Introducing Logic

• Logic is the study of the methods and

principles used to distinguish correct
reasoning from incorrect reasoning.
• it is one of the branches of philosophy which
includes:
– Metaphysics – studies the ultimate nature of all
things.
• Ontology – study of beings – existence and nothingness
• Teleology – study of the meaning or purpose of Being
(if there is one.)
– Ethics – the study of good and bad, and what is means to
have a good life.
• Contractarianism – John Locke and Rousseau
• Formalism – Immanuel Kant
– Epistemology – the study of knowledge.
• What makes true, true?
• Justified true belief
– Political philosophy – the study of the foundations and the
nature of society and the state.
• democracy, liberalism, anarchism, socialism and so on.
– Philosophy of religion – the philosophical study of religion;
the nature of religion, the nature of divine, and the various
reasons for believing (or not) in God.
• OmniGod
• Problem of evil
– Aesthetics – the study of the nature of art and the
experience we have when we enjoy the arts or
take pleasure in nature.
• Beauty and expression
– Logic – the study of formal structures of sound
thinking and good argumentation.
 Logic is…

The study of the methods and

principles used to distinguish correct
reasoning from incorrect reasoning.
• The aim of the study of logic is to discover and
make available of those criteria that can be
used to test arguments, and to sort good
arguments from bad ones.
• Our concern throughout will be not with the
subject matter of those arguments, but with
their form and quality.
– If the ground is wet, therefore it rains,
– The ground is wet,
– Therefore, it rains.
• The student of logic will acquire methods for
testing the correctness of reasoning, and the
more easily errors are detected, the likely they
are to be allowed to stand.
• Thus, study of logic is likely to improve the
quality of one’s reasoning as it gives one the
opportunity to ‘practice’ the analysis of
arguments and the construction of arguments
of one’s own.
Chapter 1: Language and Logic

Lesson 1: Language and its function

 Objectives:
• To define language and explain its functions.
• To understand correct reasoning, truth and
falsity.
 language
• Language is man’s greatest invention, without
language, practically other human inventions would
not have been possible.
• Through language humans have been able to
preserve their discoveries, cultures, and inventions.
• Language is the verbal form of our thoughts.
• Language may be defined as a set of symbols by
which things, thoughts or feelings are
communicated to others.
• There are two features of language:
– Spoken – sound patterns. It is the linguistically
accepted sound whereby an idea, feeling, or
thought can be verbalized.
– Written – visual patterns. It is the linguistically
accepted way of writing a word or term.
• Four elements of language:
– Symbol is a word, name, or phrase that is used to
signify something.
– Referent is the object itself.
– Reference is the meaning or signification existing
between the symbol and the referent.
– Subject refers to the individual who uses the
symbol for whom a certain word or symbol means
this particular thing.
• Language is human invention, it follows that
symbols and words are conventional.
• They are arbitrary or human-made. They have been
the result of common usage and social agreement.
• Thus, there is no necessary or natural connection
between symbols (words) and their referents.
• Furthermore, the mere presence or existence of a
particular symbol or word does not necessarily
guarantee the actual existence of its referent.
• The word mere presence in any language should
not be used to prove their actual existence.
 Three sciences of language
• Pragmatics – is a linguistic science which deals
with the origin, derivation, and root word of
symbols or terms.
democracy

Demos Kratos
‘people’ ‘power’
• Semantics – another linguistic science that
treat formal relations between symbols and
their meaning.
– Orange – color? Fruit?
– Blue – feelings? Color?
• Syntactics – deals with the formal relations
between symbols as specified in the rules of
grammar.
– My dog’s name is spot.
– “No! more rape,” instead of “No more rape!”
 Sentence
• Composed of subject, verb and predicate
• Types of sentence
– Declarative
– Imperative
– Interrogative
– exclamatory
 Function of sentences
• Language is used for many reasons, aims or purpose,
hence the different functions of language.
– Informative function – it is one in which language is used to
convey some information. It usually takes the form of
declarative statements.
• My name is…
• I think therefore, I am.
– Practical function – it is one which language is used to produce
some effects. It is also called the dynamic function of
language. It usually takes the form of imperative statements,
like orders, appeals, pleas, requests, commands.
• Please open the door for me.
– Expressive function – it is one in which language is used
not only to express certain feelings of the speaker (writer)
but also to evoke some emotional response from the
listener (reader). It usually takes the form of exclamatory
statements. It also assumes the form of jokes, jests, puns,
humor, or lyric poems.
• Oh, the house is burning!
– Performative function – is one which language is used not
only to say or report something but also to perform what
is being said. Not only does one say something but he/she
performs what he/she says.
• I love you.
• I apologize for my…
• i baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit.
– Ceremonial function – one in which language is
used to enhance social intercourse, relationships,
or social amenities.
• I now pronounce you man and wife.
• Good morning
• I would like you to meet my one and only wife.
– Logical function – is one in which language is used
to reason, analyze and clarify a problem or an
argument.
• If a person is in one place, he cannot be in another
place at the same time. Inasmuch as President Duterte
cannot be in Davao and Manila at the same time.
• Complex function – it is the combination or mixture of two
or more functions of language.
– Political campaign speeches usually involve informative, practice,
expressive and logical functions.
 trivia
• There are two kinds of logic.
– Aristotelian logic – this is our subject
– Russelian logic or symbolic logic – that uses
symbols to prove the validity of the statements.
 Spot is cute and fat.
• 1. (x) (Dx ⊃ (Cx & Fx))
2. (∃x) (Cx & Fx)
3. Ds
∴ (Cs & Fs)
4. asm: ~(Cs & Fs)
5. [∴ (Ca & Fa) (2, Ei)
6. [∴ Ca (5, AND)
7. [∴ Fa (5, AND)
8. [∴ (Da ⊃ ( Ca & Fa) (1, Ui)
9. [∴ (Ds ⊃ ( Cs & Fs) (1, UI)
10. [∴ (Cs & Fs) (3, 9, MP)
11. [∴ Cs (10, AND)
12. [∴ Fs (10, AND)
13. [∴ ~Fs (4, 11 NAND)
14. (Cs & Fs) (from 4, 13 contradicts 12)
Chapter 1: Language and Logic

Chapter 2: Logic, validity, and truth

• Logic is the study of the methods and principles
used to distinguish correct from incorrect
reasoning.
• Correctness or validity of reasoning does not
necessarily mean truth.
– This what distinguishes epistemology to logic.
• Logic is solely interested in the logical necessity
(consequential relationship) existing between the
conclusion and premises.
• Thus, reasoning is valid (correct, consistent) if
and when the conclusion is necessarily inferred
from the premises.
 – All Visayans are Filipinos. Valid and true!
The premises
– All Cebuanos are Visayans. follows the
conclusion and it
– Therefore, all Cebuanos are Filipinos. is true.

• Logic is interested in the form of reasoning, its

validity or correctness, irrespective of whether
or not the premises of the reasoning agree
with facts.
• Logic does not concern itself with truth of the
premises nor with the certainty with which
such premises are known.
 – All Visayans are Ilocanos. Valid but false.
The premises
– All Tagalogs are Visayans. follows the
conclusion but the
– Therefore, All Ilocanos are Tagalog. facts are wrong.

• Here, the reasoning would still be valid but the

conclusion is false.
• Falsity (or error) pertains to the non-
correspondence of proposition or assertion to
facts.
• There also statements that are invalid, or the
premises does not follow the conclusion and is
true.
 Invalid but true.
– Pedro loves Juana The premises does
not follow the
– Therefore, Juana loves Pedro. conclusion and the
conclusion is true.
• There are also statements that are invalid and
also false.
– All dogs have tails.
– All cats have tails.
– Therefore, all cats are dogs.
• Thus, if logic focuses on the valid statements,
it does not mean that we are a ‘logical person’
even though we are false.
• We must aim to have a valid and true
statements.
 Division of Logic
• The term (idea)
– All Visayans are Filipinos. (Visayans and Filipinos are both
terms or idea)
• The proposition (judgment)
– Proposition are statements that is typically asserted using a
declarative sentence and hence always either true or false.
– All statements are declarative sentence, but not all
sentence are statements (there are many types of
sentence).
– Composed of subject, copula/ linking verb and predicate.
• Reasoning (or inference)
– Deductive – a process of reason. It involves data with
absolute and inclusive ground.
• Moves from generalized principles that are known to be true
to a true and specific conclusion. From a generalized
– All dogs are cute and fat idea of ‘all’ to a
– Spot is a dog specific ‘dog.’
– Therefore, Spot is cute and fat.
– Inductive – there are millions of possibilities to answer
the conclusion.
• Moves from a specific instances into a generalized conclusion.
– Every time you eat peanuts, you start to cough. You coughing on
– You eat peanuts. peanuts might be
– You started to cough. coincidental.
– Therefore, you are allergic to peanuts. Hence, the
conclusion is
assumes.
 – The chair in the living room is red.
– The chair in the dining room is red.
– The chair in the bedroom is red.
– Therefore, all the chairs in the house are red.

• Remember: invalid arguments can be seen in

both deductive and inductive arguments,
meanwhile, valid arguments are seen on
deductive arguments. Hence, in logic, we use
(mostly) deductive, from a generalized idea to
a specific conclusion.
 trivia
• How to know one follows the conclusion?
– Replace the words or phrase with letters and their
verbs with symbols.
V ⊃ F

– All Visayans
C ⊃ areV Filipinos
– All Cebuanos
∴ areCVisayans.
⊃ F
– Therefore, All Cebuanos are Filipinos.

since V is connected with F, and C is connected with V, then

C and F are connected.

We will get into this later on.

Chapter 1: Language and Logic

Chapter 3: Idea, term and sign

• In every perception, humans can apprehends
ideas.
• Idea is the intellectual image of a thing, or the
intellectual apprehension of a thing.
– Tree. When we think of tree, it is not a particular
tree like Narra, rather we think of a generalized
idea of a tree, with green leaves and brown trunk.
– Ideas usually are abstracted from our perception.
• Precept refers to the concrete, particular and
individual object we perceive.
• Term refers to the verbal expression of an
idea. It is an articulate sound which serves as a
conventional sign of an idea.
– The idea tree has the term ‘tree’ which refers to
the [precept] tree.
• It may also be understood as an idea or group
of ideas expressed in words.
• Not all words are terms.
– If, from, by and in – as they have no referents or
precepts.
Connotations and denotations of terms
• A term connotes something insofar as it means
something meanwhile, we denote something
insofar it refers to something.
• Connotation is comprehension.
• Denotation is an extension.
– Connotation is meant the essential thought elements
by which constitute a term. It is the sum total of the
essential qualities which constitute an idea.
• Mother – a woman with a child of her own.
• Denotation is meant the things or individuals
denoted by a term; that is, the totality of
referents to which a term can be applied.
– Mother – Mrs. Santos, Mrs. Del Rosario and so on.
• As the connotations increases, the
denotation decreases and vice versa.
Whenever we increase the connotation of a
term, we reduce the number of its referents;
and as we increase the denotation, we
decrease the essential characteristics.
– Mother – all mothers
– Filipino mothers
– Beautiful Filipino mothers
– Beautiful Cebuana Filipino Mothers
 Kinds of terms; as regard quantity
• Terms may be classified according to quantity, incompatibility,
definiteness of meaning and the nature of referents.
– Singular term – one which stands for a single individual.
• Mr. Santos, Quezon city.
– Particular term – one which stands for an indefinite number of
individual of a class.
• Some animals, some students
– Universal term – stands not only for a class as a whole but also for
each member of that class.
• Man, animal, soldier, rat, cat
– Collective term – refers to a group or collection of objects or
individuals regarded as a unit.
• Family, army, crowd, society A collective term may be universal
like family, to some family or
singular, this family.
Kinds of terms; as regards to incompatibility

• Contradictory terms – those wherein one

affirms what the other denies. One denies the
connotation of the other. More applicable to
– Life – lifeless universal terms

– Right – not right

– Thing – nothing.
• Contradictory terms are so mutually exclusive
that there is no middle ground or third
possibility between them.
• Contrary terms – are those which represents the two
extremes among object of a series belonging to the same
class. Between contraries there is always a middle ground.
– Hot – cold (temperature)
Most seen in
– Happy – miserable (emotion) particular terms
– Life – death (life)
– White – black (color)
• Privative terms – are those wherein one signifies a
perfection and the other denies a perfection in a subject
which naturally ought to possess it.
– Beautiful – ugly
– Healthy – sickly Most applicable on
adjectives
– Wealth – poverty
– Sight - blindness
 Kinds of terms; as regards definiteness of
meaning
• Univocal term – one which can be predicated of two or
more individuals or things in exactly the same sense. It
admits only one meaning.
– Pedro is a man. Man here pertains
– Pablo is a man. the same meaning

• Equivocal term – it admits two or more meanings. It can

be predicated of many in an entirely different sense.
– Bark of a tree, bark of a dog
– I wear orange while eating orange.
– I hit my nail with a nail.
• Analogous term – one which is predicated of
two or more things in a sense that is partly the
same and partly different. Sometimes,
equivocal terms is no different to analogous
term.
Here we can see that
– Legs of a woman and legs of a table. the meaning of term
is preserved but with
– hair of a woman and a hair of a horse. different precepts.
Hence varying the
meaning of the term.
 Kinds of term; as regards the nature of
referents.
• Concrete term – one whose referent is tangible, or can
be perceived by the senses.
– Dog, man, house, watch.
• Abstract term – refers to an intangible terms or terms
that can be understood only by the mind.
– Height, humanity, width, thickness, 1, 1000, love
• Null or empty term – refers to a term with no actual
referents but only imaginary ones. There is nothing
actually existing to which it can be applied.
– Fairy, elf, mermaid
 Supposition of terms
• Suppositions of term is the definite meaning
which a given term has in a given
proposition.
• In reasoning we want to arrive at a very
definite conclusion; but this is impossible
unless each proposition and each term has
absolutely definite meaning, hence, the vital
importance of the topic.
• Material supposition – it refers only to a given term as
a term and not to its meaning.
– Man rimes with ban.
– Table is two syllabled.
• Formal supposition – is the use of term for what it
really means or signifies.
– Man is a rational animal.
– Animal is a sentient being.
• Logical supposition – is the use of a term for the
concept that signifies abstractly or mentally.
– Man is abstract.
– Man is a universal concept.
– Man is a species.
• Proper supposition – is the use of a term for
what it truly (properly) signifies in the real
order.
– All cats have tails.
– Dogs are quadrupeds.
– Man has two arms.
• Abstract supposition – refers to the use of
term in an analogous manner.
– Mary is a bird.
– This boy is a monkey.
 sign
• A sign is anything that leads to the knowledge of
something else distinct from itself.
• Natural sign – one that signifies something else by its
very nature. They signify things by themselves
naturally.
– Smoke, groan, cry, a blush, a scream
• Conventional sign – is one which signifies something
through the free institution of human beings. It is an
arbitrary or human-made sign.
– Country flag, traffic lights, road sign, +, -, =, %.
• Accidental sign – it may be either a thing,
place, or person that is closely associated with
past experiences.
– Rizal park (it signify the heroic death of Rizal)
– A ring (signify your former sweetheart.
Chapter 1: Language and Logic

Lesson 4: Definitions
• As Language is a vehicle of communication, it
should be precise and accurate in order to
avoid misunderstanding, misconception and
ambiguity. Hence, clarify in the use of terms is
one of the important requirements of logical
thinking;
 definition
• The importance of definition is the elimination of
ambiguity by establishing the limits within which
a word can be rightly used and understood.
• Definition is a statement that gives the meaning
of a term or a statement.
– Definiendum or definitum – the term to be defined
– Definiens – the phrase the defines or explains the
definiendum.
• Logic is the science that deals with correct reasoning.
 Types of definitions
• Nominal definitions (definitions of names) – it merely
explains or indicates the term as such, not the thing
signified by the term.
• There are several ways to state a nominal definition.
– By giving an etymology (root word, derivation, origin) of a term.
• Philadelphia means brotherly love (philos – love, delphos – brother).
– By merely giving synonyms or words that are better known
(definition by synonyms). It is also called biverbal definition
(which means translating a term from one language to another.)
• A residence is a house.
• Table means mesa.
• Connotative definition – is one that gives the
essential characteristics (qualities) possessed in
common by the individuals (referents) denoted
by a term.
– Some logicians calls this essential definition because it
explains the essence or nature of the term referent.
– Aristotle calls this genus and difference (by genus is
meant the property of a thing which it has in common
with other things that belong to the same class.)
• Animality is that essential property of humans which
he/she have in common with the brutes.
• Science is that property (subject matter) of logic which it
has in common with other other studies.
• Denotative definition – it makes the meaning of a
term clear by the application of this term to its
referent.
– This is also called definition by example.
• It’s like a child asking what is a table and you explained what is
a table by pointing at a table.
– This is also called ostensive or extensive definition (by
giving a demonstrative definition).
• Denotative definition is enumerative if it
enumerates the referents of the term to be defined.
– A narra is a tree.
– Blue is a color.
• Descriptive definition – it gives the meaning of
a term by enumerating the characteristics,
whether essential or accidental of the referent
of that term.
– Property – by giving its natural characteristic of a
thing which flows from its essence without being
of the essence itself.
• Human is an animal capable of articulate speech.
– By giving the maker (efficient cause) or purpose
(final cause) of the referent.
• A painting is a picture in colors drawn by an artist,
• A table is a furniture used for writing and/ or eating.
Rules for a good connotative (real) definition

• The definiendum should not be contained in the

definiens. The definiens should not include the
definiendum or it will be a circular definition.
– A plant is a vegetable organism,
– A gentleman is a man who is gentle.
• The definiens must be equivalent to the definiendum.
That is the definiens must not be wider than the
definiendum. It should not be neither too broad nor
too narrow.
– Man is an animal. It should be ‘Man is a rational animal.’
• A good connotative definition should be stated in univocal and
simple terms. The definiens must be clearer than the definiendum.
The definition should not be expressed in obscure or metaphorical
or figurative language.
– Love is an ocean of emotions surrounded by expenses. (by Lord Dewey)
– Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
– Logic is the lighthouse of understanding.
• A good connotative definition must give the essential attribute
(genus and specific difference) of the individual (referent) denoted
by the definiendum.
• The definition should not be a negative as much as possible. The
purpose of a definition is to state what a term means, not what it
does not mean.
– Good is that which is not evil.
– War is the absence of peace.
– Mind is that which is not matter.
• There are positive terms, however, with
negative significance which may be defined
negatively.
– An alien is one who is not a citizen of a given
country.
– Eternity is a state of being which has no beginning
and no end.
Chapter 1: Language and Logic

Lesson 5: Division and classification

• With the help of dividing or classifying the definition, it
is easier for us to scrutinize if the referent to be valid or
not.
• Division means the breaking up of an individual into its
components parts; or of a general class into its
subclasses; or of a class into its individual members; or
of a thing into its constituent qualities.
• Classification is the process through which individuals
with some common characteristics are grouped
together to form a class.
• In division you break up a thing or a class into parts; in
classification you collect or synthesize or put together
things so as to form a class or group.
 Types of division
• Physical division – it is when you divide a class
into its subclasses, that is, disassemble a
universal concept into its subconcepts or
reduce a term to its referents. (logical division)
– Example. Henry is 5’11 and weight 63 kg
• Logical division – is when you break up a class
into its subclasses that a universal concept is
reduced to a referent.
– Example: Tree of Porphyry
 Substance

corporeal incorporeal

body
animate inanimate
living

sensible insensible
animal
irrational
Rational
woman

Seline Juliana
Angelita
• Metaphysical division – it is when you analyse
an object its constituent qualities or essential
qualities.
– Man is rational, sentient, living, bodily substance.
 Importance of division
• Division is another method of making our
ideas clear and arriving at a better
understanding of their meaning.
– We use it in chemical analysis, electric discharge
analysis, and so on.
– We also use this process when we arrange and
present our ideas in an orderly manner.
– We use it further in organizing letters and reports.
 Rules of Division
• When dividing a term, it must be consistent. Fallacy of cross
division is the violation of this rule.
– If we divide men into students, professors, Filipino, intelligent and
bachelors, we are using more than one basis of division namely,
profession, race, mentality, and marital status.
• Dividing should be adequate and complete. All the part of the
whole that is supposed to be divided must be enumerated. No part
may be omitted, otherwise the process would be faulty and
incomplete.
– Filipinos – tagalogs, ilocanos, pampangos, cebuanos, muslims, ilonggos
and bicolanos – it should includes Igorots, boholanos, pangasineses and
other.
• The division should be lucid and clear. It must be orderly.
 Types of classification
• Natural or essential classification – a type of
classifying based on their structures.
– Goats can be classified to those with horns and no
horns.
• Conventional or arbitrary classification – it is
the case where a term exhibit an artificial
classification.
– Classifying women who wears bikinis and those
wearing long robes.
 Importance of classification
• It is a method of unification. It helps the mind
to grasp a great variety of property classified
phenomena.
• It enables the mind to perceive the hidden
relationship of things. It enables us to grasp
things according to their natural or
conventional structure.
 Golden rule of classification
• Classifying things or entities according to their
most common essential attributes.