A Look at the Past: The History of Logic

Most of us today use logic on a daily basis without giving it much thought, and probably think of its rules and ideas as being self-evident. Now imagine a world without logic where the rules of reasoning and analysis are not present. This was the case in ancient times. Our present understanding of logic comes from the ancient Greek philosophers, but historical evidence suggest that the ideas of logic were developed in China, India, and Greece independently around the 4^th century BC. The western development of logic was due mainly to the work of the Greek philosophers. In ancient Greece learning was flourishing through debates and arguments. This environment led some of the philosophers to think about how knowledge is acquired and the validity of arguments. The interest in knowledge and intellectual pursuits among the Greeks was the driving factor in the discovery, development, and formalization of logic. Of the many Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were responsible for the development of logic as an area of study. Great Greek philosophers like Zeno, Euclid, and many others were also interested in valid arguments and proofs for their mathematical work. Though many were involved in the development of logic related ideas, it was Aristotle who later formalized the process of logic. Aristotle’s ideas were published in a work called the Organon. This work essentially formed the basis on which the formal study of logic began. Though the concepts of logic are discussed in the Organon, the term logic was not used to describe his ideas.

Over the centuries other philosophers, thinkers, and mathematician like Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, Immanuel Kant, George Boole, and Kurt Gödel have added to our present understanding of logic. During its evolution, logic has also shifted from a branch of philosophy to a branch of mathematics. Logic and mathematics are closely related because mathematical proofs, arguments, and conclusions are all based on thinking involving logic. Today the study of logic is pursued by both philosophers and mathematician alike.