Natural Deduction: An Introduction to Logic with Real Arguments, a Little History, and Some Humour - Softcover

Arthur, Richard T.W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551111829 ISBN 13: 9781551111827

Publisher: Broadview Press, 2011

Synopsis

Richard Arthur’s Natural Deduction provides a wide-ranging introduction to logic. In lively and readable prose, Arthur presents a new approach to the study of logic, one that seeks to integrate methods of argument analysis developed in modern “informal logic” with natural deduction techniques. The dry bones of logic are given flesh by unusual attention to the history of the subject, from Pythagoras, the Stoics, and Indian Buddhist logic, through Lewis Carroll, Venn, and Boole, to Russell, Frege, and Monty Python.

About this title

About the Author

Richard T.W. Arthur is Professor of Philosophy at McMaster University.

Review

“By and large, this is an excellent addition to the store of introductory logic texts. Arthur’s approach skillfully weaves a thread between formal and informal approaches in such a way that an instructor may emphasize the latter or the former according to preference. Along the way, students practice translating natural language arguments, and in the process learn a bit about the history of philosophy and logic, all of this with an occasional laugh. The result is a text that many instructors will find compelling.” ― Nicholas Fillion and Bradley Zurcher, Dialogue

“This excellent text covers all the standard topics and more. Its real strength lies in the clarity and humour of exposition and in the richness of examples and exercises. The illustrations are invariably interesting, since often they are related to current events or the history of philosophy and science or are drawn from Monty Python. The last of these provides several memorable fallacies. Arthur’s Natural Deduction is one of the finest introductions to logic available today.” ― James Robert Brown, University of Toronto

“Richard Arthur’s engagingly written Natural Deduction introduces symbolic logic as something that grows naturally out of everyday reasoning. The treatment of category logic in this book, based on an elegant notation created by Lewis Carroll, is original and insightful. I also like Arthur’s suggestion that there is a link between logic and humour: the same mental muscles that enable one to see the point of a joke must also be those that enable one to see a logical connection. His exercises are ingenious and thought-provoking. This unique book is superb and I recommend it highly.” ― Kent A. Peacock, University of Lethbridge

Edition details

• Publisher: Broadview Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1551111829
• ISBN 13: 9781551111827
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 452