Is logic the answer to everthing?

[Arkarian]

Is logic the answer to everthing? If it is, then how can it explain our existence, because logically we are not supposed to exist (in mind or matter). Logically you cannot get something from nothing. So can logic answer every question?

 

[Evo]

Logic isn't the answer, it's how you reason in order to find an explanation.

Merriam Webster definition - 1 a (1): a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration : the science of the formal principles of reasoning

 

[Huckleberry]

Is logic the answer to everthing? If it is, then how can it explain our existence, because logically we are not supposed to exist (in mind or matter). Logically you cannot get something from nothing. So can logic answer every question?

Logic is the answer to nothing. Logic is part of the process of reasoning that we use to arrive at correct answers.

Because a phenomenon is not currently fully understood does not mean that a logical explanation does not exist. If you mean to ask if a rational explanation exists for all phenomena, that may very well be the case. You will only have a resolution to your question when everything is answered.

I like to use vision as an allegory for logic. In order for a concept to be logical it must be consciously rational, without the intuitive vagueness of peripheral vision. However, without peripheral vision it can be difficult to know where to look, or what the big picture is. Yet, without focus there is no clarity to vision. By combining intuition and logic we form a method of reasoning to visualize concepts, resulting in an individual point of view.

 

[Moridin]

Imagine a one of those new cellphones with built-in cameras. One part of the phone is a camera (P) and another part is a non-camera (~P). But this violates the law of non contradiction!

~( P & ~P)

Surely, that must mean that there can be no such thing as cellphones with build-in cameras?

 

[dst]

Imagine a one of those new cellphones with built-in cameras. One part of the phone is a camera (P) and another part is a non-camera (~P). But this violates the law of non contradiction!

~( P & ~P)

Surely, that must mean that there can be no such thing as cellphones with build-in cameras?

That only works if you're saying the phone is a camera and NOT a camera. But you're comparing it to a camera phone, not the same thing.

 

[ripcurl1016]

logically the double slit experiment doesn't make sense either

 

[madphysics]

Logically, Everything is wrong. Therefore, logically everything is right. Therefore, everything is wrong. Therefore everything is right.Therefore, everything...Hardrive Overload. Self-destruct sequence initiated.

 

[Moridin]

Logic is based on science, not the other way around.

 

[JoeDawg]

Logic is based on science, not the other way around.

Uhm, no. Logic has been around a lot longer than scientific method.

 

[Arkarian]

misunderstanding my question

true, logic is only the process, but can you actually use this process to get the answer to everthing. to process something, you need something to process with, so you have to have something to start with. after you have something to start with, you then use logic to answer soemthing. we use logic a lot, a simple version of logic is "because ... therefore ..." so my question is can logic be the process(if you prefer) to answer every question?
miracles and stuff doesn't have anything to do with logic, they are the result of something, you use logic to get a solution, so you have to work with the what caused something then work from there.

 

[Moridin]

Uhm, no. Logic has been around a lot longer than scientific method.

There is no such thing as "the scientific method". Logic is based on science in the sense that it is a generalized formulation of what experience tells us, such as noncontradiction, modus ponens etc.

 

[out of whack]

can logic be the process(if you prefer) to answer every question?

Well no, it cannot answer invalid questions. I'm not being flip. Identifying invalid questions is important. Take this for example: name something that does not answer this question. Logically, no answer can be given because the question is unanswerable. "Nothing" does not answer it. "Something" does not answer it either. Logic is a consistent process only as long as you start with consistent premises or questions.

Some people will dismiss logic due to its inability to answer the Big Question (tm): why do we exist? The fact is, although most people don't realize it, this question is also invalid. Asking "why" asks for a cause or a process that leads to the specified result. But when the specified result is existence itself, then the question is invalid: what existed before existence? "Nothing" does not answer the question because "nothing" does not exist. "Something" does not answer the question either because if it existed then it wasn't before existence. It's really a pretty dumb question, but one that has fascinated me as well as everyone at one time or another, until I realized what I was actually asking and smacked my own forehead. What is the cause of the first cause? Doh!

 

[JoeDawg]

There is no such thing as "the scientific method". Logic is based on science in the sense that it is a generalized formulation of what experience tells us, such as noncontradiction, modus ponens etc.

LOL. So according to you, science exists, but scientific method doesn't.

The word 'hat' is a 'generalized formulation of what experience tells us'.

Which means everything is science, except scientific method, which doesn't exist.

Are you a troll or just insane?

 

[KingOrdo]

In Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler, John Wheeler devotes a few pages to the idea of 'pregeometry'--roughly, the notion that the predicate calculus (or some other basic logical system) underlies all physical law. I don't know if anything ever came of this, but it's certainly a fascinating idea, with a real elegance to it.

 

[Moridin]

LOL. So according to you, science exists, but scientific method doesn't.

The word 'hat' is a 'generalized formulation of what experience tells us'.

Which means everything is science, except scientific method, which doesn't exist.

Are you a troll or just insane?

No, the term "scientific method" does not exist, since science is a combination of many methods from different fields, both practically and philosophically. There is no universal "method", although science is a method.

 

[JoeDawg]

This logic does not resemble our Earth logic.

 

[al-mahed]

"This statement doesn't have any proof"