The Strange Nature of Logical Validity—What Makes a Valid Argument Valid?—The Divine-Command Theory of Logic—Logic as Culturally Invariant—Logic as Timeless and Placeless—The Social History of Logic
The Effect of Geography on the Flow of Ideas—The Effect of the Sea Trade—Transportation and Civilization—Classical Greece as the Extreme Case—The Athenian Assembly
2. ARISTOTLE: GREATEST OF THE GREEK LOGICIANS
The Study of Argument in India—The Singularity of Aristotle—The Effect of the Athenian Assembly—The Sophists—The Separation of Logic from Rhetoric
3. ARISTOTLE‘S SYSTEM: THE LOGIC OF CLASSIFICATION
Manipulating Classes—The Square of Opposition—The Underlying Mystery of the Square—Wittgenstein‘s Proposed Solution—Wittgenstein‘s Mistake
4. CHRYSIPPUS AND THE STOICS: A WORLD OF INTERLOCKING STRUCTURES
The Stoics—The Logic of Choice—The Nature of Compound Propositions—Interlocking Forms of Argument—The Laws of Contradiction and Excluded Middle—More Interlocking Forms—The Basis of Computer Logic
5. LOGIC VERSUS ANTI-LOGIC: THE LAWS OF CONTRADICTION AND EXCLUDED MIDDLE
Paradoxes of Truth—The Nature of Fuzzy Logic—Is Validity Relative?—Does Formal Logic Ultimately Depend on Common Sense?
6. LOGICAL FANATICS, CIRCULAR REASONING, AND DESCARTES‘S FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE
The Origins of the Wars of Religion—The Importance of Firm Foundations—The Logical Complexity of Our Premises—The Origins of Formalized Logic and Mathematics—The Paradoxes of Formalization—The Double Meaning of “Foundations”—The Outlook of Thomas Kuhn—Kuhn‘s Error—Competition Between Scientific Theories
7. WILL THE FUTURE RESEMBLE THE PAST? INDUCTIVE LOGIC AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The Challenge of the New Literature—The Triumph of the Vernacular and the Growing Spirit of Equality—The Rise of Modern Political Theory—The Right of Dissent and the Reliance on Induction—Induction as the New Rationality—Aristotle‘s Influence on the Medievals—The Rational Foundations of Induction—The Apparent Irreducibility of Induction—The Assumptions of Empirical Science
8. RHETORICAL FRAUDS AND SOPHISTICAL PLOYS: TEN CLASSIC TRICKS
The Battle for Parliamentary Reform—Jeremy Bentham and the Legacy of the Enlightenment—Bentham‘s Book of Fallacies
9. SYMBOLIC LOGIC AND THE DIGITAL FUTURE
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution—The Origins of Symbolic Logic—The Logic of Relations—The Effect of the New Mathematics—The Impact of Quantification—Frege‘s New Foundation for Mathematics—The Invention of Digital Computing
10. FAITH AND THE LIMITS OF LOGIC: THE LAST UNANSWERED QUESTION
Abelard‘s Rise to Power—Abelard‘s Attack on Faith Without Reason—Are Faith and Reason Compatible?—The Foundations of Rational Belief—Rationality After the Wars of Religion—The Vigilance of Reason
Ad Hominem Argument (“To the Person”)—Begging the Question—Big Lie—Cause and Effect (Confusions of)—Circular Definition—Circular Explanation—Composition—Continuum (Denying Differences in)—Division—Emotional Appeal—Equivocation—Evils and Remedies (Confusing Them)—False Analogy—False Antithesis—False Authority—False Dichotomy (or False Dilemma)—Formal Fallacy—Generalizing (Errors of)—Innuendo—Irrelevant Conclusion (or Ignoratio Elenchi, “Ignorance of Proof”)—Is and Ought (Confusing Them)—Loaded Question—Negative Proof—Pretentious Diction—Sham Insight—Straw Man—Suppressed Evidence (or Ignored Evidence)—Vague Metaphor—Wrapping Oneself in the Flag