Socratic Logic: A Logic Text Using Socratic Method, Platonic Questions, & Aristotelian Principles (2nd Edn)

(1) This is the only complete system of classical Aristotelian logic in print. The "old logic" is still the natural logic of the four language arts (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Symbolic, or "mathematical," logic may be superior to classical "ordinary-language" Aristotelian logic for the sciences, but not for the humanities, and is more sophisticated theoretically but not more useful practically. (How often have you heard non-philosophers argue in symbolic logic?)

(2) This book is simple and user-friendly. It is highly interactive, with a plethora of exercises and a light, engaging style. Most beginners need a "back to basics" logic text rather than the latest overpriced one with state-of-the-art "bells and whistles" that they will never use outside class.

(3) It is practical. It is designed for do-it-yourselfers as well as classrooms. It emphasizes topics in proportion to probable student use: e.g., interpreting ordinary language, not only analyzing but also constructing effective arguments, smoking out hidden assumptions, making "argument maps," and using Socratic method in various circumstances. It is divided into eighty-eight mini-chapters for maximum mix-and-match flexibility.

(4) It is also philosophical. Its exercises expose students to many classical quotations, and additional chapters introduce philosophical issues in a Socratic manner and from a common-sense, realistic point of view. It prepares students for reading Great Books rather than Dick and Jane, and models Socrates as the beginner's ideal teacher and philosopher.