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Theory paper

Logic – I

Examined on Logic — no governing enactment. This paper has no statute behind it. It is examined on whether you can tell a valid argument from an invalid one: terms and propositions, the square of opposition, conversion and obversion, the categorical syllogism with its figures, moods and rules, and the informal fallacies. Legal examples are used throughout — a judgment is an argument, and most bad ones fail on a rule of the syllogism or on an informal fallacy you can name.

This page is the map of the paper: every syllabus unit, the leading cases with full summaries, and the exam questions the paper actually sets.

Units

  1. Unit 1 · Introduction to Logical and Legal Reasoning — Module I — what logic is; form and content; deduction and induction in the courts; truth, validity and the laws of thought; terms, connotation and denotation; simple enumeration and analogy; logic and law
  2. Unit 2 · Propositions — Module II — proposition, sentence, judgment and fact; constituents and the copula; the traditional classification and distribution of terms; reducing sentences to logical form; the modern classification and general propositions
  3. Unit 3 · Inference — Module III — kinds of inference; the opposition of propositions and the square; conversion and obversion; the derived eductions and other immediate inferences
  4. Unit 4 · Definition and Logical Division — Module IV — the purpose of definition; real and nominal, and the modern kinds; the traditional rules of definition and definition in law; logical division, dichotomy and classifying evidence

Exam questions

Where it sits

Statutes