What exactly is symbolic logic? How does it assit in philosophical studies?Any websites that may help me learn

Question

What exactly is symbolic logic? Also, Im quite new with philosophy, but was interested with logic from the beginning. Have I stumbled upon something that is of another category itself? It seems that Symbolic Logic is dealing with mathmatics more than philosophy, however, others have said that it is an essential study for any philosopher. I suppose my real question originates from the curiosity of how does it exactly assist in philosophical studies?

Answer 1

symbolic logic is logic which uses symbols to determine the truth values of statements. Logic is what makes philosophy possible. Its not separate from philosophy, but I would say an area of study contained within it. Its not really dealing with mathematics more than philosophy. Its only mathematical in the sense that it takes strings of symbols and uses "equations" (the rules of logic) to determine truth. I guess it looks more mathematical than philosophy usually does, but its still very much philosophy. When I took symbolic logic I really enjoyed it. It provides relatively straightforward answers.

But just beware that classical logic itself can be questioned. I took my senior seminar on "philosophical foundations of logic" because I had liked symbolic logic so much. It was probably the hardest class I ever took. Questioning logic itself is not for the weak of mind. Anybody that studies philosophy of logic has my sincere respect, as well as my sympathy.

A quick example of symbolic logic:
in classical logic, modus ponens is one of the basic rules of logic. it says that if you accept the statements

"if p, then q"

"p"

as true, then you must conclude "q". If you make an argument and claim that "if p, then q" (for example: if God exists, then there is no unnecessary suffering in the world) and you accept that "p" exists (God exists), then you must conclude "q" (that no unnecessary suffering exists. You cannot claim "if p, then q" and "p," but then deny that "q" follows.

Logic forms the very basis of any form of argumentation (which is what makes questioning it so goddam frustrating; what logic do you use to argue about the existence of logic? :) ) Symbolic logic is just logic put into symbolic form. Without logic, there could be no possibility of philosophy, because nothing would have to follow from anything. Any claims could be made with no means of evaluating their truth. All philosophical arguments follow logical forms. Philosophers argue "x, thus y." But without logic, there would be no reason to conclude that "y" had to follow at all.

PS: i would totally agree with I *Heart* Plato that symbolic logic is very useful. I can seriously divide the classes i had taken before and after symbolic logic and can see a major difference in the clarity of my arguments. Logic forms the foundation of philosophical thought, and once you have taken a class where logical rules are clearly spelled out, your ability to make a case for something is greatly improved.

Answer 2

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What exactly is symbolic logic? How does it assit in philosophical studies?Any websites that may help me learn
What exactly is symbolic logic? Also, Im quite new with philosophy, but was interested with logic from the beginning. Have I stumbled upon something that is of another category itself? It seems that Symbolic Logic is dealing with mathmatics more than philosophy, however, others have said that it is...

Answer 3

I am currently enrolled in a symbolic logic class and if you confuse it with math, you will get all of your validity answers WRONG!!!

Here is an example:

Let P stand for Sunny and Q stand for It is day

~(P->Q) means "It is not the case that if P then Q"
This says "It is not the case that if it is sunny then it is day"

This is just false. (with these premices)

If you distribute the negation then you have
~P->~Q meaning "If not P then not Q"
This says "If the it is not sunny then it is not day"

The later (the 2nd) is saying that even if it is cloudy or rainy then it is not day.
Math and symbolic logic are COMPLETELY different!!!



Symbolic logic is EXTREMELY helpful, if you are going to take ANY philosophy classes, then I highly recommend a symbolic logic class. Questions OFTEN rise about weather or not you agree with "his reasoning" on a philosophy. It also helps you with your writing papers IN ANY CLASS because you can see if your premices validly support your conclusion. It may look as though they do, but when you break it down, you see circular logic, or logic that just does not make sense. You could also see fallacys in your other professors logic!!

This was a question for me about Leibniz's belief that with a world without suffering would be a world without courage. I proved with symbolic logic that he was not using a valid argument. He committed the fallacy of denying the antecede.

Answer 4

What Is Symbolic Logic

Answer 5

Symbolic logic consists of several disciplines. Among them are Boolean algebra, set theory, linguistics, etc. There is also a branch that deals with logical syllogism. It most useful in a type of logic in which several statement are made and you are to determine certain things as a result. The last I heard a record one was over 100 statements long.