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Preview — Being Logical by Dennis Q. McInerny
Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking
Essentially, this book is to logic what "The Elements of Style" is to writing.
The benefit of this book lies both in what it is and what it is not. If you're looking for an advanced book laying out Logic as an academic study which is thorough and hits all the points, then this is not the book for you. If what you are looking for is a very readable, simple and fast moving read that hits about 90% of what you will commonly need to know in this realm, then this ...more
The author's intent was to write a book that would be to logic what Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is to writing. Unfortunately I don't think McInerny succeeded. The book is organized nicely and is written clearly. That is the best I can say about it.
Being Logical is an introduction to logic. I assumed this meant formal logic, but it actually consisted of a mix between formal and more practical informal logic. This made sense given its introductory level. However, what did not make sen...more
This book is effective in introducing the concepts of critical t ...more
The examples of good and bad logic seemed too obvious the first time I read it. But after encounter ...more
It is divided into five parts. Part One (Preparing the Mind for Logic) talks about the preparations we need to make in order to think and reason well. These preparations refer to attitudes and ways of thinking that we need to adopt and the concepts that we need to remember in order to ready our minds for good thinking and reasoning.
These are the concepts we need to remember:
1. Facts (that is, objective facts of the ...more
I found the chapter on the relationship between language and the world to be a fascin ...more
Definitely a must-read for non-fiction readers.
This book, however, is excellent at teaching clear thinking, interesting, and perfect for any layperson wishing to glimpse the world ...more
What I didn't like: While I didn't expect an advanced textbook, this one felt too short to really enjoy. Just as soon as I got to a section that made perfect sense, it rushed off to the next one.
Overall: This is a good book to learn logic in plain English. There are clear examples for each case. For those who are advanced in this art and science, it's always good to review the fundamentals. But for those w ...more