WHY STUDY FORMAL LOGIC?
William A. Wisdom

The field is variously called Formal Logic or Deductive Logic or Symbolic Logic or Mathematical Logic. At Temple University, virtually all of the Teaching Assistants and half of the faculty in the Philosophy Department have to teach the introductory course at some time or other, since there are four or five sections offered each semester.

Some time ago we hired as a one-year replacement for a faculty member on sabbatical leave a young specialist in aesthetics who hated the study and teaching of logic. But he was needed to teach a section of the Introduction to Formal Logic, and he was in no position to refuse.

Not far into the course, a student asked: "Sir, why are we studying this stuff? What good is it?" "Young man," the instructor replied, with professorial authority in his voice; "studying formal logic is the very best possible preparation for life." The student was astonished. "How can that be?" he asked. "Studying logic," his teacher said, "is the best possible preparation for life, because--just like life--logic is hard, and it's pointless!"

Copyright © 2003, William A. Wisdom