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An excellent textbook for studying logic either for a college course or for self-study.
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Logic is not just for Spock; deduction (which, if you read this book, you'll discover is rather different) is not just for Sherlock Holmes. Many if not most students of philosophy over the past 50 years have had their beginning logic training from an edition of this book, 'Introduction to Logic' by Irving M. Copi, now in its twelfth edition, also now with a co-author listed, Carl Cohen.
I first learned logic in a two-semester sequence through the philosophy department at my university from the fifth edition of Copi's text in the early 1980s, supplemented by other material from Copi and a few others on symbolic logic. Logic was required of philosophy majors; it was strongly recommended of majors in sciences and mathematics; it was preferred for students in social sciences. Indeed, the principles of logic contained in Copi's text would not be out of place in most any discipline.
This introductory text is also recommended reading for those preparing for major placement examinations, such as the LSAT and the MCAT. Learning how to think, and recognising typical and non-so-typical flaws in argumentation and reasoning are vital in many professions; the applications for law and medicine are fairly clear.
This new twelfth edition of the text includes a lot of extras, including LogicNotes with Practice Problems, which occasionally comes bundled with the text. The Overviews, marginalia with definitions and clarifications, and Visual Logic features are all things I wish I'd had in the earlier text I used.
The text is divided into different sections, including Language, Induction, and Deduction. Each part is then subdivided into two parts, A and B (logical, isn't it?). Language issues look at aspects such as definitions, informal fallacies in language, the question of meaning, truth and validity, and how to recognise argument forms. Deduction, what Sherlock Holmes always claims to be engaging, is a method whereby the validity of the premises provide the truth of the conclusion. In fact, Holmes usually engages in Inductive reasoning, including arguments by analogy and establishing probabilities, but not certainties. Also, the first two chapters are now separated out to introduce key concepts earlier and more directly.
This book beyond the introductory chapters on language arguments engages in symbolic logic -- rather like mathematics, it uses non-linguistic tools to work out the framework. The pieces of symbolic logic (fairly standard across the discipline, like mathematics) are introduced in various stages as inductive and deductive reasoning are developed. Copi and Cohen look at both classical and modern symbolic logic systems.
Copi and Cohen look at real-life applications, particularly as logic relates to scientific reasoning and social science reasoning. While this is not a mathematics text, it introduces some elements useful in mathematics, particularly in probability and in elements used in statistical reasoning.
This text can be used for self-study, as some of the exercises are worked out in the back. There are also study guides available that have been produced for earlier editions; they are nonetheless useful, as much of the material remains the same from one edition to another.
A great text!
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Copi's introduction to both inductive and deductive logic is one of the best surveys of philosophical logic in print. It's highly accessible and covers a lot of territory, more than any other introduction I've encountered. It's only drawback is its superficiality, as it doesn't fully cover probability, mathematical calculus, boolean logic, decision trees, or theorems and proofs..
The book begins with the uses of language, fallacies, arguments in ordinary language, Venn Diagrams, and then proceeds to symbolic logic, Aristotlean and a cursory overview of predicate calculus, quantification, science and hypothesis, analogy and probability (especially Mill's four rules of causal inference), and concludes with logic and the law (as a practical example of the application of logic).
This book would make an excellent text for an introduction to philosophical logic and arguments. There are definitely superior books that deal with each of the above subjects individually, but none that I know that covers such broad terrain in a short amount of space. As more and more colleges and universities mandate some course in critical thinking, I cannot think of a better text for an introductory overview. If this is the text, take the course. (Eighth Edition)
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I have been studying logic using this text and discussion with a professor who used to teach with the 1st edition of the book. This book has apparently stood the test of time, as I have this, the 12th addition. It is clear, concise and very easy introduction to logic, with clear examples drawn from contemporary sources. I've given it five stars for doing what I needed, but I haven't compared it to other texts, so take my rating with a grain of salt.
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Writing from a student's point of view, I can't judge the book's worthiness regarding complete factual accuracy, comprehensiveness, etc. However, I can say that as a textbook for an Intro. to Logic class it covered each topic fully and understandably, allowing me to fill in the any gaps from lectures.
The only reason I didn't give it a five is that, perhaps unavoidably, the explanations of concepts and theorems are very dry and straightforward to a point of being boring. Although straightforwardness is certainly preferable to anything else, I felt there could have been a greater quantity and more interesting real-world applications to help explain more difficult concepts. (not just in the exercises, where most problems are not answered.)
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