Ocean State Libraries

Over the past two centuries the field of logic has developed at an explosive pace into new areas far removed from the traditional syllogism and formal proof. The purpose of this well-known introductory treatment is to chart, clearly and lucidly, this new domain of today's vastly sophisticated logic. Author Morris R. Cohen explores "the periphery of logic, the relations of logic to the rest of the universe, the philosophical presuppositions which give...

This book is aimed at newcomers to the field of logical reasoning, particularly those who, to borrow a phrase from Pascal, are so made that they understand best through visuals. I have selected a small set of common errors in reasoning and visualized them using memorable illustrations that are supplemented with lots of examples. The hope is that the reader will learn from these pages some of the most common pitfalls in arguments and be able to identify...

German philosopher and influential 18th century late Enlightenment thinker Immanuel Kant wrote "Critique of Judgment" in 1790 to solidify his ideas on aesthetics. Often referred to as the "third critique", it follows Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," published in 1781, and "Critique of Practical Reason", published in 1788 and completes his "Critical" project. Divided into two sections, one on aesthetic judgment and the other on teleological judgment,...

We are bombarded with more information each day than our brains can process, especially in election season. It's raining bad data, half-truths, and even outright lies. Daniel J. Levitin shows how to recognize misleading announcements, statistics, graphs, and written reports revealing the ways lying weasels can use them. "A primer to the critical thinking that is now more necessary than ever. We are bombarded with more information each day than the...

British philosopher Jamie Whyte uses logic to expose what he sees as errors in reasoning, fallacies, and muddled thinking fed to the public by the media, politicians, religious leaders, and others.

How can confusing directions actually help us? Why can large bonuses make CEOs less productive? Why is there such a big difference between what we think will make us happy and what really makes us happy? In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality...