Reasoning
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2008-06-24T21:30:51Z
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'''Reasoning''' is the [[Cognition|cognitive]] process of looking for [[reason]]s for beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings.<ref> Kirwin, Christopher. 1995. 'Reasoning'. In Ted Honderich (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. Oxford: Oxford University Press: p. 748</ref> Humans have the ability to engage in reasoning about their own reasoning using [[introspection]]. Different forms of such reflection on reasoning occur in different fields.
In [[philosophy]], the study of reasoning typically focuses on what makes reasoning efficient or inefficient, appropriate or inappropriate, good or bad. Philosophers do this by either examining the form or structure of the reasoning within arguments, or by considering the broader methods used to reach particular goals of reasoning. [[Psychology|Psychologists]] and [[cognitive science|cognitive scientists]], in contrast, tend to study how people reason, which brain processes are engaged, and how the reasoning is influenced by the structure of the brain. Specific forms of reasoning are also studied by [[mathematician]]s and lawyers.
==History of reasoning==
It is likely that humans have used reasoning to work out what they should believe or do for a very long time indeed. However, some researchers have tried to determine when, in the history of human development, humans moved from using myths to describe the world to attempting to reason about the world, and when humans first began to reason about their own reasoning.
===Babylonian reasoning===
In [[Mesopotamia]], Esagil-kin-apli's medical ''Diagnostic Handbook'' written in the 11th century BC was based on a logical set of [[axiom]]s and [[assumption]]s, including the modern view that through the examination and inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient's disease, its aetiology and future development, and the chances of the patient's recovery.<ref name=Stol-99>H. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004), ''Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine'', p. 99, [[Brill Publishers]], ISBN 9004136665.</ref>
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, [[Babylonian astronomy|Babylonian astronomers]] began employing an [[Consistency proof|internal logic]] within their predictive planetary systems, which was an important contribution to logic and the [[philosophy of science]].<ref name=Brown>D. Brown (2000), ''Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology '', Styx Publications, ISBN 9056930362.</ref> [[Babylonia]]n thought had a considerable influence on early Greek thought.<ref>Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' '''101''' (1), p. 35-47 [43].</ref>
===Greek reasoning===
The works of [[Homer]], written in the eighth century BC, contain mythic stories that use gods to explain the formation of the world. However, only two centuries later, late in the sixth century BC, [[Xenophanes]] of Colophon began to question the Homeric accounts of the creation of nature and the gods. He wrote:
*“Homer and Hesiod attribute all things to the gods that among men are shame and a disgrace” (frag. 11).
*“God is one, greatest among gods and among men, in no way like men in form and thought” (frag. 23).
*“If oxen and horses and lions had hands or could paint and make things with their hands like men, then they would paint the forms of gods and make their bodies each according to their own shapes, horses like horses, oxen like oxen” (frag. 15).
According to David Furley, "the basis of [Xenophanes'] criticism appears to have been that he saw an inconsistency between the concept of god as something different from man, and the stories told about the gods, which made them behave as men do."<ref>Furley, David. 2003. 'Rationality among the Greeks and Romans'. In The Gale Group, ''Dictionary of the history of ideas''. [[University of Virginia]] Library. [http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv4-07]</ref> In the same period, other Greek thinkers began to develop theories about the nature of the world that suggest that they believed that there were regularities in nature and that humans could use reasoning to develop a consistent story about the nature of the world. [[Thales]] of Miletus, c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC, proposed that all is water. [[Anaximenes]] of Miletus, c. 585 BC – c. 525 BC, claimed that air is the source of everything.<ref>Furley, David. 2003. 'Rationality among the Greeks and Romans'. In The Gale Group, ''Dictionary of the history of ideas''. [[University of Virginia]] Library. [http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv4-07]</ref>
[[Aristotle]] is, so far as we know, the first writer to give an extended, systematic treatment of the methods of human reasoning. He identified two major methods of reasoning, analysis and synthesis. In the first, we try to understand an object by looking at its component parts. In the second, we try to understand a class of objects by looking at the common properties of each object in that class.
Aristotle developed what is known as [[syllogism|syllogistic logic]], which makes it possible to analyse reasoning in a way that ignores the content of the argument and focuses on the form or structure of the argument.<ref> Aristotle. 350 B.C. Robin Smith (transl.). 1989. ''Prior Analytics''. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing. </ref> In the [[Prior Analytics]], Aristotle begins by pointing out that:
:"[If] no pleasure is a good, neither will any good be a pleasure."<ref> Aristotle. 350 B.C. Robin Smith (transl.). 1989. ''Prior Analytics''. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing: A2:7</ref>
He then argues that this argument is an example of a rule of reasoning of the following form:
:Premise: "A belongs to none of the Bs"
:Conclusion: "B [does not] belong to any of the As".<ref> Aristotle. 350 B.C. Robin Smith (transl.). 1989. ''Prior Analytics''. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing: A2:14-26</ref>
Aristotle points out that by understanding the reasoning involved in this type of argument, we can know that whatever the As and Bs are, we can reach the same conclusion about the relationship between them. This is a simple and straightforward argument, but it is a sign of an amazing leap in understanding and research into reason and was the beginning of the development of [[formal logic]].
===Indian reasoning===
{{Main|Indian logic}}
Two of the six Indian schools of thought deal with logic: [[Nyaya]] and [[Vaisheshika]]. The [[Nyaya Sutras]] of [[Aksapada Gautama]] constitute the core texts of the Nyaya school, one of the six orthodox schools of [[Hindu]] philosophy. This [[Philosophical realism|realist]] school developed a rigid five-member schema of [[inference]] involving an initial premise, a reason, an example, an application and a conclusion. The [[Idealism|idealist]] [[Buddhist philosophy]] became the chief opponent to the Naiyayikas. [[Nagarjuna]], the founder of the [[Madhyamika]] "Middle Way" developed an analysis known as the "catuskoti" or [[tetralemma]]. This four-cornered argumentation systematically examined and rejected the affirmation of a proposition, its denial, the joint affirmation and denial, and finally, the rejection of its affirmation and denial. But it was with [[Dignaga]] and his successor [[Dharmakirti]] that Buddhist logic reached its height. Their analysis centered on the definition of necessary logical entailment, "vyapti", also known as invariable concomitance or pervasion. To this end a doctrine known as "apoha" or differentiation was developed. This involved what might be called inclusion and exclusion of defining properties. The difficulties involved in this enterprise, in part, stimulated the neo-scholastic school of [[Navya-Nyāya]], which developed a formal analysis of inference in the 16th century.
===Chinese reasoning===
{{Main|Logic in China}}
In China, a contemporary of [[Confucius]], [[Mozi]], "Master Mo", is credited with founding the [[Mohism|Mohist school]], whose canons dealt with issues relating to valid inference and the conditions of correct conclusions. In particular, one of the schools that grew out of Mohism, the [[Logicians]], are credited by some scholars for their early investigation of [[formal logic]]. Unfortunately, due to the harsh rule of [[Legalism (philosophy)|Legalism]] in the subsequent [[Qin Dynasty]], this line of investigation disappeared in China until the introduction of Indian philosophy by [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].
===Islamic reasoning===
{{Main|Logic in Islamic philosophy}}
For a time after [[Muhammad]]'s death, [[Islamic law]] placed importance on formulating standards of argument, which gave rise to a novel approach to logic in [[Kalam]], but this approach was later influenced by ideas from [[Greek philosophy]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy]] with the rise of the [[Mu'tazili]] philosophers, who highly valued [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Organon]]''. The works of Hellenistic-influenced Islamic philosophers were crucial in the reception of Aristotelian logic in medieval Europe, along with the commentaries on the ''Organon'' by [[Averroes]]. The works of [[al-Farabi]], [[Avicenna]], [[al-Ghazali]] and other Muslim logicians who often criticized and corrected Aristotelian logic and introduced their own forms of logic, also played a central role in the subsequent development of medieval European logic.
Islamic logic not only included the study of formal patterns of [[inference]] and their validity but also elements of the philosophy of language and elements of [[epistemology]] and [[metaphysics]]. Due to disputes with Arabic grammarians, Islamic philosophers were very interested in working out the relationship between logic and language, and they devoted much discussion to the question of the subject matter and aims of logic in relation to reasoning and speech. In the area of formal logical analysis, they elaborated upon the theory of terms, propositions and syllogisms. They considered the syllogism to be the form to which all rational argumentation could be reduced, and they regarded syllogistic theory as the focal point of logic. Even poetics was considered as a syllogistic art in some fashion by many major Islamic logicians.
Important developments made by Muslim logicians included the development of "[[Logic in Islamic philosophy#Avicennian logic|Avicennian logic]]" as a replacement of Aristotelian logic. [[Avicenna]]'s system of logic was responsible for the introduction of [[hypothetical syllogism]],<ref name=Goodman>Lenn Evan Goodman (2003), ''Islamic Humanism'', p. 155, [[Oxford University Press]], ISBN 0195135806.</ref> [[Temporal logic|temporal]] [[modal logic]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-65928 History of logic: Arabic logic], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''.</ref><ref>Dr. Lotfollah Nabavi, [http://public.ut.ac.ir/html/fac/lit/articles.html Sohrevardi's Theory of Decisive Necessity and kripke's QSS System], ''Journal of Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences''.</ref> and [[Inductive reasoning|inductive logic]].<ref>[http://www.islamherald.com/asp/explore/science/science_muslim_scientists.asp Science and Muslim Scientists], Islam Herald.</ref><ref>Wael B. Hallaq (1993), ''Ibn Taymiyya Against the Greek Logicians'', p. 48. [[Oxford University Press]], ISBN 0198240430.</ref> Other important developments in Islamic philosophy include the development of a strict [[scientific citation|science of citation]], the [[isnad]] or "backing", and the development of a [[scientific method|scientific method of open inquiry]] to disprove claims, the [[ijtihad]], which could be generally applied to many types of questions.
==Reasoning methods and argumentation==
One approach to the study of reasoning is to identify various forms of reasoning that may be used to support or justify conclusions. The main division between forms of reasoning that is made in philosophy is between [[deductive reasoning]] and [[inductive reasoning]]. [[Logic|Formal logic]] has been described as 'the science of deduction'.<ref>Jeffrey, Richard. 1991. ''Formal logic: its scope and limits'', (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill:1.</ref> The study of inductive reasoning is generally carried out within the field known as [[informal logic]] or [[critical thinking]].
===Deductive reasoning===
{{Main|Deductive reasoning}}
Deductive arguments are intended to have reasoning that is [[valid]]. Reasoning in an argument is valid if the argument's conclusion must be true when the premises (the reasons given to support that conclusion) are true. One classic example of deductive reasoning is that found in [[syllogism]]s like the following:
:Premise 1: All humans are mortal.
:Premise 2: Socrates is a human.
:Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
The reasoning in this argument is valid, because there is no way in which the premises, 1 and 2, could be true and the conclusion, 3, be false.
Validity is a property of the reasoning in the argument, not a property of the premises in the argument or the argument as a whole. In fact, the truth or falsity of the premises and the conclusion is irrelevant to the validity of the reasoning in the argument. The following argument, with a false premise and a false conclusion, is also valid, (it has the [[logical form|form]] of reasoning known as [[modus ponens]]).
:Premise 1: If green is a colour, then grass poisons cows.
:Premise 2: Green is a colour.
:Conclusion: Grass poisons cows.
Again, if the premises in this argument were true, the reasoning is such that the conclusion would also have to be true.
In a deductive argument with valid reasoning the conclusion contains no more information than is contained in the premises. Therefore, deductive reasoning does not increase one's knowledge base, and so is said to be non-ampliative.
Within the field of [[Logic|formal logic]], a variety of different forms of deductive reasoning have been developed. These involve abstract reasoning using symbols, [[logical operators]] and a set of rules that specify what processes may be followed to arrive at a conclusion. These forms of reasoning include [[Aristotelian logic]], also known as syllogistic logic, [[propositional logic]], [[predicate logic]], and [[modal logic]].
===Inductive reasoning===
{{Main|Inductive reasoning}}
Inductive reasoning contrasts strongly with deductive reasoning. Even in the best, or strongest, cases of inductive reasoning, the truth of the premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion. Instead, the conclusion of an inductive argument follows with some degree of [[probability]]. Relatedly, the conclusion of an inductive argument contains more information than is already contained in the premises. Thus, this method of reasoning is ampliative.
A classical example of inductive reasoning comes from the [[Empiricism|empiricist]] [[David Hume]]:
:Premise: The sun has risen in the east every morning up until now.
:Conclusion: The sun will also rise in the east tomorrow.
====Abductive reasoning====
{{Main|abductive reasoning}}
[[Abductive reasoning]], or argument to the best explanation often involves both inductive and deductive arguments. However, as the conclusion in an abductive argument does not follow with certainty from its premises it is best thought of as a form of inductive reasoning. What separates abduction from the other forms of reasoning is an attempt to favor one conclusion above others, by attempting to falsify alternative explanations or by demonstrating the likelihood of the favored conclusion, given a set of more or less disputable [[assumptions]].
====Argument from analogy====
[[analogy|Argument from analogy]] is usually also a form of inductive reasoning. An argument from analogy has the following form:
: A has [[characteristics]] x,y, and z
: B has characteristics x and y
: So, B has (or probably has) characteristic z
Reasoning by analogy goes from one particular thing, or category, to another particular thing, or category. As with other forms of inductive argument, even the best reasoning in an argument from analogy can only make the conclusion probable given the truth of the premises, not certain.
Analogical reasoning is very frequent in [[common sense]], [[science]], [[philosophy]] and the [[humanities]], but sometimes it is accepted only as an auxiliary method. A refined approach is [[case-based reasoning]]. For more information on inferences by analogy, see [http://www.cs.hut.fi/Opinnot/T-93.850/2005/Papers/juthe2005-analogy.pdf Juthe, 2005].
===Fallacious reasoning===
{{Main|Logical fallacy}}
Flawed reasoning in arguments is known as [[logical fallacy|fallacious reasoning]]. Reasoning within arguments can be bad because it commits either a [[formal fallacy]] or an [[informal fallacy]].
====Formal fallacies====
{{Main|Formal fallacy}}
Formal fallacies occur when there is a problem with the form, or structure, of the argument. The word 'formal' refers to this link to the ''form'' of the argument. An argument that contains a formal fallacy will always be invalid. Consider, for example, the following argument:
:#If a drink is made with boiling water, it will be hot.
:#This drink was not made with boiling water.
:#This drink is not hot.
The reasoning in this argument is bad, because the [[antecedent]] (first part) of the [[conditional]] (the 'if..., then...' statement) can be false without the [[consequent]] (second half) of the conditional being true. In this example, the drink could have been made with boiling milk, or heated in the microwave, and so be hot in spite of the truth of statement 2. This particular formal fallacy is known as [[denying the antecedent]].
====Informal fallacies====
{{Main|Informal fallacy}}
An informal fallacy is an error in reasoning that occurs due to a problem with the ''content'', rather than mere ''structure'', of the argument. Reasoning that commits an informal fallacy often occurs in an argument that is invalid, that is, contains a formal fallacy. One example of such reasoning is a [[Ignoratio elenchi|red herring]] argument.
An argument can be valid, that is, contain no formal reasoning fallacies, and yet still contain an informal fallacy. The clearest examples of this occur when an argument contains [[circular reasoning]], also known as [[begging the question]].
==Psychology==
Scientific research into reasoning is carried out within the fields of [[psychology]] and [[cognitive science]]. Psychological research into reasoning falls into two general areas of research. First, the biological functioning of the brain is studied by [[neurophysiology|neurophysiologists]] and [[neuropsychology|neuropsychologists]]. Research in this area includes research into the structure and function of normally functioning brains, and of damaged or otherwise unusual brains. Second, psychologists carry out research on reasoning behaviour. Such research may focus, for example, on how people perform on tests of reasoning, such as [[Intelligence tests|intelligence]] or [[I.Q.]] tests, or on how well people's reasoning matches ideals set by logic (see, for example, the [[Wason test]]).<ref>Manktelow, K.I. 1999. ''Reasoning and Thinking (Cognitive Psychology: Modular Course.)''. Hove, Sussex:Psychology Press</ref> In addition to carrying out research into reasoning, some psychologists, for example, [[clinical psychology|clinical psychologists]] and [[psychotherapy|psychotherapists]] work to alter people's reasoning habits when they are unhelpful.
==Cognitive science and artificial intelligence==
[[Cognitive science]] sees reasoning by the analogy to a [[data processing]], where relations between observed properties of reasoning are used in numerous models leading to evident logically correct conclusions in different circumstances.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} The [[complexity]] and [[efficacy]] of reasoning is considered the [[critical]] indicator of cognitive [[intelligence]].{{Fact|date=July 2007}} Therefore it is the inevitable component of cognitive [[decision-making]].
In [[artificial intelligence]], philosophers and scientists study reasoning and machines, and consider such questions as whether a machine can properly be considered to reason or think, and, relatedly, what would count as a test for reasoning. (See, for example, the [[Turing test]].)<ref> [[Jack Copeland|Copeland, Jack]]. 1993. ''Artificial Intelligence:a philosophical introduction''. Oxford: Blackwell.</ref>
==Legal reasoning==
Legal reasoning is used when reflecting on the nature of existing laws or when reaching decisions about the relationship between laws and particular court cases.
Thorne McCarty did pioneering early work in the mechanization of legal reasoning for taxation using [[Planner (programming language)|Micro Planner]].<ref>McCarty, L. Thorne. 1977. 'Reflections on TAXMAN: An Experiment on Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning'. ''Harvard Law Review''. Vol. 90, No. 5.</ref> More recent work on the formalization and mechanization of legal reasoning can be found in the proceedings of the International Conferences on Artificial Intelligence and Law ( [http://www.iaail.org/icail-2007/index.html most recently at Stanford in June 2007]).
==Footnotes==
<references/>
==References==
*[[Jack Copeland|Copeland, Jack]]. 1993. ''Artificial Intelligence:a philosophical introduction''. Oxford: Blackwell.
*Furley, David. 2003. 'Rationality among the Greeks and Romans'. In The Gale Group, ''Dictionary of the history of ideas''. [[University of Virginia]] Library. [http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv4-07]</
*Jeffrey, Richard. 1991. ''Formal logic: its scope and limits'', (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
*Kirwin, Christopher. 1995. 'Reasoning'. In Ted Honderich (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Manktelow, K.I. 1999. ''Reasoning and Thinking (Cognitive Psychology: Modular Course.)''. Hove, Sussex:Psychology Press
*McCarty, L. Thorne. 1977. 'Reflections on TAXMAN: An Experiment on Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning'. ''Harvard Law Review''. Vol. 90, No. 5.
*[[Michael Scriven|Scriven, Michael]]. 1976. ''Reasoning''. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-055882-5
==See also==
* [[Casuistry]]
* [[Categorical syllogism]]
* [[Critical thinking]]
* [[Defeasible reasoning]]
* [[Evidence]]
* [[Inference]]
* [[Logic]]
* [[Logical fallacy]]
* [[Logical reasoning]]
* [[Practical reason]]
* [[Reason]]
* [[Recognition primed decision]]
* [[Retroduction]]
* [[Theoretical reason]]
* [[What the Tortoise Said to Achilles]]
* [[Rastafari_movement#Ceremonies|Rastafarian reasoning ceremony]]
{{portal|Logic}}
{{Logic}}
[[Category:Cognition]]
[[Category:Problem solving]]
[[Category:Thought]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Logic]]
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