Material Logic, Student Text

by Martin Cothran

The principles of material logic, an important part of trivium language study, are now almost completely forgotten--a casualty of the almost exclusive modern secular emphasis on the quantitative sciences. This has resulted in the rise of systems of modern logic that are more math than logic. Formal logic was once termed minor logic, while material logic usually went by the name of major logic--possibly a measure of how important classical thinkers considered it. There is a huge gap between formal logic courses and so-called 'thinking skills' courses. Formal logic focuses exclusively on the systematic study of the structure of reasoning. 'Thinking skills' courses, on the other hand, tend to suffer from a highly non-systematic, topic-hopping approach, where the student is unable to see how one principle connects with another. Whether you want a follow-up course to Memoria Press' popular Traditional Logic program, or simply an introduction to logic for high school students, this program is a valuable tool in teaching your student how to think.

Genres: Logic

224 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jayson Virissimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty decent, extremely didactic, introduction to Aristotelian methodology. Some of Aristotle's categories seem jerry-rigged (WTF is up with 'possession'?), but simply having something analogous to them is useful for organizing your thoughts and is something I didn't really even know I needed before trying to use them outside the context of philosophy (writing software, as it turns out). I also appreciate the author is honest enough to provide Francis Bacon as a kind of counterpoint and pushback to Aristotle's system-building with his 'Idols of the Mind'.

I am now much better equipped to read and understand Aristotle and the Scholastics. So, in that sense, this book has succeeded.

[Aubrey (janethebookworm)]

How do I rate this? It was for school so of course it sucked but it was also really well written. I suppose I just won't.