LOGICAL REASONING

General Science and abilities by Umer Saeed

44th CTP
Basics
• Logic: science of thought as expressed in language. Questions on logic
are to be solved as per the information given it prepares mind for
reasoning.
• Reasoning
• Capacity of person to make sense of things
• To establish and verify facts
• To rationally work through data, information, facts and beliefs
• It is the process of forming conclusions and judgements from facts or
premises.
Basics Contd.
• There are two types of reasoning
• Deductive reasoning: the form of reasoning in which conclusion
follows logically and coherently from the factual premises and
propositions.
• It is the rationality of reasoning from pure logic.
• Deductive reasoning goes from general to specific.
• Example If A=B and B=C then A=C, All humans are mortal, since I am a
human I am mortal etc.
INDUCTIVE REASONING
• Type of reasoning that uses analogies, observations and experiences
to form conclusive proposition.
• It goes from specific to general.
• Example
• Jennifer leaves for school at 7:00 a.m. Jennifer is always on time. Jennifer
assumes, then, that she will always be on time if she leaves at 7:00 a.m.
• Michael just moved here from Chicago. Michael has red hair, therefore people
from Chicago have red hair
What is a statement?
• Statement are things that are said which may be true or false.
• Example: Venus is the hottest planet of our solar system
• Interrogation, suggestions, commands and proposals are statements.
• It would be odd to call any of them as true or false.
• AN important statement might be called as proposition, assertion,
judgement, hypothesis, principle, thesis or in some situation law.
Proposition
• Proposition: A statement or assertion that expresses an opinion or
judgement is called proposition
• Example: All men are mortal

Quantifiers
Subject Copula Predicate
Argument and Premise
• Argument: Group of statements having one or more premises and
one conclusion is known as argument.
• Example:
• Cats with long hair shed all over the house so you should not get a long-
haired cat.
• I have heard that they also have lots of fleas

• Premise: is a statement in an argument that provides reason or

support for the conclusion. There can be one or many premises in a
single argument
Contd.
• Example of Premise in the above argument is as follows:

P¹ Long-haired cats shed all

over the house
P² Long-haired cats have a
lot of fleas
You should not get a long
C
haired cat
Classification of Proposition
• Logical deduction: the phenomenon of deriving a conclusion from a
single proposition or a set of given propositions is called logical
deduction.
• Types of Proposition
1.Universal Affirmative Type A All snakes are Reptiles
2.Universal Negative Type E No boy is intelligent.
3. Particular Affirmative Type I Some men are foolish.
4. Particular Negative Type O Some animals are not wild.
Summarizing Propositions
Statement Quantity Quality Distribution
form
All S is P Universal Affirmative S only
No S is P Universal Negative Both S and P
Some S is P Particular Affirmative Neither S nor
P
Some S is nor Particular Negative Only P
P
S: Subject; P: Predicate
Processes of Inferential deduction
• There are two processes of inferential deduction
1. Immediate Deductive Inference
The conclusion is deduced from one of the given proposition by any of
the three ways: Conversion, obversion and contraposition.
a) Conversion: The conversion proceeds with interchanging the subject
term and the predicate term.
i. The conclusion is called converse, the quality remains the same in
conclusion however the quantity may change.
 Table of valid conversions
Statement Form Valid Conclusion Examples
All S is P Some P is S Statement: All men are fools
V.Conc.: Some fools are men
No S is P No P is S Statement: No men are fools
V.Conc.: No fools are men
Some S is P Some P is S Statement: Some men are
fools
V.Conc.: Some fools are men
Some S is not P No valid conversion Statement: Some men are not
fools
V.Conc.:
Obversion
• We change the quality of the proposition and replace the predicate
term by complement
Obvertend Obverse
All birds are mammals No birds are non
mammals
No poets are singers All poets are non singers
Some nurses are doctor Some nurses are not non
doctors
Some politicians are not Some politicians are non
statesman statesman
Contraposition
• First replace the subject and predicate term and then exchange both
these terms with their complements.
Proposition Contrapositive
All birds are mammals All non mammals are non
birds
Some birds are mammals Some non mammals are
non birds
Mediate Deductive Inference (Syllogism)
• First introduced by Aristotle.
• Syllogism is a deductive argument in which conclusion has to be
drawn from two propositions known as premises.
• Example
• All lotus are flowers All lotus are beautiful
• Conclusion: All flowers are beautiful
• P1 & P2 are premises and Conclusion is drawn from them
Basics of syllogism
• Term: it may be a word or combination of word which can be used as
a subject or predicate of the proposition.
• Major Term: It is the predicate of the conclusion and is denoted by P
• Minor Term: It is the subject of the conclusion and is denoted by S.
• Middle term: It is the term common to both the premises and is
denoted by M. It does not occur in the conclusion.
• Major premise: premise in which the middle term is subject
• Minor premise: premise in which the middle term is the predicate.
Example
P1:Some Dogs are bull
P2:Some tigers are dogs
Conclusion: Some bulls are tiger
Identify Major and Minor premises as well as S, P, M?
Rules for deriving the conclusion
• Rule No. 1 The conclusion does not contain the middle term.
Example: Statements 1. All men are girls
2. Some girls are student
Conclusion 1. All girls are men
2. Some students are girls
Since both the conclusion 1 and 2 contain the middle term so neither of
them follow.
Rule No. 2
• No term can be distributed in the conclusion unless it is distributed in
the premises.
Example: Statements 1. Some dogs are goats
2. All goats are cows
Conclusion 1. All cows are goats
2. Some dogs are cows
Answer : Conclusion 2 is the valid conclusion.
Rule No. 3
• The middle term must be distributed at least once in the premise.
Other wise the conclusion cannot follow.
• For the middle term to be distributed:
• M must be subject if premise is A type
• M may be Subject or predicate if premise is an E proposition
• M must be predicate if premise is an O proposition
• Note that in an I proposition, which distributes neither the subject nor
the predicate, the middle term cannot be distributed.
Example
Example: Statements 1. All fans are watches
2. Some watches are black
Conclusion 1. All watches are fan
2. Some fans are black
Answer: No conclusion follows
Rule No. 4
• No conclusion follows
(a) If both the premises are particular
Example: Statements 1. Some books are pen
2. Some pens are eraser
Conclusion 1. All books are erasers
2. Some erasers are books
Answer: No conclusion follows
Rule 4
(b) If both the premises are negative
Example: Statements 1. No flower is mango
2. No mango is cherry
Conclusion 1. No flower is cherry
2. Some cherries are mangoes
Answer: No conclusion
Rule 4
(c) If the major premise is particular and the minor premise is negative
Example: Statements 1. Some dogs are bulls
2. No tigers are dogs
Conclusion 1. No dogs are tigers
2. Some bulls are tigers
Answer: No conclusion
Rule no. 5
• If the middle term is distributed twice the conclusion cannot be
universal.
Example: Statements 1. All fans are chairs
2. No tables are fans
Conclusion 1. No tables are chairs.
2. Some tables are chairs
Answer: Statement 2 is the conclusion
Rule no. 6
• If one premise is negative, the conclusion must be negative.
Example: Statements 1. All grasses are trees
2. No tree is shrub
Conclusion 1. No grasses are shrub
2. Some shrubs are grasses
Answer: Since one premise is negative so conclusion 2 cannot follow
Rule no. 7
• If one premise is particular conclusion is particular
Example: Statements 1. Some boys are thieve
2. All thieves are dacoits
Conclusion 1. Some boys are dacoits
2. All dacoits are thieves
Answer: Conclusion 2 cannot follow
Rule no. 8
• If both the premises are affirmative the conclusion must be
affirmative.
Example: Statements 1. All women are mothers
2. All mothers are sisters
Conclusion 1. All women are sisters
2. some women are not sisters
Answer: Conclusion 2 cannot follow
Rule no. 9
• If major premise is affirmative the conclusion must be affirmative.
Example: Statements 1. All plays are stories
2. Some poems are plays
Conclusion 1. Some poem are stories
2. All stories are poem
Answer: Conclusion 2 cannot follow
 Statement-Arguments
• A statement concerned with a political, social or economic issue is
given, followed by two arguments. Generally one in favor and one
against the statement.
• First analyze the statement and decide which arguments hold strong
and helps formulate the most appropriate opinion.
• Directions
a) If only argument I is strong (b) if only argument II is strong
c) If either I or II is strong. (d) if neither I or II is strong and
e) If both I and II is strong
Example
• Statement: Should number of holidays of government employees be
reduced.
• Arguments:
1. Yes our government employees are having maximum number of
holidays among other countries of the world.
2. Yes it will lead to increased productivity of government offices.
Answer is B
Example 2
• Should foreign films be banned in Pakistan?
• Arguments
1. Yes they depict an alien culture which adversely affects our values.
2. No foreign films are of high artistic standard

Answer is D
 Statement-Assumptions
• An assumption is something taken for granted, i.e. a fact that can be
supposed on considering the contents of the given statement.
• In this type of questions, a statement is given, followed by two
assumptions.
• Consider the statement and decide which of the assumption is
implicit.
• Give answers according to the following :
a. If only assumption I is implicit
b. If only assumption II is implicit
c. If either I or II is implicit
d. If neither I nor II is implicit
e. If both I and II is implicit
Example
• Statement: “You must learn to refer to dictionary if you want to become a
good writer.” A advises B
I. Only writers refer to dictionary.
II. All writers good or bad refer to dictionary.
• Statement: Highly brilliant and industrious students do not always excel in
the written examination.
• Assumptions
I. The written exam is good only for mediocre students
II. The brilliant and students cannot always write good answers in the exam,
Statement-Conclusions
• Conclusion means a fact that can be truly inferred from the contents
of a given sentence or passage.
• Question in this category consist of a statement or a paragraph
followed by certain inferences based on facts.
• Students are required to understand the situation and select a
conclusion that follows logically.
• Examine the passage on the grid as follows:
Grid of inferences
(a) definitely true
(b) Probably true
(c) Data provided is inadequate
(d) Definitely false.
Example
• Passage: The space exploration has been done mainly by using
unmanned satellites called space probes containing a large variety of
latest scientific instruments on board. These space probes have
provided us the close up pictures and other data about planets and
other bodies in the outer space. The climax of the intensive American
space program came when Neil Armstrong became the first man to
set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. Originally, the artificial
satellites were launched for studying the uppermost atmosphere of
the earth.
Inferences
1. The space probes have increased our knowledge about space and
the bodies in it.
2. Space probes are meant to study the upper atmosphere of the
earth only.
3. Neil Armstrong was the first man to go into space.
4. Space probes are provided with computers.
5. Moon has been explored by man.
Example
• Though the government cultivates only 3.2 lakh tons of mangoes, they
are of premium quality and with mangoes becoming second most
consumed fruit in the world after grapes, the government has been
trying exposing it through sea route which is cheaper. A experiment
which was done in this regard has proved successful.
1. Quality of mangoes is an important factor in exports
2. The state also exports good quality grapes.
3. There are some problems in exporting mangoes through sea route.
4. Most of the other exports are through sea routes which is cheaper.
5. The state also cultivates a large number of medium quality mangoes.