What is Logic?

Though you can find many definitions of any word, the definition we will use of "Logic" is the study of reasoning. Logic investigates what makes some patterns of reasoning good and others bad. Since the goal of reasoning is to discover truth (and correct action), good reasoning is reasoning that is more likely to lead us to truth (and correct action), and bad reasoning is reasoning that is likely to lead us to error.

We can study logic in many different ways: Formal and informal, theoretical and applied. Very roughly speaking, critical thinking is applied informal logic ... we use it to learn how to reason better in real life. 

Formal logic involves the study of abstract reasoning patterns whose validity is independent of the particular subject matter. It's abstract rigor and symbolic precision even provide the basis for mathematics and computer science. 

Future posts will delve into each of these branches of logic in much more depth.