Symbolic Logic and the Game of Logic

by Lewis Carroll

In this unique fusion of logical thought and inimitable whimsy, Over 350 ingenious problems involve classical logic: logic is expressed in terms of symbols; syllogisms and the sorites are diagrammed; logic becomes a game played with 2 diagrams and a set of counters. Two books bound as one.

Genres: Logic, Philosophy, Mathematics, Nonfiction, Science, Reference, Classics

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer.

His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.

Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.

He also has works published under his real name.

Reviews

[Suzanne]

Genius! Clever. Inspired! Mathematical and wonderful!!! Loved every bit of it!

[Thomas Schulte]

Carroll's book is an engaging, even playful, introduction to Basic Logic. Especially his diagram method I find particularly illustrative and worth of today's classroom. Also very enlightening is his side-by-side comparison of his method and those of Euclid and Venn. The second book, "The Game of Logic", is a literal board game based on syllogisms based on his method.

Very little archaisms get in the way, here.

[Lewis]

Stunning, thought-provoking, maddeningly brilliant.

[Tony Lawrence]

Not Charles Lutwidge Dodgson the scholar and teacher you notice, this re-publication and repacking of 2 books was obviously trying to profit from the fame of the Alice in Wonderland author. These were originally separate books in the late C19th, with overlapping (and repetitive) content, maybe not published in his lifetime(?), rebound together in the 1950s. The language is straight out of AIW, but the subject-matter is quite dry, the use of a symbolic logical/mathematical approach to understanding and mapping propositions* on a 2x2 grid and a larger ‘trliteral’ diagram. The first book is written for students and the second suggests the same material into a ‘game of logic’ for all the family to play; different times! As I say, it is a bit dry, and requires a bit more patience that I have to at the moment (I skimmed a lot), with only a few glimpses of the imagination, humour & nonsense that he became more famous for.

*phrases of the type, 'Thing is/are attribute', including membership of larger sets of things and negation 'not', e.g. 'All new books are not bound [books]' Yes exactly! I recognise some of this from a related branch of Boolean logic in computing)

[Peter Carter]

I was curious to read some non-fiction by Lewis Carroll. I quickly found out that this was a great read to help me fall into unconsciousness. Yes, the logic makes sense, and I quickly understood the easier to grasp things but didn't care enough to really understand the more complex theorems and charts and graphs. Oof, the GRAPHS! Not that this book wasn't good for those studying this form of logic (not me) or for falling asleep (totally me), but otherwise, don't feel bad a skipping this one.

[Fátima Fernandes]

. Quem diria que o mestre do absurdo era um matemático e um lógico? Mas enfim, para transgredir as regras, será bom conhecê-las a fundo.
. Um livro interessantíssimo para quem gosta de lógica. Tem por exemplo, uma versão gráfica da teoria dos silogismos (que foi o primeiro sistema formal, estabelecido pelo grande Aristóteles) e é no fundo teoria dos conjuntos...

[Bernie4444]

A mind opener

A local (accredited) university allows a course in Propositional Logic to replace algebra. There is even Propositional Calculus. I find algebra a lot simpler.

Well, this critter is symbolic logic (Mathematical logic) is not the same, but it is close enough. It is more English-orientated. However, eventually, it moves into symbol tables. But still a toughie. Lewis Carroll gives a warning at the front of the book to not try to dive into the middle of the book or peak at the last chapter or you will be confused and toss out your opportunity to learn symbolic logic. Each chapter (I found page) builds on the previous one.

I am only a few chapters in at this time however I see the world of communication in a new light.
For example:
A person with no concept of electricity sees a switch and knows it is on and off and that is it. Others will look at the switch and see the end product of how the electricity operates from the physical wires to the A.C. concept. They may even follow the power to the source. Then the source of the materials. Then the materials to physics. Then to the quantum. Eventually from the quantum to us and back to turning on the switch.

All of that is simpler than this book on logic gets around to. It is someone’s idea of logic.

Amazingly, the mathematician Lewis Carroll could write about something so deep over a century ago and still be spot on. Of course, he does mention cities that use gas for lighting.

So, enjoy, dig in, discuss with friends, and be thankful for this opportunity to expand your mind.

What Carroll did not know:
The less-than sign plus the equals sign (<=) is used for an approximation of the less-than-or-equal-to sign (≤).
ASCII does not have a less-than-or-equal-to sign.
But Unicode defines it at code point U+2264.
In BASIC, Lisp-family languages, and C-family languages (including Java and C++), operator <= means "less than or equal to".

[Julian Suarez]

Interesting method for logic thinking, but the publishers note should be taken wholeheartedly as some of the terminology used on the book have aged purely

[Bakis]

I primi capitoli sono divertenti: la logica proposizionale viene spiegata utilizzando torte ed esempi buffi. Poi però gran parte del libro è dedicata a esercizi e problemini senza fantasia. Peccato!

[Val]

So clever and entertaining. I am proud to own a physical copy, and it is well loved.

[Dasagamabu]

Curioso libro de lógica matemática de Lewis Carroll, a la que era aficionado. Interesante desde el punto de vista histórico.

[Tavo]

Great rhythm and easy to follow. I loved the ideas and how he ties everything elegantly with math.

[Alexandre Guay]

Un petit livre amusant qui permet de comprendre le chemin parcouru en logique des prédicats au 20e siècle car il fut écrit avant les grands développements de la logique mathématique. Les exercices sont particulièrement bien faits. Il faut tout de même dire que l'un des plaisirs de ce livre est de savoir qu'il fut écrit par Lewis Carroll. On ne peut s'empêcher d'y chercher des traces du style du grand auteur.

[Michelle]

How I wish I could say I really read the whole book. I skimmed it and dreamed of the day I could dedicate sufficient time to mastering the game of logic. Anyone with a mathematical and analytical mind would find this a wonderful book.

[Albie]

Symbolic Logic and the Game of Logic by Lewis Carroll (1958)