Logical Thinking

Logical Thinking

1. Logical thinking is thinking that employs valid reasoning to reach a correct conclusion.

   • Logical thinking is the foundation of rational thought, thought that fits the real world and allows us to function well in it.

2. There are two basic kinds of reasoning involved in logical thinking: inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

   • Inductive reasoning is characterized by making observations and gathering information until a general conclusion is reached.
   • Deductive reasoning is reasoning in which a conclusion follows from a premise. Such reasoning allows for predictions, and it is often the next step taken after inductive reasoning is employed.

3. According to Freud, there is a kind of thinking employed at the unconscious level of the mind that is overly primitive.

   • Freud called this kind of thinking predicate thinking. It is also called paleological thought, meaning "old" thought. It is presumably the kind of thinking used by primitive, prescientific people and by preschool children.

4. Predicate thinking is not the only way in which thinking can be led astray. Logical errors are common.

   • Such errors include
     • Overgeneralization, also known as hasty generalization, takes place when we reach a conclusion that goes substantially beyond the facts that inspire it.
     • An analogy consists of the observation that two basically dissimilar things have some resemblance to each other. A false analogy exists when the comparison between two things is inappropriate.
       • Appeal to authority is characterized making by a reference to a respected person, believed to be well informed, when one‘s own logic or reasoning is weak.
         • Arguing in circles takes place when one‘s premise contains the conclusion that one wants to reach.
           • Attack on character picks out a negative attribute of another person and uses this attribute to discredit other aspects of the person‘s behavior.