Logics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The study or system of principles of reasoning and argumentation used to distinguish valid from invalid inferences ; the set of rules or methods employed in a particular domain to derive conclusions or solve problems ; the underlying structure or rationale governing the functioning or operation of a system or process
2. A branch of philosophy and mathematics concerned with formal reasoning and principles for correct reasoning ; the methodological framework applied in specific disciplines to analyze and draw conclusions ; the foundational reasoning or scheme that directs how a process or entity behaves or progresses
3. The discipline that examines valid patterns of inference and demonstration ; an organized approach or methodology utilized in reasoning or decision-making in various fields ; the conceptual framework or set of rules that determine the operation and coherence of a system or concept

Etymology: "Logics" is simply the plural of "logic," and the plural is used mainly when people speak of several distinct systems of reasoning, such as "modal logics" or "formal logics," each with its own rules. The singular form is the older and more common one. The noun came into English in Middle English as "logike," borrowed through Old French from Latin "logica," which in turn came from the Ancient Greek "logikḗ," the feminine form of "logikós," meaning "of or pertaining to speech or reason." That Greek adjective grows from "lógos," a word with the core sense of "speech" or "reason," which also underlies the "-logy" in words like "biology" and "theology." English once had its own words for this idea. Old English speakers used "flitcræft," literally "art of arguing," and "racu," meaning reasoning, but the Latin-derived term displaced them. A rarer native survivor, "witcraft," shows the same logic of "wit" and "craft" combined.

Synonyms: reasoning, rationality, deduction, inference, argumentation