1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to give information on the subject known as Logical reasoning and its use in Computer Science and computers in general. A historical background behind logic and Logical reasoning is firstly given, followed by an overview of the modern subject and the types it’s divided into. The types are then explained. The overlap between the field of logic and that of computer science is also given an explanation. The report ends with a brief overview on the subject and its tie to computer science and computing.
2. History of Logic and Reasoning
2.1 Logic in Greece and Europe
The term “Logic” hails from the ancient Greek word logike and is a discipline which utilizes and studies valid reasoning. It is heavily relied upon in a number of subjects such as mathematics, philosophy and computer science, its roots being traced to ancient civilizations including Greece, India, China and Persia.
In Europe logic was first employed by Aristotle, his so called Aristotelian logic was widely used in science and mathematics until the early 19th century. During the Middle and High middle ages people went to great lengths to show that his ideas were compatible with the Cristian faith, by that time logic had become the main focus of philosophers. 2.2 Logic in India
In India logic went under the name of Nyaya, it underwent dynamic changes from its founding in ancient times up to the early 18th century. According to some people Indian logic contains “...the
Chapter 1 of James MacCormick’s book, Nine Algorithms That Changed The Future, provides an overview of what an algorithm is and introduces the reader of the algorithms that will be discussed throughout the book. An algorithm is a precise recipe that specifies the exact sequence of steps required to solve a problem (MacCormick, 3). Algorithm requires a sequence of steps that contain the instructions on what to do. One of the key elements of an algorithm is to have a set of rules in order to perform the mathematical calculations. Another feature of algorithms is that it always works. Computer science describes how to solve a problem using an algorithm. The main purpose of the book is to explain the algorithms one’s computer uses everyday
Around 1200 A.D, a group of people began to read old Greek writings about philosophy. Soon, Greek philosophy was everywhere around Europe. Greek philosophy revolved around the ideas of human reason and logic. Despite the fact that Greek philosophical ideas opposed the church's teachings, many people began to get interested in it because it gave them support, unlike the church, during hard times. The concepts of human reason and logic suggested that humans had the capacity of making sense of things, analyzing them, and finding a reasonable solution. The reason why Greek philosophy was accepted so quickly was because of the desperation
Within Aristotle’s ontological works lies a rudimentary basis of correct thinking that sets standards, or rather axioms, of logic. They may seem obvious to the modern mind, however not very much so to those in the fifth century BCE, where philosophers like Parmenides, Plato, and Heraclitus based logic on the Ionian sense of ordinary observation. For instance, Heraclitus’ logic entwined contradictory aspects of a being with the nature of change, thus assuming an object must have contradictory traits otherwise the sense of change would be impossible. As this developed, Plato, along with others, argued and recognized the law of non-contradiction, which opposed Heraclitus’ logic. They argued that “it is obvious that the same thing will never do
Logic models represent a visual way of expressing the rationale or thought behind a program. Two other forms of expression may help concurrently support the development of a logic model, or accompany the model if it is to be communicated through written materials.
A. Reason: An intellectual process that uses logic to evaluate the validity of ideas and arguments.
College of Information Systems & Technology IT/210 Version 5 Fundamentals of Programming With Algorithms and Logic
Logical and physical models represent the key elements and processes of the software development. The logical model describes the processes, and data, in as much detail as possible, without giving regard to how the system will be implemented. Logical data models include
In all information systems, data resources must be organized and structured in some logical manner, so that they can be:
The introductory philosophy student's inability to recognize argument structure presents us with a problem that cannot be addressed simply by "teaching logic." The problem that confronts us addresses a fundamental pedagogical concern: Our task is to instill in the student the habit of clear thinking. When we send our students out into the world, we have to make sure that they're prepared for it. This is not simply a matter of providing them with "tools." We've looked at logic that way — and we've approached teaching logic that way — for far too long. Certainly logic may be employed as a tool; it can serve as an incredibly powerful tool, as we who teach it know full well. But it's not logic per se that we should be concerned with in our introductory courses. We want to teach our students how to think clearly and responsibly. There is certainly a moral edge to this view of the situation, and the manner in which we approach our pedagogical concern will not be without further philosophical prejudice. Ours is Aristotelian. We have found that giving our students the basics of term logic serves our purpose well. We do not introduce it as a tool for argument analysis — a strong case can easily be made for the superiority of truth-functional logic in that respect — we present it, rather, in the way that a kindergarten teacher brings toys into the classroom. And we make it clear that term logic has limitations — it's not an all-purpose tool.
Logic is the foundation to a good argument. In arguments people try to persuade others, by giving them as many reason a possible, why they should accept their view of things. In order to do so an argument involves either a logic or rhetoric component. Logical reasoning should hold without appealing to personal feelings, sympathies, or prejudices. Rhetoric, however, does involve such personal appeals. Since logic is impersonal it may be less flamboyant and personally exciting, but has the advantage of being applicable to everyone. The text teaches that logic and rhetoric virtually always function together, it is possible to have a solid argument with one component. Either way without being logical your argument efforts disappear once readers had a chance to think again about how they have been persuaded. As for without rhetoric, arguments will be dry and unattractive. A good argument
Medieval techniques for ascertaining truth differed greatly from scientific views, mostly in part to what was taught in the Middle Ages by the church. Medieval traditional views put more faith in made up truths to fit their own religious dogmas or referring to long trusted authorities. Widely held by the populace in medieval times their views did come from some scientific origin in the form of a philosopher named Aristotle. Aristotle’s works merged with Christian views helped formed what we know today as medieval traditional
George J. Kilr and Bo Yuan [32] Fuzzy logic is a way to formalize the human decision capacity of imprecise reasoning, or approximate reasoning. Such type of reasoning represents the human ability to find out the reason approximately and judge
“A logic model is nothing more than a concept map that visually describe the logic of how your program is suppose to work” (Grinnell, Gabor, Unrau, & Grinnell,
According to James Allen, the aim of logic is to validate an argument (351). But under the differences of various cultures, how is this definition achieved? In Chinese and Greek rhetoric, or what we have come to generalize as the term rhetoric, an examination of logic can show how critical a role it took in both cultures and how enduring those concepts have been.
In computing – programming there is almost always more than one solution to a problem and this is where Logical Reasoning used to. The main use of Logical Reasoning is to anticipate the outcomes of the algorithms that are designed to solve a problem, to help select the best solution. Consequently Logical reasoning is the systematic application of rules to problem solving and task completion. These rules could be mathematical, logical, programming, grammatical, engineering, scientific, story construction in fact anybody of rules based around a logical system.