Unit 1 of Logic – I (syllabus: 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). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- When is an argument valid, and what does validity guarantee?
- Why is logic called a formal science, and what follows for the scope of the subject?
- What is the relation between inference and implication?
- What distinguishes deductive from inductive argument, and how does each appear in legal work?
- What do the three laws of thought state, and what do they not do?
- How are terms classified, and what is the difference between contrary and contradictory terms?
- What is simple enumeration, and what really determines its value?
- When is an analogical argument a good one?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Truth and validity in deductive argument, s. Module 1, head 1.4
- Logic as a formal science, s. Module 1, head 1.2
- Basic logical concepts: inference and implication, s. Module 1, head 1.4
- Deductive and inductive reasoning and their use in courts, s. Module 1, head 1.3
- The laws of thought, s. Module 1, head 1.6
- Connotation and denotation; positive, negative, contrary and contradictory terms, s. Module 1, head 1.7
- Induction: simple enumeration as a form of induction, s. Module 1, head 1.8
- Analogy: characteristics of a good and a bad analogy, s. Module 1, head 1.9