Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Introduction to Philosophy

Introduction

Introduction to PhilosophyIntroduction
Buddhist monk in red garment bends to speak with other monks in red garments.
Figure 5.1 Buddhist monks debating at the Sera Monastery in Mysore, India. (credit: modification of “Monks at Sera Monastery 24” by Esther Lee/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Chapter Outline

5.1 Philosophical Methods for Discovering Truth
5.2 Logical Statements
5.3 Arguments
5.4 Types of Inferences
5.5 Informal Fallacies

Within the philosopher’s toolkit, logic is arguably the most powerful tool, and certainly it gets the most use. Logic, the study of reasoning, aims to formalize and describe reasoning processes used to arrive at claims. Logic is a study of both how we do reason and how we ought to reason. Logicians categorize and explain different forms of successful reasoning along with mistakes in reasoning, with the goal of understanding what to do right and what to avoid. This chapter seeks to provide you with a general understanding of the discipline of logic.

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-philosophy/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-philosophy/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Mar 1, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.