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14 FUTURE LOGIC




2. What Logic is Not.

I get some very funny reactions from people at the mention of the word ‘logic’. One
should not reject logic offhand, because of a mistaken notion of what it is about.
Logic is not a method of inferring all knowledge from a limited number of abstract
premises; it is not a magical tool of omniscience. It depends for its action on moment by
moment impressions or intuitions, which in some cases turn out to be unfounded. Nor is logic
merely a mechanized manner of pursuing solutions to specific problems.
People often wrongly regard and use logic as a square-headed, narrow-minded activity.
But in my opinion, logic is, straight and tough on a level of details, but overall very broad and
open minded. Obstinacy and prejudice, are rather attributes of people unwilling to listen to
reason, not even to at least consider alternative viewpoints. This is the very antithesis of a
logician’s attitude.
People often oppose ‘logic’ to feeling; they believe it discards the emotional side of life.
But logic does not mean ignoring feelings, but rather recommends taking the feelings —
including their inner meaning, their intuited significance — as one set of data among others in
the total picture; rationalistic data must also, however, be given their due weight.
Some people complain that ‘logic’ sometimes leads to evil conclusions. But value-
judgments involve inferences from standards. So either the norms are unsound, or they have
not been given their due weights in comparison to other norms, or the proposed means are not
the exclusive ways to achieve the norms. Thus, the failure involved may precisely be a
weakness in logical abilities, rather than any inherent coldness of logic.
Logic is only a tool — it cannot be blamed for errors made in its name, nor can it
control the moral choices of individuals who utilize it. Its only possible danger is that the
efficacy it endows on thought and action may be used for nefarious ends. But even then, a
person who sees things truly clearly, with the broad conception logic gives, is less likely to
have twisted values.
Logic is an important component of both mental health and moral responsibility. It
requests that we face facts and listen to the voice of reason: this does not exclude having a
heart or paying attention to one’s intuition. A person who does not keep in close touch with
reality, can easily develop unhealthy emotions and make counter-productive choices.
Rationality is a sign of maturity.
Another wrong impression people have of logic is that it is a meaningless manipulation
of symbols, or at best a branch of mathematics. One man recently told me the following sad
story. He thought of himself as a ‘logical person’, and being inclined to constantly improve his
education, he enrolled for a University course on the subject in San Francisco. He was so put
off by the lessons he attended, that he now hesitates to call himself ‘logical’!


3. Modus Operandi.

a. Title.
This is a book on logic, a formal and detailed study.
I called it ‘Future Logic’ to dedicate it to the future, to suggest its potential for
improvement of human thinking and doing. It is also a logic about the future, aimed at
knowledge of the possible and necessary. Lastly, it is futuristic, in that it is new, not of the
past, unbound by previous limits. Hence, it is a young and optimistic logic, for and of the
future, full of strength and energy.
I also called it ‘Future Logic’, because writing it has seemed an endless process. And it
is really without end; I have left many things unsaid, only hinting at directions future
logicians may take.
I would subtitle the book ‘modal logic’, to stress that all logic is ‘modal’, but not to
imply that it concerns a specific sector of logic. The book ranges over virtually the whole of
logic, constructing a well-integrated and fruitful system of logic, by means of an investigation
of modality. A ‘system’ in the grand, traditional sense, not in the narrow sense used by modern
logicians with reference to certain manipulations of limited scope.
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