The natural logic is a type of personal reasoning, based on previous experience, which allows discern between true and false without resorting to the help of science.
Logic is a science that studies the principles of valid inference and proof. The term logic derives from the Greek λογική logikḗ, whose meaning is "endowed with reason, intellectual, dialectical, argumentative."
Natural logic is an essential part of the person, it is unique and unrepeatable, as well as each individual. Therefore, it is a very personal way of reasoning based on previous knowledge and experiences, and even on instincts.
What is logic?
To better understand what natural logic is, it is first necessary to discern around the concept of logic.
The particle logos of the term logic means "thought, treatise, word, idea, reason or principle."
Logic is a formal science like mathematics, because it investigates the fundamentals that determine why some inferences are acceptable and others are not.
It is based on inference, which is the process by which conclusions originate from certain premises.
An inference is considered acceptable because of its logical structure, not because of the argument used or the language used.
Just as for biology the object of study is life in all its forms, for logic the object of study is inference. Through the process of inference, conclusions based on premises are obtained.
Apart from inferences, logic is also responsible for the study of paradoxes, fallacies and the notion of truth.
Natural logic process
Natural logic seeks to make formal reasoning in a natural language and in the form of proof, making use of the syntactic structure and semantic properties in the construction of the language.
In other words, it goes a bit beyond the classic "who did what to whom" structure to generate additional inferences from that information.
Likewise, natural logical thinking is a pragmatic means that humans use daily to solve everyday problems or make decisions.
It is a process of spontaneous personal elaboration, arising from observation of the environment, acquired knowledge and individual experience, from the comparison and classification of objects or life situations.
All these elements generate in the individual the process of deduction and inference to reason, argue, prove or justify reasoning.
Characteristics of natural logic
- It does not require previous studies or analysis of the process or the environment to reason correctly.
- Logic is, in essence, common sense.
- It is necessary to solve matters of the daily life of people.
- It is a type of natural and correct reasoning that people have by nature.
- It is a process that is carried out spontaneously and permanently, unlike scientific logic, which is a conscious process.
Example
An example of natural logical reasoning occurs when you go outside and see the sky. If gray clouds are observed and there is also the smell of rain, logical thinking indicates that it is better to take out the umbrella because it is going to rain.
If, on the other hand, there is a bright sun and the sky is clear, it is better to leave your coat.
References
- Moss, Larry: Natural Logic. (PDF) Indiana University. EASLLC, 2014. Retrieved on November 29, 2017 from indiana.edu
- Natural Logic. Consulted of finedictionary.com
- Natural Logic. Consulted from phil.pku.edu.cn
- Karttunen, Lauri: From Natural Logic to Natural Reasoning. (PDF) Stanford, CICLing Cairo, 2015. Retrieved from stanford.edu
- Karttunen, Lauri: Limits of Natural Logic. (PDF) Center for the Study of Language and Information. Recovered from aclweb.org
- logic. Consulted of dle.rae.es