Socratic Logic

This new, revised edition of Peter Kreeft?s Socratic Logic is updated, adding new exercises and online access to answers to odd-numbered exercises.Since its introduction in the spring of 2004, Socratic Logic has proven to be a different type of logic text:. (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 assump-tions, 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.

Table of contents

This new and revised edition of Peter Kreeft's Socratic Logic is updated, adding new exercises and more complete examples, all with Kreeft's characteristic clarity and wit. Since its introduction in the spring of 2004, Socratic Logic has proven to be a different type of logic text: . (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 is not for the humanities. (How often have you heard someone 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. (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. (4) It is 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.

Symbolic logic may be superior to classical Aristotelian logic for the sciences, but not for the humanities. This text is designed for do-it-yourselfers as well as classrooms.

Rich in drama and humour, they include the controversial Ion, a debate on poetic inspiration; Laches, in which Socrates seeks to define bravery; and Euthydemus, which considers the relationship between philosophy and politics. Together, these dialogues provide a definitive portrait of the real Socrates and raise issues still keenly debated by philosophers, forming an incisive overview of Plato's philosophy.

Most current work in epistemology deals with the evaluation and justification of information already acquired. In this book, Jaakko Hintikka instead discusses the more important problem of how knowledge is acquired in the first place. His model of information-seeking is the old Socratic method of questioning, which has been generalized and brought up-to-date through the logical theory of questions and answers that he has developed.

Clarifying a crucial aspect of Nietzsche's work—his constant preoccupation with Socrates—this intensive study also provides a general introduction to the philosophy of an important and difficult thinker. Through close analyses of two of his major books, The Birth of Tragedy and Twilight of the Idols, as well as his other writings, Professor Dannhauser rescues Nietzsche's thought from the vague generalities that it has too often provoked. His book will be especially valued as a judicious presentation of the quarrel between modern and ancient philosophy. While he makes clear his admiration for Nietzsche, he expresses his doubts that Nietzsche "won" his debate with Socrates.

The popular author and Boston College philosophy professor, Kreeft, presents this introduction to philosophy to help beginners not only to understand philosophy but to fall in love with it. In his forty years of teaching philosophy, Kreeft says the most effective way to accomplish this purpose is to read Socrates. Philosophy means "the love of wisdom." Kreeft uses the dialogues of Socrates in this book to help the reader grow in that love of wisdom. He says that no master of the art of philosophizing has ever been more simple, clear, and accessible to beginners as Socrates. He focuses on Plato's dialogues, the Apology of Socrates, as a model partner for the reader to dialogue with. Kreeft calls it "the Magna Carta of philosophy," a timeless classic that is "a portable classroom."