Logic: A Very Short Introduction

Rating:
Summary: Intro to logic
Review: A very short introduction to an involved dicipline. The author does a good job of putting forth the principles of modern logic, including all of the goofy-looking squiggles, slashes, and letters used by modern logicians to diagram various propositions. It is not a quick read, but then, one really is supposed to think about this stuff.

The slight underemphasis on old-time Greek (socratic?)logic was a dissapointment to a mathophobe like me.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Books Ever Written (seriously)
Review: About the only positive statement I can make about this book is that it has a snappy, small format and a stylish design. Mr. Priest seems to be in a great hurry to end the book; as he brushes and jumps from one topic to another without giving any serious time to explain anything. Most of the concepts presented are quite elementary and anyone with a college degree would be aware of most of what is said.

So to sum it up; this is not a text to read if you're attempting to understand logic; and you wont learn anything new if you have read another introductory book on Logic.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: About the only positive statement I can make about this book is that it has a snappy, small format and a stylish design. Mr. Priest seems to be in a great hurry to end the book; as he brushes and jumps from one topic to another without giving any serious time to explain anything. Most of the concepts presented are quite elementary and anyone with a college degree would be aware of most of what is said.

So to sum it up; this is not a text to read if you're attempting to understand logic; and you wont learn anything new if you have read another introductory book on Logic.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Survey...Almost Too Good
Review: Foir the most part, Priest's introduction to the field of logic is clear, short and intriguing. He starts out almost every chapter with a logical puzzle or paradox and proceeds to attempt to explain it, showcasing different logical tools along the way. On the whole, this is a good strategy.

But at the end of the book, you're left feeling a bit dissatisfied because so many of the puzzles/paradoxes are left unresolved and so much ground has been covered in so little space. I felt that it had too much breadth and not enough depth, despite the fact that this is a very short introduction (I've read a couple others and not all of them suffer this fate). But I've given the book 4 stars because it is interesting, lively and clear, and is perhaps a better introduction than most on the topic of logic, despite its occasional drawback.

Rating:
Summary: Superb, comprehensive Intro to Logic
Review: I am a novice in logic. But I need logic--some of it sophisticated--to understand a philosophy paper I am working with.
I found Graham Priestly's Logic, a Very Short Introduction superb and immensely helpful. I searched full-length texts, but I knew I would never wade through them. I didn't want to take the time for a college course. I searched the Web and found some excellent material, ... However, Graham's book proved far and away the simplest and best.
Here are the advantages I found. Some advantages are simply due to the brevity of the book that suited my needs, but some stand out in any context.
1. The book goes into topics early-truth tables and modal logic, for example. Copi's Introduction to Logic, while undoubtedly very good, and used in many logic courses, does not get to truth tables until Chapter 10 while Priest starts using truth tables in Chapter 2, page 9. Another text, Stephan Layman's The Power of Logic, did not get to modal logic until about page 450. Graham starts the topic in chapter 6, page 38, about 1/3 of the way through his book.
2. The book had every single logic symbol that I needed. I found no one book, full-length text or web source that did this. Equally important every symbol was used and discussed somewhere in the book. Some symbols were missing or introduced very late in other books.
3. Graham doesn't spoon feed the reader with great detail like other books, nor employ elaborate introduction to a topic.
4. Logic, a Very Short Introduction is about 10% the length of other books I looked at (Copi & Layman were about 550-650 pages, for example)-considering Graham's page size is probably ½ that of a normal book. Other books cost roughly 3 to 8 as much.
5. Graham has a very clear, engaging, and often humorous, style. The book is very well organized and written.
6. It is easy to get into meat quickly.
7. In a little over 100 pages, Priest uses a given chapter's logic to analyze a variant form of several classical philosophical questions. For example: the Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God, fatalism, the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God, the Argument from Design for God's existence, etc.
8. The book has an unusual amount of supplemental material-brief history of logic, glossary, list of symbols, problems ..., bibliography, general index and index of names.
9. Every chapter ends with a simple summary of the ideas it covers. There were numerous figures.
10. There were 13 illustrations ranging from cartoons, to art, to famous philosophers.
Of course, this is a short survey and so no one should think that any one topic is covered in depth. Breadth rather than depth is the book's objective.
The book could be used by:
1. Self learners
2. People taking a logic course who want a quick overview or supplement
3. People, who would like rudimentary familiarity with logic for their work, but do not need a college course or a full-length logic book.
...

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Books Ever Written (seriously)
Review: I purchased and read this book a few years ago when I saw someone reading it at a Harvard Square restaurant. I was curious because: (a) I was interested in logic, and (b) because it was in an intriguing new format called "A Very Short Introduction" (more on that later).

After buying and working through this book, I came away loving almost every bit of the book. Even as the years have gone by since finishing Graham Priest's book, I still feel that it is one of the best books that I have ever read (and I've read quite a few). In fact, as the title of my review suggests, I honestly feel that 'Logic: A Very Short Introduction' is one of the greatest books ever written and that ANY intelligent and educated person -- even if they have little or no initial interest in formal logic, philosophy, or mathematics -- MUST buy and read this book.

So what is this book about. In order to answer that question, I have to discuss the general format of this series of books as well the specifics of this book itself.

Oxford Univ. Press' "A Very Short Introduction" format is a series of books that are designed to INTRODUCE an intellectual discipline to readers that can be considered LAYMAN in that particular subject. These books are brilliant because: (a) they are relatively short and, thus, busy people who have a vague interest in a subject can get an accessible account of it, (b) it is compact so that it can literally fit in a shirt or jacket pocket, and (c) they are INEXPENSIVE (all of them sell for under $10). I put some of the words above in bold letters because some of the other reviewers criticize Graham Priest's book for being too elementary. My response is: No duh, that's what it was INTENDED to be. If you are honestly an expert (as opposed to posing as one), then you probably should be reading another book (but as I will mention below, even experts in the relevant fields can probably get something out of this book).

The content of this book is, as I suggested above, an accessible introduction to formal logic (from the fields of philosophy and, to some extent, mathematics and computer science). It covers most of the standard issues dealt with in a typical logic class PLUS it covers some advanced and/or non-traditional topics such as 'non-classical' logic (modal, multi-valued truth values, etc.) and more inductive (as opposed to deductive) issues such as probability theory and decision theory. To repeat myself, of course this is all at a basic, overview level but it's intended audience (laypeople interested in the field, busy intellectuals, people who need to review of fill in some gaps, etc.) will find this to book to be highly valuable.

Another positive for this book is that Graham Priest is the author. I commend Oxford Univ. Press for choosing him to author the book. He is a very innovative (or controversial depending on your viewpoint) scholar in the field of logic. I appreciate the fact that he has a mathematical background (I think at least one of his degrees was in maths). I think that an implicit objection that some negative reviewers have, based on some of the quirky book recommendations involving religion, is that Mr. Priest is very irreligious and his biases shows up in the book. I'm not an atheist myself and I have to admit that the MINOR little bit where his (lack of) beliefs showed was a bit bothersome for me as well. However, I am enough of an intellectual to get over it and just accept the book for what it is: An excellent introduction to logic. And, to be fair to Prof. Priest, he does play devil's advocate with his own viewpoints and one can't fairly claim that he crams his personal views on his readers because he doesn't do that. So this and any other reasons offered up for trashing this book (and I'm writing this review because I love this book and hate to see the unfair bashing of a book I love) are really not reasonable at all.

A truly magnificent and unique aspect of this book is that "Logic: A Very Short Introduction" has end of the chapter excercises for each chapter with SOLUTIONS to EVERY problem (available on the Oxford UP website for the book). I can't even begin to fully describe how great that is for autodidactic (self-study learners) folks. You can't really learn math (which logic falls under) without solving problems, and you can't be sure you've solved something without the solutions. Graham Priest's book addresses both of those issues. Even more rigourous and formal textbooks on logic sometimes nelgect to offer exercises and usually do not give solutions to all the problems. This aspect of the book alone makes it valuable to potential readers.

What about the more advanced reader? As I've noted above, I think this book offers something for everyone who is smart and curious, including people who have some familiarity with logic. First, it's written by Graham Priest, a scholar with some interesting ideas on logic. Second, it covers some non-classical logics and inductive topics like probability -- things that even those who are familiar with logic may need either review in or a solid introduction to. Third, it offers questions with fully worked out solutions for each and every one of those problems, something that even dedicated texts on the subject often fail to do. Finally, it's cheap and handy so that, even if you don't find any of the above arguments satisfactory justification for buying this book, you can at least give it to your friends, family, or significant other just in case you feel they need to be educated about thinking logically.

Bottom line: This is a solid introduction and overview of logic with some extras that one might not expect in a book such as this. IMHO, it is one of the greatest books ever written. It's cheap and compact. If you haven't bought it and read it, please do yourself a favor and do both.

BTW, Oxford's VSI series has other great books. I would also recommend the books on intelligence (as in IQ) and linguistics.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Intro to Logic
Review: Like other books in Oxford's VSI series, this book sets out to provide -- in a compact book the size of most people's shirt pockets (or at least jacket pockets) -- layman with an introduction and overview of intellectual topics. I gather that it is designed for the intellectually curious layman who always meant to learn more about a certain subject but, due to the stresses of life, never managed to do so.

This book does an excellent job in accomplishing those goals (and more) with regards to to topic of Logic. This books gives an excellent overview of various issues in (formal) logic. There are several things that I found particularly good about this book:

(1) Many people may be scared off by formal logic by the symbolism and mathematical nature of the subject. Graham Priest does an excellent job in guiding the readers through those potential barriers.

(2) Conversely, intellectually curious people don't want to be reading a book that is too 'dumbed down.' This book doesn't insult anyone's intelligence. Symbolic logic is presented to the reader but the book is well written enough so that people who tend to glaze over mathematical symbols will still have a good understanding of what is going on (with some effort, of course).

(3) I really like the fact that Graham Priest gives a few short problems at the end of each chapter (and provides the solutions on the Oxford UP web site). This not only helps in re-assuring readers that they understood (or did not understand) particular topics but also gives even a total layman an opportunity to apply skills in formal logic. Many books of this type, unfortunately, do not provide self-study questions with answers. It's worth 10 stars that this author did provide such a learning tool.

(4) I like the fact that the book tackles probabilistic logic. This topic can be difficult but is often very useful in everyday life (decisionmaking, understanding medical research, etc.).

Bottom line: If you always wanted to learn formal logic and were too busy or too scared to try, buy this excellent book.

By the way, to give this book a rating of anything less than 5 stars is a grave injustice in my opinion and reasons offered by others for not giving this book a perfect mark are not worthy of consideration

Rating:
Summary: Difficult but rewarding
Review: On this page, there are negative reviews, saying either that this book is unreadably difficult, or that it is superficial and elementary. Let me start by straightening this out. This book is an introduction. You can't expect it to be tremedously in-depth - it would leave readers new to the subject (those it is aimed at) out of their depth and render a broad overview impossible in the short space available. You can already see some are having difficulty as it is, but this is because Logic is a difficult topic. Having said this, this seems to be as lucid as it could be given the difficulty of the academic discipline.

I read this book because I am considering doing Philosophy at university, and this is an area of Philosophy I am not familiar with. To be honest, it gave me some doubts. I found it hard for an introduction (compared with about 5 other volumes I've read it the same series). Having said this, the author does say there will be times where you have to stop, think and go back over text, and maybe I was being too impatient. So it gave me doubts about the subject.

However, as far as the book itself is concerned, it is excellent. Priest does a magnificent job of making what, in the hands of almost anyone else, could be studiously dull, engaging. He applies logic to everyday problems, questions and scenarios and writes in an engaging style with wide use of examples. The mathematical nature of logic means it is not for everyone, but if you want an introduction, this is the book (I've heard that other so-called 'introductions' to the subject are rather difficult for the layman). It is rewarding when you do understand and master concepts, and it makes you think about different questions and go deeper into basic issues, adding a whole new dimension to philosophical thought.

Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Save your money, this book is completely unreadable. If you're hoping (like I was) for a good introduction to this discipline, find another title because this one isn't it.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice though a bit broad
Review: The book gives you a smattering of symbolic logic of various kinds, and it thus sacrifices depth for breadth a bit too much. After all, a tiny bit of modal symbolic logic is not much better than none. Still, the book is quite deep in its presentation of the philosophy of logic: the nature of validity, of conditional statements, of statements of necessity or possibility, etc. It delves into metaphysics of time and of physical objects, as well. We go far afield, where we could have gone deeper into plain logic. So, if you just want logic, and don't want philosophy, choose another book. If you want logic with philosophy of logic and metaphysics mixed in, you'll love this book: clear, well-written, brain-teasing and interesting.