The Blog

Yesterday, we discussed the fundamental and inherent laws of logic.

Two of these principles are the Law of Non-contradiction and the Law of the Excluded Middle.

We have already seen the value of the Law of Noncontradiction.

The Law of Excluded Middle tells us that something either is or is not.

For example, either God exists or he does not. Either Christ rose from the dead or he did not.

These principles are the tools we use to discover other truths. In fact, without them we could not learn anything else.

Just as our eyes must be built into our eyes for us to learn anything, first principles must be built into our minds to learn anything.

It is from these first principles that we can learn about reality and ultimately discover the box top of the puzzle called life.

Although we use these first principles to help us discover truth, they alone cannot tell us whether or not a certain proposition is true.

To see when we mean, consider the following logical argument:

1. All men are moral;
2. Spencer is a man;
3. Therefore, Spencer is mortal.

The self evident laws of logic tell us that the conclusion, Spencer is mortal, is a valid conclusion.

However, the conclusion doesn’t necessarily follow from the premises. Maybe all men are not mortal; maybe Spencer is not a man.

Logic by itself cannot tell us one way or another.

Personal Reflection:

What other laws of logic are necessary in finding truth in any proposition?