Being Logical by D.Q. McInerny is one of the top 10 most important books that any student in high school should read – Period. A Book Review

Being Logical by D.Q. McInerny is one of the top 10 most important books that any student in high school should read – Period. An analysis: Book Review

Quick Stats

Author: D.Q. McInerny

Copyright: 2004

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 131

Genre: Reference/Philosophy

Ratings (Out of 10)

Overall/Composite: 9.0

Entertaining/Easy-Read: 7.0

Insightful/Interesting: 10.0

Technical/Complicated: 8.0

Importance/Relevance: 10

The Skinny

Synopsis: Let’s face it – you aren’t taught logic in high school. Not really. Half the battle to becoming a logical person is thinking of the right questions to even ask, and it seems as though a great first question would be, “Who’s responsibility is it for you to be educated?” Here’s a tip: It ain’t yo momma’s.

Howard Gardner, world renowned researcher of multiple intelligence, has demonstrated that logic is one of the primary intelligences. Being thus, it is regarded as a mental skill that can be grown and developed, just as muscles can be strengthened and grown.

If being logical is important, you aren’t taught it in school, AND it ain’t yo momma’s responsibility to be educated, then YOU need to read this book. No question about it. D.Q. McInerny does an absolutely phenomenal job of:

1. Teaching you about what logic is and how to fuse it into your mind
2. The fundamentals associated with being a logical person
3. Explaining nearly all of the words associated with this field of study along with their precise meanings
4. Why some people have a difficult time accepting the truth
5. The template for every fallacy you can shake a stick at

Ultimately, this is EXACTLY the type of mental skill they test you for on the LSAT, and anyway, the sooner you learn it the quicker your reading comprehension will skyrocket. By learning all of the words in the universe of logic you will dissect sentences with greater understanding and efficiency. This book is short, on point, and sweet.

You Must Till The Soil Of Your Mind Before You Plant Any Seeds

There is just absolutely no other way to say it better in 58 words or less. In his opening paragraph McInerny explains:

“Being logical presupposes our having a sensitivity to language and a knack for its effective use, for logic and language are inseparable. It also presupposes our having a healthy respect for the firm factualness of the world in which we live, for logic is about reality. Finally, being logical presupposes a lively awareness of how the facts that are our ideas relate to the facts that are the objects in the world, for logic is about truth.”

Basically, he is giving us the prerequisites for logic. If we are not at least this tall, if we cannot jump at least this high, if we do not be this aware, then we cannot become logical beings. Logic is something you must desire, just as people who excel are those who wish to be so. In one of his most profound statements he tells us:

The phrase “to pay attention” is telling. It reminds us that attention costs something. Attention demands an active, energetic response to every situation, to the persons, places, and things that make up the situation. It is impossible to be truly attentive and passive at the same time.”

While you are conscious, each of your working senses is constantly sending electrical signals to your brain – relaying perception. If you have ever heard the phrase, “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,” you are familiar with the idea that these are conscious decisions that can be made. A decision to not be aware of our sensory perception is a decision to be cast about by circumstance. It is just as James Allen talks about in the very first paragraph of the second chapter of the greatest book every written – ever – As A Man Thinketh:

“A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglect, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.”

Equally profound is McInerny’s observation that communication is a two-way street. When looking to get your idea into somebody else’s head it is important that the words each of you use to define your world have equivalent meanings. Even though it isn’t true, perhaps the most classic example of this (certainly one of the funniest) was that when Chevrolet released the Nova in Spanish-speaking countries. As it is told, the Nova did not sell well because “No va” translates literally as “doesn’t go”. McInerny makes the distinction between words we can be safe in their assumptive value versus those which we must be sure to define (italics added for emphasis):

“We will call ‘complex’ ideas those for which there is no simple one-to-one correspondence between idea and thing. Here the correspondence is one to many. there is more than a single originating source for this kind of idea in the objective world. Let’s take the idea of democracy. Is it a clear or a sound one? It is, at least potentially. It is a clear or sound idea to the extent that we are able to relate it to the objective world. But there are many things in the objective world that go together to compose the rich meaning of the idea of democracy: persons, events, constitutions, legislative acts, past institutions, present institutions.”

He moves next into explaining the rules and pitfalls of effective communication. This is all great information to know because, of course, we do not want to waste our valuable time illustrating an idea only for it to go unrecognized and unappreciated. Now that we know how to effectively communicate ideas and how to develop the character of a logical person, we may come to the most important question of all: If the purpose of logic is to discern the truth – what is the truth? This is the very question that Pontius Pilot asked to Jesus. It is a question that has been asked for over 2500 years and one which will continue to be asked indefinitely.

“A statement is true if what it says reflects what is the case. … Logical truth … is a matter of correspondence between the content of a statement (which reflects the ideas held by the person making the statement) and objective facts.”

Sounds simple enough right? We must utilize discretion at every turn if we are to know truth. There are some who, on purpose or not, state things contradictory to the way they actually exist in reality. Just because something is believed does not make it true – even God does not augment mathematics. It matters not whether a person truly believes the value of one plus one to be three, or if a person is intentionally misleading us to an incorrect conclusion. Even if the statement is made with great sincerity we must not blindly accept the statements of others as true. Remember, being logical is an active quality – not something that happens to us.

The Four Pillars of Logic

Logical truth is something that is applied to statements. As we analyze these statements, there are four principles by which all of our reasoning must abide by. McInerny calls these four principles “First Principles” and points out that they are self-evident since they cannot be proven. They are considered obviously true and serve as the basis for all other lines of reasoning:

1.) The Principle of Identity – The whole world does not exist as one “homogenous mass” as he puts it. Things exist individually as separately from one another.

2.) The Principle of the Excluded Middle – “Between being and nonbeing there is no middle state.” This is a very interesting concept as there is more to it than meets the eye. As McInerny puts it (bold, italics, and exclamations added for emphasis):

“There is, then, no becoming in the absolute sense, no passage from nonbeing to being. Elaine, who is becoming every day a more accomplished musician because of assiduous practice, could not be becoming a musician if she were not already Elaine. (!) There is no becoming with respect to the very existence of a human person. Elaine is “becoming” relatively, not absolutely: She is not becoming Elaine; she is becoming Elaine the more accomplished musician. (!!!!!) ”

This is such a critical point to understand, and it reminds us of the profound truth that, “Change isn’t change until it’s change.” Things either are or they are not, just as Yoda says, “Do or do not, there is no try.” In logic, there are no excuses, only truth.

3.) The Principle of Sufficient Reason – This is one of the most world renowned ideas and has been called many things: Karma, The Law of Sowing and Reaping, and The Law of Cause and Effect among others. In the words of McInerny:

“It states that everything that actually exists in the physical universe has an explanation for its existence. … nothing in the physical universe is … the cause of itself. (For a thing to be a cause of itself, it would somehow have to precede itself, which is absurd.)”

4.) The Principle of Contradiction - This states, simply, that something cannot both be and not be in the same way at the same time. In other words, I cannot own a dog and not own a dog at the same time. Either one or the other is true. Interestingly enough, McInerny points out that:

“The word ‘contradiction’ comes from two Latin roots, contra (‘against’) and dicere (‘to speak’). A contradictory statement in effect speaks against itself, for it is saying something that does not correspond to the objective facts.”

Do Yourself A Favor: Get Real – Cut The Bullcrap!

Yeah, I said it. It is only at this point that we can begin to sift through different elements of a statement to see what is being said. Perhaps the greatest gift McInerny gives us in this book is the truth about “gray areas”. There are many people who would have you believe that life is not all black and white, that there is a lot of middle ground and we just cannot know what the truth is.

“A gray area is a situation in which the truth cannot be clearly established. Life is full of them, and they have to be cheerfully contended with. But don’t make too much of them. Some people become so fixated upon life’s gray areas tht they eventually succeed in convincing themselves that there is nothing but gray areas. A little realism is in order here. We must recognize that many things are, in fact, clearly and sharply defined, and not to see that is simply not to see clearly.“

As Thales, the great philosopher of Miletus, tells us, “Time is the wisest because it discovers everything.” Even in times when we cannot perceive the truth, usually if we just wait long enough the answer will reveal itself.

McInerny goes on to give examples of flawed logic and how we might strengthen our own positions. Bottom line is, this book, if really taken to heart, will set you well on your way to being a logical being, that those around you may rely upon for advice, wisdom, and truth.