Customer Reviews

Introduction to Logic

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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)

A bit of background on myself, I am a Philosophy PhD student who focuses primarily on Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics. I have taught numerous Intro Logic courses and have never once chosen this book. I was exposed to this book when I was 12 in a course I took at Johns Hopkins University with a Professor from Georgetown. I still have the book.

Ok, so my main beefs with this book are that it doesn't prepare you for "real" logic and it contains a whole bunch of material that is terribly outdated and not studied at all these days.

The irrelevant material: essentially everything except for the section on Modern Logic (classical logic is of no interest to anyone except for Aristotle scholars these days; the section on fallacies may be helpful for writing papers and analyzing ordinary, everyday arguments, but not for formal logic; the section on induction is way too informal (i.e. not at all rigorous) and doesn't reflect what people who work on induction talk/think about; the section on logic and language is almost entirely useless, the reasoning sub-section IS entirely useless and informal logic sub-section is useless except for the mild utility of the fallacy chapter)

Even the section on Modern Logic is a bit unorthodox. Their system of natural deduction is clunky and cumbersome, especially for the intro logic student. 19 rules of inference instead of simply the standard introduction and elimination rules for the connectives. Also, IMO no intro logic course should allow their students to use equivalences beyond the intro and elimination rules...you get a much better appreciation of the equivalences (e.g. DeMorgan's Law, Hypothetical Syllogism, Disjunctive Syllogism) if you are forced to prove them instead of assuming them up front. Also having so many rules makes proofs confusing to the student beginning his studies in logic.

Finally, perhaps the most damning thing about the book for me, is that it doesn't prepare you for continuing studies in logic. If you wish to learn more logic, you'll be forced to unlearn the Copi stuff and instead pick up a book in Mathematical Logic or at least a more mathematically minded book (some examples: The Logic Book by Marie and Bergmann, Language, Proof and Logic by Barwise and Etchemendy, and A Mathematical Introduction to Logic by Herbert Enderton).

Essentially, the book is a very lightweight introduction to logic. Useful for unambitious students with no interest in the subject, but unlikely to foster an interest or fuel the interest of already interested students.

This book hasn't 'stood the test of time'. It's simply been re-issued by the publishers a dozen times so as to force students to buy new copies and make them more money.

The book itself is poor. Yet, for some reason, in my experience, it's the textbook of choice at colleges that think of their students as not smart enough for a 'real' logic book like the Bergmann and Moor. This is actually a disservice (not to mention a subtle insult) to students. I've been forced to use the Copi and found that students get bogged down in irrelevancies and never quite get a clear sense of how logic works. The book spends far too much time being 'erudite' at the cost of what really matters: clarity and accuracy. It also covers topics that no real logic professor or beginning student should be worrying about - notably, Aristotle's syllogisms. (If you really want to understand those, read the last chapter of Logic as Algebra. Otherwise stop torturing yourself and learn the basics.)

There are much better-written introductions to elementary symbolic logic out there. I mentioned one already. Here's another one that students seem to find intuitive and helpful: Understanding Symbolic Logic (5th Edition).

I am extremely impressed with Copi's "Introduction to Logic". It is easy to read, very well written, and expertly explained. It's also well organized with exercises following each section, so you can easily master one concept at a time. Copi's writing is so clear and thorough, he makes this sometimes opaque subject quite accessible and understandable.

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.)

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.

The delivery time was great for this book. I wasn't too sure what to expect but when I received the book it was in really good shape. The content though is what I needed and it was helpful and made my understanding throughout my philosophy class much easier. Good book if you're looking for something to help you grasp logic.

An excellent textbook for becoming acquainted with the basics of of logical thought. Highly recommended for students or teachers!

I ordered a used book that I plan on using my first semester of college. I read the description of the book written by the seller and it said that only the cover had damage and that the pages had not been written in or highlighted. I was very disappointed once I opened the book and found that it in face had been written in and highlighted in. The cover had more than slight damage and the spine was in horrific condition. I will probably end up taping the spine of the book just so it can last me until the end of the semester. Not happy with the way it was described- the book isn't like the way it was described.