Logic: An Introduction to Elementary Logic [Paperback]

Wilfrid Hodges (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1991

Logic is primarily about consistency - but not all types of consistency. For example if a man supports Arsenal one day and supports Spurs the next then he is fickle, but not necessarily illogical. The type of consistency which concerns logicians is not loyalty or justice or sincerity but compatibility of beliefs. Logic, therefore, involves studying the situations in which a sentence is true or valid and subsequently the rules which determine the validity or otherwise of a given argument.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A lively and stimulating book' Philosophy --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Wilfrid Hodges is a Professor of Mathematics at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. He has held visiting appointments in the US. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 28, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140136363
• ISBN-13: 978-0140136364
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,977,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best into to modern logic there is., May 27, 2003

By 

galloamericanus "galloamericanus" (Podunk, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Logic: Second Edition (Paperback)

Hodges, please get a second edition of this wonderful book back into print!!

This is probably the best intro there is to modern logic for people without prior training in science and math. The examples are all taken form linguistics and philosophy. Ironically, the author is also a high power mathematician, but he does not let that show. This is the book Quine should have written instead of his Elementary Logic. Also clearer and less threatening to sanity than Spencer Brown's Laws of Form.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1st half great; 2nd half wanders, September 9, 2005

By 

Librum "6nomad9" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Logic: An Introduction to Elementary Logic (A pelican original) (Mass Market Paperback)

(Note: the following review is of the 1st edition of Logic. I have not seen the second.)

In general, I would rate this a very good intro. to logic. The first half of the book lays the necessary groundwork cogently. Hodges builds from simple principles to increasingly complex logical concepts and constructs. In the first half of the book he takes nothing for granted, and the presentation is adequate for a complete novice. In the second half, however, Hodges leaves too many concepts inadequately explained/defined. It was considerably more difficult -- at times prohibitively so as a beginner -- to follow his argumentation. That said, Logic is not a textbook on the subject (though the first half of the book adequately serves the purpose). It is more of a cursory survey. As such, it's second half does not disappoint. Though the second half did not equip me to 'practice' logic as well as the first did, it certainly piqued my interest in pursuing further studies of the subject. Overall, a very readable and enjoyable book