Product Description

Logic is an ideal textbook for any logic student: great for revising before exams, for staying on top of course-work, and even for those who want to teach themselves logic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101872 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
'Logic is a pleasure to read: it is well organised and especially well written.' - James Page, The University of Kansas

'Paul Tomassi's book is the most accessible and user-friendly introduction to formal logic currently available to students. Semantic and syntactic approaches are nicely integrated and the organization is excellent, with later sections building systematically on earlier ones. Tomassi anticipates all the most important traps and confusions that students are likely to fall into and provides first-rate guidance on practical matters, such as strategies for proof-construction. Never intimidating, this is a text from which even the most unmathematically minded student can learn all the basics of elementary formal logic.' - Professor E.J. Lowe, University of Durham

'A superb and highly accessible introduction to formal logic that will surely come as a relief to new generations of students.' - Network

'I would recommend this book to any undergraduate student studying formal logic.' - Brendan Larvor, University of Hertfordshire

From the Back Cover
Logic brings elementary logic out of the academic darkness into the light of day. Paul Tomassi makes logic fully accessible for anyone trying to come to grips with the complexities of this challenging subject. The book is written in a patient and user-friendly way which makes both the nature and value of formal logic crystal clear.
Unique features of Logic:
student-friendly exercises
summary boxes of key points
lucid and accessible illustrations of all formal methods
glossary of key terms, concepts and all formal rules
Logic introduces and explains:
The Theory of Validity
The Language of Propositional Logic
Proof-Theory for Propositional Logic
Formal Semantics for Propositional Logic including the Truth-Tree Method
The Language of Quantificational Logic including the Theory of Descriptions
Proof-Theory for Quantificational Logic
Formal Semantics for Quantificational Logic including the Truth-Tree Method
Logic is an ideal textbook for any logic student: great for revising before exam

About the Author
Paul Tomassi is lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen

Customer Reviews

Leader of the pack
The market is flooded with introductory logic textbooks. For both accessibility and comprehensiveness, Tomassi's is clearly the best. There is an equal emphasis on syntactic and semantic methods, though Tomassi takes the somewhat unusual setp of introducing proof theory prior to truth tables. This may be problematic for some students, but people differ on which method they find more intuitive. Another drawback is that the book sometimes takes a somewhat long-winded approach. Tomassi does an excellent job of making passing reference to relevant issues in the history and philosophy of logic and provides ample references which the interested student will be able to follow-up. All told, an excellent introduction to contemporary logic.

Well communicated and accessible
It is often difficult to imagine how a rather complex subject such as formal logic can be made accessible to those of us who do not hold first degrees in Philosophy. However, this book allows the reader, whether student or not, to pick up the subject at a pace which is suitable for the individual. With well structured chapters and exercises the reader is able to understand the concepts and then apply them in a scientific manner. This may be critised by some as over-simplyfing the subject matter which has itself been studied for many hundreds of years. However Tomassi's approach allows the reader to understand and then apply the science to good use. All in all it can be argued that the book is itself mere logic. (Ps. I Passed)

Still the best ......
I was lucky enough to be in Paul's logic class at aberdeen, and this book made a tough subject easy. It's clear, concise and very good at explaining the basic concepts involved. In fact, this book is probably suitable for all students of logic up to postgradute level. (ps. I passed too)