Re: Torkel Franzén is dead

George Dance wrote:
[B.10]
"> It would be a good thing for people in general to know logic,
" Why? As you yourself have demonstrated, an exposure to formal
logic can cause people to make all sorts of absurd assertions
that they wouldn't otherwise make."

Torkel is arguing against the proposition that it would be good for
people in general to know logic, and for the proposition that it would
not be good for some people to know logic. B.86 has to be read in
context of, as support for, B.10.

Experience teaches that some people, upon learning some formal logic, do make absurd assertions there's no reason to suppose they would otherwise make. There's nothing particularly controversial about this, as far as I can see, nor is there in the rather trivial observation that knowing formal logic in no way protects a person from falling into all sorts of silliness. Belief in the power of formal logic as a weapon in the battle against unreason, as an intellectual panacea, is touching in its way but alas unfounded; the idea that people in general should know formal logic is just as bizarre as the idea that people in general should teach themselves the principles of fluid mechanics.

--
Aatu Koskensilta (aatu.koskensilta@xxxxxxxxx)

"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, daruber muss man schweigen"
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
.