in Pahang
(since: the capital of Perak is in Kinta)
 Class syllogisms
Syllogism: a deductive argument with two
premises and one conclusion
Eg. Kitty is a cat  So, kitty is an animal
(since: all cats are animals)
Cats
cats
X (Kitty)
x
x

Animals
 Deductive argument patterns
Valid Patterns Invalid Patterns
All As are Bs All As are Bs
C is an A C is a B
Tfore, C is a B tfore, C is an A

If P, then Q If P, then Q
P Q
Tfore, Q Tfore, P

If P, then Q If P, then Q
Not Q Not P
Tfore, not P Tfore, not Q
 Standardization
• Language doesn’t capture the complexity
of reality & logical systems don’t capture
the complexity of ordinary language
• Only 3 quantifiers: ‘all’, ‘some’, and ‘no’.
• So, many, almost all, quite a few, only a
few, almost none at all  some
• Cats chase birds => ‘all’. So, if ‘all’ is not
meant, then quantify stmt accordingly.
 Exercise
How would you draw circles to illustrate
sentences:
1. All As are Bs
2. All Bs are As
3. Some As are Bs
4. Some Bs are As
5. No As are Bs
6. No Bs are As
 All and Only
“all” and “only” don’t mean the same thing, in
language or in logic.
Eg. All men are apes
Only men are apes
But “only” stmt can be converted into “all” stmts
“Only natural-born citizens can be President”
“All ……………………………………………..
 Hypothetical (If-Then)
syllogisms
• It’s raining  So, the street is wet
(since: if it’s raining, the street is wet)
The Premise “If P, then Q” means that P is
a sufficient cause or condition of Q,
which means that P is one thing – but not
necessarily the only thing- that will make
Q happen i.e. P is enough to make Q
happen, but there might be other causes
sufficient to make Q happen.
 Sufficient causes
• If it’s raining, the street is wet
• If it’s snowing, the street is wet
• If the river is flooding, the street is wet
• If the dam is broken, the street is wet

Sufficient causes Effect

Raining
Snowing Wet Street
River Flooding
Dam Breaking
 What’s the conclusion?
1. If it’s raining, the street is wet
It’s not raining,
So, …
2.If it’s raining, the street is wet
The street is wet,
So, …
3. If it’s raining, the street is wet
The street is not wet,
So, …
 Only if
“If” and “only if” don’t mean the same thing
Eg. If it rains, the street will be wet
Only if it rains will the street be wet.
The premise “Only if P, then Q,” means that P is
a necessary cause or condition of Q i.e. if P
does not happen, Q will not happen. Again, it
may take more than P to make Q happen (> 1
necessary cause).
 Necessary causes
Necessary causes Effect
Mother dies
I get that job I’ll marry you
My divorce goes
through
None of these conditions are sufficient for the
marriage. All are necessary i.e. all of them must
happen if the marriage is to happen.
Hence, “Only if P, then Q” = “If Q, then P”.
 Exercise
1. “Only if Ali was left-handed, could he
have painted this rose”, means the same
as
“If …………………., then …………….”
2. “Only if I get at least a B+ in this class
will I maintain my 3.0 GPA,” means
“If …………………, then ……………..”
 If and only if
P if and only if Q =
If P then Q and If Q then P
“I will hire you here if and only if you quit
your job with that company”, means
1.
2.
 Inductive Reasoning
Deductive:
All Kelantanese speak with an accent,
Sofiah is a Kelantanese,
So, she speaks with an accent
Inductive:
Sofiah, and Kamil and every Kelantanese I’ve met
speaks with an accent,
So, all Kelantanese speak with an accent.
Deductive: general  particular
Inductive: particular  general
 Differences bet Deductive and
Inductive
Deductive Inductive
1 Movement from Movement from
general to particular particular to gen.
2 Conclusions are no guarantee that
guaranteed to be true conclusion is true.
Likely or probable
3. Valid or invalid Strong or weak
 Example
Every al-Fulan child I’ve met has had brown
hair. Tonight I’m meeting Sharifah al-fulan
– from the same family – whom I’ve never
seen before, but I suppose she has red
hair too.
For an inductive argument to make sense,
the premises must be relevant to the
conclusion.
 Generalizing and over
generalizing
The biggest danger in induction is over generalizing or
hasty generalization
Eg. I’ve known a few really dysfunctional Dalmatians in my
time; and now my roommate is buying one. I am
considering moving.
In order to avoid over generalizing:
1. What is the relevance of the premises to the conclusion
(of the data to the new warrant)
2. How big is the sample of the population you are
generalizing from? 2%? 50%? 90%?
3. Is the sample representative of the whole group?
4. Was there a control group?
 Causation and correlation
Correlation: when two things always happen together
eg. heavy rainfall and landslides;’
smoking and lung cancer.
Problem: when there is a correlation bet two things,
X and Y, there are 4 causal possibilities:
1. X causes Y 2. Y causes X
3. Both X and Y are caused by Z
4. There is no causation going on; it is just a
coincidence
Correlation alone is not enough to estb causation
 Example of faulty causal
inference
Most sex offenders have admitted to using
a lot of pornography, so using
pornography can cause you to become a
sex offender.