Thinking as a Process of Using Concepts, Judgments, and Reasoning
Logic and Formal Logic
We often talk about “logic,” but what exactly is it?
The word “logic” comes from the Greek word λσγοS (logos), originally meaning thought, reason, law, word, etc. In everyday language, “logic” has three different meanings:
It refers to the law of interconnection and development of objective things, and the law of human thinking that reflects this law. For example, “the logic of the Chinese revolution” or “the logic of things.” Here, “logic” refers to the law of objective things. Similarly, “drawing a logical conclusion” or “the article has strong logical coherence.” Here, “logic” refers to the law of thinking.
It refers to a specific theory, viewpoint, or way of looking at problems. For example, aggressors often describe their aggression against other countries as “friendship.” We denounce this as “utterly the logic of a robber.” Here, “logic” refers to the aggressors’ distorted theory, viewpoint, or way of looking at problems.
It refers to the science that studies the forms and laws of correct thinking, namely formal logic and dialectical logic. It is usually used to refer to formal logic. For example, “learn some grammar and logic” or “middle school students should learn some logic.” Here, “logic” refers to the science of formal logic.
So, what is “formal logic”?
Formal logic studies the forms and laws of thinking. First and foremost, it is a science of thinking. As Engels said, logic is the doctrine of the laws of the thinking process itself.
What is “thinking,” and how do people’s thinking activities proceed?
Mao Zedong, in On Practice (实践论), stated: “In the process of practice, people at first see only the phenomenal side, the separate aspects, and the external relations of things… This belongs to the perceptual stage of cognition. At this stage, ‘people cannot as yet form concepts which are deep or draw logical conclusions.’” However, with “the continuation of social practice, things that give rise to feeling and impression in man’s practice are repeated many times; then a sudden change (a leap) takes place in the brain in the process of cognition, and concepts are formed.”
I was previously vague about the origin of “concepts,” and this passage explains it well.
The thinking process is a general and indirect reflection of the objective world. It has the characteristics of generality and indirectness, and this reflection is achieved through language.
People’s thinking process is a process of using concepts, judgments, and reasoning. Therefore, concepts, judgments, and reasoning become essential basic forms in the thinking process for reflecting objective reality, i.e., the forms of thinking in logic.
Most of the above content comes from Formal Logic (形式逻辑), compiled by the Logic Teaching and Research Office of the Department of Philosophy at East China Normal University. This book has been through five editions. I have read the first edition. The first draft was completed in 1963. The fifth edition has been greatly improved compared to the first.
The main reason I am interested in this book is that I have been thinking about how to correctly understand the world.
Formal logic focuses on the formal laws of thinking and does not focus on the content itself. This is what I have been thinking about: is there a fixed paradigm for the reflection from the objective world to the subjective world? Logic, as I see it now, is the foundation, consisting of only three things: concepts, judgments, and reasoning.
Science may not always be correct, but at least it is a worldview that I currently firmly believe in.
Sometimes I think that Chinese education is too weak in the popularization of logic education. Now that I have determined this path, perhaps one day I will become a propagator of logic.
To some extent, correctly understanding the world is understanding the dialectical relationship between myself and the world, a spiral and iterative path from this shore to the other, a path of interaction between consciousness and matter.