Logic, the study of correct reasoning, especially as it involves the drawing of inferences.
When logic is said, for instance, to be the study of the laws of thought, these laws cannot be the empirical (or observable) regularities of actual human thinking as studied in psychology; they must be laws of correct reasoning, which are independent of the psychological idiosyncrasies of the thinker.
It must also be distinguished from the art of correct reasoning, which is the practical skill of applying logical principles to particular cases; and, even more sharply, it must be distinguished from the art of persuasion, in which invalid arguments are sometimes more effective than valid ones.
Here Hobbes defines philosophy as knowledge acquired by correct reasoning.
Philosophically, logic is at least closely related to the study of correct reasoning.
First, he claims that the same kind of correct reasoning applies to all domains.
On a view like this, deducibility and validity represent idealizations of correct reasoning in natural language.
It turns out, said Dharmakīrti, that correct reasoning is instrumental in helping one form beliefs that motivate successful action.
On views like this, the components of a logic provide the underlying deep structure of correct reasoning.
This definition may seem rather unconventional, for logic is usually treated as the science of correct reasoning and valid inference.
