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Nature of Logic and Perception The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines logic as “the science of reasoning, proof, thinking, or influence.” Critical thinking as described by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, ‘is the process by which we test claims and arguments and determine which have merit and which do not.” (Beyond Feelings, 6) At one level, I think we all know what critical thinking means—it means good thinking as opposed to illogical, irrational thinking. Since critical thinking is not necessarily being “critical” and negative I think it would be appropriate or more accurate to call it evaluative thinking. The results of the evaluation can range from acceptance to rejection, positive, negative, or anything in between. As I understand it the essence of critical thinking is logic and that we use very little explicit logic in ordinary life. I understand that the basic principles of logic use in evaluating arguments are as follows: (1) Premises are either true or false (incorrect or correct); (2) Conclusions are either valid or invalid, (3) Correct premises plus valid reasoning equal a sound argument ,and lastly (3) An incorrect premise or invalid reasoning makes an argument unsound. Perceptual process I think most of my thinking at the ordinary level is based on perception, language , and information. At the most there is one logic step: If this than that. I think most thinking takes place in the perceptual stage.
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