Introduction to Logic (11th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: All I can do is echo the many enthusiastic reviews this book has already received. Copi covers a wide array of logics, formal and informal, classical and modern, and demonstrates their applications using real-life examples drawn from science, political journalism, and the law. He is lucid, nuanced, and insightful. Reading this remarkable textbook is the equivalent of taking introductory courses in symbolic logic, rhetoric, philosophy of science, and legal reasoning. I learned more from this one book than from an entire year at UC Berkeley. It's a keeper!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent text for the novice logician
Review: As a former philosophy student, I used this text in my introduction to logic class. Needless to say, I found the text easy to understand and it gradually introduced increasingly complex arguments for the student to consider. Each reader needs to be attune to the details in the text, but the exercises at the end of each section help implement the new-found knowledge.

Even after taking the course in logic, I still frequently find myself referring to this text, especially when I am developing my own arguments, either symbolically or in language. In everyday normal conversation, individuals engage in arguments. As this text teaches, it is important to understand the structures and functions of arguments. If you can understand the innate nature of arguments, either your own or another person's, then it becomes an invaluable tool to further develop and implement your arguments and detect fallacies.

To each logician, the most exciting section deals with fallacies. This book reviews over 30 different fallacies and uses examples to help the reader understand the where the errors in reasoning occurred.

Many philosophy professors, as I have learned, really regard Copi as the official authority in logic. Very few philosophers and logicians dislike Copi-style logic. Because this text implements many years of instruction and study in logic from Copi, it would follow that this text is an excellent source to introduce students to the world of logic. Oh, and logic really isn't something to be scared of anyway. We use it everyday. Some people just use it better than others. This is a great way be classified with the "better" group.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent text for the novice logician
Review: As a former philosophy student, I used this text in my introduction to logic class. Needless to say, I found the text easy to understand and it gradually introduced increasingly complex arguments for the student to consider. Each reader needs to be attune to the details in the text, but the exercises at the end of each section help implement the new-found knowledge.

Even after taking the course in logic, I still frequently find myself referring to this text, especially when I am developing my own arguments, either symbolically or in language. In everyday normal conversation, individuals engage in arguments. As this text teaches, it is important to understand the structures and functions of arguments. If you can understand the innate nature of arguments, either your own or another person's, then it becomes an invaluable tool to further develop and implement your arguments and detect fallacies.

To each logician, the most exciting section deals with fallacies. This book reviews over 30 different fallacies and uses examples to help the reader understand the where the errors in reasoning occurred.

Many philosophy professors, as I have learned, really regard Copi as the official authority in logic. Very few philosophers and logicians dislike Copi-style logic. Because this text implements many years of instruction and study in logic from Copi, it would follow that this text is an excellent source to introduce students to the world of logic. Oh, and logic really isn't something to be scared of anyway. We use it everyday. Some people just use it better than others. This is a great way be classified with the "better" group.

Rating:
Summary: Ideal Text for Self-Study
Review: Copi provides a nice overview into Logic. This book covers topics such as forming definitions, propositions, categorical logic, fallacies, and modern symbolic logic. Also included are sections on causality and probability. Many exercises are provided at the end of each chapter (with the answers in the back for about 25% of them).
Copi however seems to adopt nominalism when discussing the square of opposition and the alleged "problem of the null class" and I disagree with his analysis here. This will be a minor philosophical point to most, and overall the book provides a nice and thorough introduction to logic.

Rating:
Summary: Best Overview and Introduction to Logic
Review: For the beginner, there's no better book to begin one's excursion into logic, both deductive and inductive, formal and informal, syllogistic and mathematical, propositional as well as predicate calculus. There is excellent competition, such as Bates' Introduction to Logic and Lemmon's book by the same name. But these books are limited in their scope, and not always as didactic and insightful as the Copi work. This book is certainly not exhaustive of all logical norms and forms, but it is quite comprehensive. I know of no other book which is so thoroughly diversified in the treatment of all logical styles and methods, and which does so with greater clarity and elegance of style. I wish this had been my textbook upon taking formal logic courses years ago; it is clearly superior to literally dozens of others that are either too simplistic or over the head of most beginning logicians.

Rating:
Summary: Ideal Text for Self-Study
Review: I bought this book (along with the study guide) and began self-studying the material to improve my logical ability. The book is relatively easy to understand even for novices with no prior training in logic and uses examples that are entertaining and interesting. The answers to select homework questions (about 1/4) are in the back so I would suggest that for self-study, either the study guide (which includes another 1/4) or the complete answer guide should also be purchased. The text itself is very fun to go through and I think Copi and Cohen do an amazing job as teachers. For those planning on taking the LSAT, this book may prove more beneficial than a test prep course if you want to understand the actual reasoning behind the test and not just regurgitate formulaic test-taking strategies.

Rating:
Summary: Introduction to Logic
Review: I read this book in early 1980.Because of my background in mathematics, I read the language and deduction portion, of my own in just few days.Earlier I had read Morris Cohen & E Nagel's famous book.Treatment of scientific method etc. seemed better in the latter,yet to learn about various aspects of language usage and deductive logic was realy an electrifying experience then .The part on inductive logic is in its own way excellent.I have 2/3 editions of this book and used it when teaching to a class of judicial officers about use of logic in law esp. chapter 15.This is a must for the autodidact.

Rating:
Summary: A good book, but maybe not that good as many here think.
Review: It is a very good textbook for a person who is interested in studying logic. I don't want to repeat the good points of this book, which can be found in many other reviews. What I want to say is in the field of symbolic logic, this book is a little bit weak, compared to my favorite -- "Introduction to Symbolic Logic", by A. H. Basson & D. J. O'Connor, published by Unversity Tutorial Press Ltd in 1953. ...

Rating:
Summary: Elementary, my dear reader...
Review: Logic is not just for Spock; deduction (which, if you read this book, you'll discover is rather different) is not just for Sherlock Holmes. Many if not most students of philosophy over the past 50 years have had their beginning logic training from an edition of this book, 'Introduction to Logic' by Irving M. Copi, now in its eleventh edition, also now with a co-author listed, Carl Cohen.

I first learned logic in a two-semester sequence through the philosophy department at my university from the fifth edition of Copi's text, supplemented by other material from Copi and a few others on symbolic logic. Logic was required of philosophy majors; it was strongly recommended of majors in sciences and mathematics; it was preferred for students in social sciences. Indeed, the principles of logic contained in Copi's text would not be out of place in most any discipline.

This introductory text is also recommended reading for those preparing for major placement examinations, such as the LSAT and the MCAT. Learning how to think, and recognising typical and non-so-typical flaws in argumentation and reasoning are vital in many professions; the applications for law and medicine are fairly clear.

The text is divided into different sections, including Language, Induction, and Deduction. Language issues look at aspects such as definitions, informal fallacies in language, the question of meaning, truth and validity, and how to recognise argument forms. Deduction, what Sherlock Holmes always claims to be engaging, is a method whereby the validity of the premisses provide the truth of the conclusion. In fact, Holmes usually engages in Inductive reasoning, including arguments by analogy and establishing probabities, but not certainties.

This book beyond the introductory chapters on language arguments engages in symbolic logic -- rather like mathematics, it uses non-linguistic tools to work out the framework. The pieces of symbolic logic (fairly standard across the discipline, like mathematics) are introduced in various stages as inductive and deductive reasoning are developed.

Copi and Cohen look at real-life applications, particularly as logic relates to scientific reasoning and social science reasoning. While this is not a mathematics text, it introduces some elements useful in mathematics, particularly in probability and in elements used in statistical reasoning.

This text can be used for self-study, as some of the exercises are worked out in the back. There are also study guides available that have been produced for earlier editions; they are nonetheless useful, as much of the material remains the same from one edition to another.

A great text!

Rating:
Summary: Elementary, my dear reader...
Review: Logic is not just for Spock; deduction (which, if you read this book, you'll discover is rather different) is not just for Sherlock Holmes. Many if not most students of philosophy over the past 50 years have had their beginning logic training from an edition of this book, 'Introduction to Logic' by Irving M. Copi, now in its eleventh edition, also now with a co-author listed, Carl Cohen.

I first learned logic in a two-semester sequence through the philosophy department at my university from the fifth edition of Copi's text, supplemented by other material from Copi and a few others on symbolic logic. Logic was required of philosophy majors; it was strongly recommended of majors in sciences and mathematics; it was preferred for students in social sciences. Indeed, the principles of logic contained in Copi's text would not be out of place in most any discipline.

This introductory text is also recommended reading for those preparing for major placement examinations, such as the LSAT and the MCAT. Learning how to think, and recognising typical and non-so-typical flaws in argumentation and reasoning are vital in many professions; the applications for law and medicine are fairly clear.

The text is divided into different sections, including Language, Induction, and Deduction. Language issues look at aspects such as definitions, informal fallacies in language, the question of meaning, truth and validity, and how to recognise argument forms. Deduction, what Sherlock Holmes always claims to be engaging, is a method whereby the validity of the premisses provide the truth of the conclusion. In fact, Holmes usually engages in Inductive reasoning, including arguments by analogy and establishing probabities, but not certainties.

This book beyond the introductory chapters on language arguments engages in symbolic logic -- rather like mathematics, it uses non-linguistic tools to work out the framework. The pieces of symbolic logic (fairly standard across the discipline, like mathematics) are introduced in various stages as inductive and deductive reasoning are developed.

Copi and Cohen look at real-life applications, particularly as logic relates to scientific reasoning and social science reasoning. While this is not a mathematics text, it introduces some elements useful in mathematics, particularly in probability and in elements used in statistical reasoning.

This text can be used for self-study, as some of the exercises are worked out in the back. There are also study guides available that have been produced for earlier editions; they are nonetheless useful, as much of the material remains the same from one edition to another.

A great text!