There is a 'new' logic
that I have recently had an opportunity to learn and I thought I'd share it
with you. It's unique and creative and
it has taken me a while to wrap my head around it, but after a full day at the
Georgia legislature this week, I am beginning to understand.
I have several women
friends in the Legislature who have tried, on a few occasions, to explain the
'new' logic to me, but I just could not figure out what they were talking
about. I took one Logics class at GSU
many years ago and had a similar problem so I just figured it was me and I
didn't worry on it too much. But after
the 'intensive' I went through on Monday under the Gold Dome I NOW understand
it, and I gotta tell you it scares the hell out of me.
As such, I feel it is my
obligation to explain it to you, not to scare you but to warn you to be careful
because its a trap and you will get hurt if you get caught in it, especially
if you are a woman or if you love a
woman.
Now first, according to
the 'all knowing' Wikipedia the definition of Logic goes like this: “ Logic (from the Greek λογική logikē) is the
philosophical study of valid reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual
activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy,
mathematics, semantics, and computer science. It examines general forms which
arguments may take, which forms are valid, and which are fallacies. Logic is often divided into three parts,
inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning.”
Continuing to cut and
paste from Wikipedia I offer you an explaination of each of the types of
reasonings:
Inductive reasoning,
also known as induction, is a kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates
propositions that are abstractions of observations of individual instances of
members of the same class. Inductive reasoning contrasts with deductive
reasoning in that a general conclusion is arrived at by specific examples.
Abduction is a kind of
logical inference described by Charles Sanders Peirce as
"guessing".The term refers to the process of arriving at an
explanatory hypothesis. Peirce said that to abduce a hypothetical
explanation from an observed surprising
circumstance is to surmise what may be true because then it would be a matter of course. For example, the lawn is wet.
But if it rained last night, then it would be unsurprising that the lawn is
wet. Therefore, by abductive reasoning, the possibility that it rained last
night is reasonable.
And finally
Deductive
reasoning, is reasoning which constructs
or evaluates deductive arguments.
Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily
follows from a set of premises or hypotheses. A deductive argument is valid if
the conclusion does follow necessarily from the premises, i.e., the conclusion
must be true provided that the premises are true. A deductive argument is sound
if it is valid and its premises are true. Deductive arguments are valid or
invalid, sound or unsound. Deductive reasoning is a method of gaining
knowledge. An example of a deductive argument:
All men are mortal
Socrates is a man
Therefore, Socrates is
mortal
Got it? Great.
Now I call the ‘new’
Republican logic ‘Fuctuptive Reasoning.'
Fuctuptive reasoning is the self-righteous and narcissistic argument
that Republicans use to oppress anyone who does not look like them, think like
them or have their privilege. Using
fuctuptive reasoning, the government should be limited and small when it comes
to them and their business but government should be all in your business if you
are not one of ‘them.’ An example that
follows this premise, i.e, if a Republican woman gets pregnant and she has
access to all the finest health care resources that money can buy then she gets
to make whatever decisions she desires about her own body, but a woman of
limited means and education will do what she is told because a Republican
legislature knows what best for her.
This is also their
reasoning behind immigration reform and education. 'I am rich so I can live where ever I want
but you are poor so you need to stay where you are. If you come here to pick my fruit just don't
get caught.' And, 'I can buy the best education in the world
but you will get what I give you in public schools and like it or take these
tax-payer funded vouchers and attend a for-profit charter school run by one of
my buddies.'
Get it?
Now I know this is kind
of a complex ‘new’ logic and if you are like me you probably just don’t get it
right now. Not to worry, you are not dumb or slow, you are just not a
Republican and you probably need to just sit down and shut up because they are
in charge at the State Capitol so they get to make the rules that follow their
logic.
