Why Logic?

Because we desire our students to think clearly and logically, Mars Hill Academy teaches formal and informal Logic to our Dialectic (grades 7 through 9) students !he "enefits of studying Logic are many Let us focus on #ust a few

Logic as a Science $n general, scientists seek to disco%er the natural laws "y which &od go%erns His creation through o"ser%ation !his is true whether or not they acknowledge that &od is the &o%ernor Logic can "e defined as the science of the formal 'rinci'les of reasoning Logic as a science differs from most other sciences that o"ser%e the tangi"le as'ects of creation (or e)am'le, "iology is the study of li%ing things and astronomy is the study of the hea%ens Logic o"ser%es the human mind as it reasons, as well as the mind as it recogni*es fallacious reasoning Logic, among other things, studies the laws "y which we do this More s'ecifically, it aims to re%eal the laws that may "e used to distinguish good reasoning from 'oor reasoning

Logic as an Art $f Logic is %iewed only as a science, it is not %ery 'ractical Logic needs to "e %iewed not only as a science "ut also as an art !herefore, we must teach the skills of Logic (or e)am'le, if you try to communicate a 'oint, Logic as an art will descri"e the order you must follow to 'ro%e your argument as %alid Logic as a science disco%ers rules, while Logic as an art teaches us to a''ly those rules in different situations !he art of Logic 'ro%ides 'ractical skills to use as we reason, discuss, de"ate, or communicate in all ways $t also 'ro%ides us with rules "y which we assess the arguments of others + is the reasoning "ehind them good or 'oor, &od has made us such that we reason "y means of language and Logic re'resents the reasoning inherent in language !he 'rocess in%ol%es "reaking the language of arguments down into sym"olic form and sim'lifying it such that the reasoning "ecomes e%ident !hus, the structure of arguments is clarified "y remo%ing e%ery 'ossi"le e)traneous 'art, like a "iology student dissecting a frog to see the structure inside

Why Study Logic? Dorothy Sayers answers this question as such in her essay The Lost Tools of Learning: Neglect of formal Logic in the curriculum is the root cause of nearly all those disquieting symptoms we have noted in the modern intellectual constitution. These symptoms include the ina ility of students to resist propaganda! argue well! follow a sustained argument given y someone else! distinguish etween scholarly and slipshod writing! and learn on their own. Sayers argues that the reintroduction of formal Logic into the curriculum will help solve pro lems such as these. Logic is foundational to all learning " it is inescapa le. Logic is an aid to improved reasoning! and it aids in understanding #od and $is revelation. Logic also provides the foundation for other

disciplines such as rhetoric! philosophy! ethics! meta"physics! theology! mathematics! law! computer sciences! and electronics. Statement of Pedagogy All Logic and -hetoric courses take 'lace in the -hetoric di%ision !he grammar, or "asic facts, of each su"#ect are communicated through reading of the te)t and lecture, "ut the ma#ority of class time is s'ent 'racticing the use of the tools Analy*ing arguments takes 'lace %ia discussion and written e)ercises, while students construct and 'resent their own arguments %ia written assignments, oral 'resentations, and de"ates