Logic is the study of correct reasoning. Formal logic aims to determine the correctness of arguments based on their structure alone and often uses a formal language to analyze them. Informal logic examines arguments expressed in natural language and also takes their content and context into account. Logic distinguishes between deductive, inductive, and abductive arguments. Deductive arguments have the strongest form of support: if their premises are true then their conclusion must also be true, such as in the argument "today is Sunday; if today is Sunday then I do not have to work today; therefore I do not have to work today". Inductive arguments are generalizations, like inferring that all ravens are black based on many individual observations. Abductive arguments are inferences to the best explanation, for instance, when a doctor concludes that a patient has a certain disease that explains the symptoms they suffer. Arguments that fall short of the standards of reasoning embody fallacies.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1943:
World War II: An unknown aircraft dropped four bombs on Vatican City, which maintained neutrality during the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Vatican
1995:
Aline Chrétien thwarted André Dallaire's attempt to assassinate her husband, Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien, by locking the bedroom door in 24 Sussex Drive, their official residence in Ottawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Sussex_Drive
2003:
American serial killer Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of first-degree murder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Ridgway
2013:
The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Mars Orbiter Mission, India's first interplanetary probe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
praise to the skies: (transitive, idiomatic) To praise or laud (someone or something) excessively. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/praise_to_the_skies
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Science tells us how to heal and how to kill; it reduces the death rate in retail and then kills us wholesale in war; but only wisdom — desire coordinated in the light of all experience — can tell us when to heal and when to kill. To observe processes and to construct means is science; to criticize and coordinate ends is philosophy: and because in these days our means and instruments have multiplied beyond our interpretation and synthesis of ideals and ends, our life is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. For a fact is nothing except in relation to desire; it is not complete except in relation to a purpose and a whole. Science without philosophy, facts without perspective and valuation, cannot save us from havoc and despair. Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom. --Will Durant https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Durant