Do you think that logic is physical or immaterial?

Question

I was watching Infidel Guy Radio debating a theist and I thought they brought up some good points.

The theist was trying to argue that an atheist holds on to the view that he only knows what he does from the material world. But how does an atheist justify what he knows from the material world when he uses logic? Logic isn't material, it isn't made up of atoms it cannot be converted into an energy source, etc.

So how do you justify using logic to justify the material world when logic itself isn't?

I think this is what he was basically getting at. He was using this argument to contradict that logic in and of itself is flawed.

I view that technically thoughts arn't material, true, but they come from a physical thing (the brain). The fact that he suggests that we have a "soul" because we use something immaterial to determine what is material is flawed as well.

Basically I think he was using logic to determine that logic is not logical to justify the means of using logic...

Exactly Zero, the Infidel Guy used the argument that we use patterns to determine the outcome of things. If something is known to happen again and again it is logical to think it will agian happen if the conditions are favorable.

I guess that by using logic we do rely on the faith of the pattern, to clarify what I just wrote.

Answer 1

Logic is a process and a method. If we don't use logic, what do we use? Faith? What validity is there in that??

Answer 2

Intresting. The mind, as such, doesn't exist. Logic doesn't exist, as such.

There is only the brain.

And logic, in all its majesty, is just a construct of the brain.

That being said, however, there is no way to get around logic, no way, for example to make 2 + 2 = 5. (math is really just one form of logic)

Logic, in and of itself, is just a system, an idea. Immaterial. But logic without the material is nothing. What is an idea without a brain to concieve of it?

In short, logic is immaterial, but has no meaning unless its in reference to the material (brain)

The arguments against logic as a material construct don't invalidate logic. It still works, and MUST work.

Answer 3

To say that someone with a materialist philosophy rejects anything non-material is reductionist.

Logic is an abstraction. Abstractions can be applied to the material, even though they aren't material themselves.

Another example of the non-material with atheism is meaning. Most atheists contend that meaning is a human domain, and that we create meaning for ourselves. Meaning is not intrinsic to anything; it's another non-material abstraction.

Answer 4

Logic, which proceeds from the physical brain is immaterial.