Question Home

Position:Home>Philosophy> Can using logic have a negative effect? I.e. are there any situations in which o


Question: Can using logic have a negative effect!? I!.e!. are there any situations in which one should not employ logic!?
I am curious what people think!. FYI: I don't want this to turn into a religious debate on faith versus logic but my own opinion is that faith needs logic for reasons which are too lengthy to discuss here!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
There is a saying that goes "If everyone thinks of themselves, everyone is thought of" - it is logical, yet I think it is undesirable to think in this way as it encourages selfishness and ruthless behavour!. Hope this is a decent example!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are many questions that logic is completely unable to answer!.

Take, for example, any a priori truth!. A triangle has three sides!. That's true because that's just the definition of a triangle!. You can't logically demonstrate it!.

Another good example is called 'the problem of induction'!. All of science works by performing specific tests that try to prove or disprove a general rule!. But logically, this doesn't work: just because the Sun rose every day of your life, it doesn't mean it must rise tomorrow!.

Emotional and interpersonal relationships are arguably often not matters of logic and reason, but rather ones of preference, temperament, and chance!.

And arguably it is not even very reasonable to assume that any method is the perfect tool for every purpose!. It can be logically demonstrated that no system of rules can be entirely complete and accurate!. Even those of logic!. So it goes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In a way, yes!. This was illustrated by the Scholastics who applied logic to all that they saw and thought about and since they couldn't see any fault in their logic they thought they had to be right!. Wrong! Logic without experience can lead you to many dead ends!. And even with experience you need to look deeper - people believed for millenia that the Sun rose in the East and set in the West!. Once telescopes were invented, and people discovered that the Sun was the center of the solar system, a revolution occured!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I stay away from phrases like "there is NO situation!.!.!.!." However, offhand I can think of no situation to which logic should does not apply!. Nonuse of logic implies irrationality!.

The problem comes in when we do not consider other aspects of human life, such as emotion and intuition Even the most analytic philosophers, when working something out logically, ask about the conclusion "does it ring intuitively true!?"

We could say "it is logical to involve out emotional and intuitive aspects in our logical considerations!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes when you are an investigator

logic tells you that this person is the criminal due to his fingerprints at the scene of crime but your gut feeling tells you there is more to it than meets the eye!.

actually that can happen quite often when you are really experienced in a fieldWww@QuestionHome@Com