Q&A: The Relation of Logic to the Intellect in General
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
The Relation of Logic to the Intellect in General
Question
Hey, so here it is: four claims that seem trivial to me, and I’d like to know whether you agree with them.
- Logic is carried out by the intellect (and not, say, by the senses or the imagination), and its “objects” are human thoughts…. correct / incorrect?
- Classical Aristotelian logic is grounded in the intellect and in thinking, and so too are all modern logics… correct / incorrect?
- It follows that there is a common substrate for Aristotelian logic and all modern logics, since all of them are borne by the intellect and its thoughts… correct / incorrect?
- This common substrate is the principle of entailment: thoughts follow from one another (like causes and effects)… correct / incorrect?
Thank you
Answer
- I don’t know what “carried out” means. When one thinks about a logical argument, one does so with the intellect. That is certainly reasonable.
- I didn’t understand the question. What are “all modern logics”? And what sense does this question add beyond the first one?
- I didn’t understand the question. They all have several things in common: they are all called logic. They were all created over the course of history. They are all studied and researched in logic departments.
- I didn’t understand.
Discussion on Answer
Hmmm… an important clarification.
Logic is something the brain learns, like counting or causality. After it has been learned, you can call what learned it “intellect.” “Intellect” is just a matter of an unclear definition of an unclear mental process. A lot of things have to happen in order for one to be able to think logically. And those things do not belong to the intellect.