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Loading... Introduction to Logic (original 1953; edition 1968)| 1,418 | 11 | 13,235 | 
(3.92) | 2 | Introduction to Logic is a proven textbook that has been honed through the collaborative efforts of many scholars over the last five decades. Its scrupulous attention to detail and precision in exposition and explanation is matched by the greatest accuracy in all associated detail. In addition, it continues to capture student interest through its personalized human setting and current examples. The 14th Edition of Introduction to Logic, written by Copi, Cohen & McMahon, is dedicated to the many thousands of students and their teachers - at hundreds of universities in the United States and around the world - who have used its fundamental methods and techniques of correct reasoning in their everyday lives.… (more) |
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| Epigraph |
HOW THE ART OF REASONING IS NECESSARY
When one of his audience said, “Convince me that logic is useful,” he said,
Would you have me demonstrate it?
“Yes.”
Well, then, must I not use a deomonstrative argument?
And, when the other agreed, he said, How then shall you know if I impose upon you? And when the man had no answer, he said, You see how you yourself admit that logic is necessary, if without it you are not even able to learn this much — whether it is necessary or not.
— Discourses of Epictetus  | |
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| Dedication |
This book is dedicated to my mother and father
[Dedication to the 5th ed.] We dedicate this eleventh edition of Introduction to Logic to our children David M. Copi, Thomas R. Copi, William A. Copi, Margaret R Copi, Jaclyn Z. Cohen, Noah J. Cohen | |
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There are obvious benefits to be gained from the study of logic: heightened ability to express ideas clearly and concisely, increased skill in defining one's terms, enlarged capacity to formulate arguments rigorously and to analyze them critically. But the greatest benefit, in my judgment, is the recognition that reason can be applied in every aspect of human affairs.
[From the "Preface" to Irving M. Copi's Introduction to Logic, 5th ed. (1953/1978: vii)] 1.1 What Is Logic?
Logic is the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish good (correct) from bad (incorrect) reasoning. This definition must not be taken to imply that only the student of logic can reason well or correctly. To say so would be as mistaken as to say that to run well requires studying the physics and physiology involved in that activity. Some excellent athletes are quite ignorant of the complex processes that go on inside themselves when they perform. And, needless to say, the somewhat elderly professors who know most about such things would perform very poorly were they to risk their dignity on the athletic field. Even given the same basic muscular and nervous apparatus, the person who knows might not surpass the “natural athlete.”
[From "Introduction", chapter 1 of Irving M. Copi's Introduction to Logic, 5th ed. (1953/1978: 3–4)] | |
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Let us consider just one more aspect of the doubling technique. Suppose some one wants to win just a single dollar, which means that she will play until she wins just once or else goes broke. With this more modest aim, what is the probable value of her investment? If heads appears on the first toss, the return is $4 (the $1 won and the original stake of $3) and having won her dollar, the woman stops playing. If tails appears on the first toss, $2 is bet on the second. If heads appears, the return is $4, and the player quits with her winnings. If tails appears, the return is $0, and the player quits because she has lost all her money. There are only these three possible outcomes, the first of which has a probability of ½, the second ¼, and the third ¼. Such a player, following such a strategy, is three times as likely to win as to lose. But of course she can lose three times as much as she can win by this method. The expected value is (½ × $4) + (¼ × $4) + (¼ × $0) = $3. The expectation is not increased at all by following the doubling technique. The chances of winning are increased, just as by betting on more numbers at chuck-a-luck or roulette, but the amount which can be won decreases rapidly enough to keep the expected value constant.
[From "Probability", chaoter 14 of Irving M. Copi's Introduction to Logic, 5th ed. (1953/1978: 528)] (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.) | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English (13)
▾Book descriptions Introduction to Logic is a proven textbook that has been honed through the collaborative efforts of many scholars over the last five decades. Its scrupulous attention to detail and precision in exposition and explanation is matched by the greatest accuracy in all associated detail. In addition, it continues to capture student interest through its personalized human setting and current examples. The 14th Edition of Introduction to Logic, written by Copi, Cohen & McMahon, is dedicated to the many thousands of students and their teachers - at hundreds of universities in the United States and around the world - who have used its fundamental methods and techniques of correct reasoning in their everyday lives. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description |
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