2 specific questions from LRB

[kky215]

Hi, I have two specific questions from LRB.

1. On P308 (Chapter 11), the book says that the negation of "most not" is 0-49 (on 0-100 scale). However, in my mind I think it should be 0-50, since negation means "everything/anything other than" and "most" is 51-100, I believe that the negation of "most" should be everything other than "51-100" - thus 0-50, which is different from the book. I understand that my question may be subordinate in terms of importance and is very nit-picky, but this is my second time through the book and I truly want to understand the book thoroughly.

2. The book has 2 separate chapters that each discusses "conditional reasoning" and "formal logic". In my mind, conditional reasoning and formal logic are similar, if not same concepts. What is the essential difference between the two?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

[Steve Stein]

Hi,

Thanks for your questions. Regarding the first question, the list on page 308 of the Logical Reasoning Bible provides the definitions of those terms, not the negations. You are correct that in a group of 100, "most" would mean 51 or more. That means that "most are not" would mean that 51 or more are not, which is another way of saying that 49 or less are.

As for your second question, you are correct--those concepts are closely related. Conditional reasoning generally deals more in absolutes--Every A is a B, If you're a C then you're a D, No E is an F, etc. so those relationships can be expressed in terms of arrows and slashes. Formal logic deals with those absolute relationships, as well as relationships that are less than absolute (Some Es are Fs, most Gs are Hs, etc).

I hope that's helpful! Please let me know whether that clears everything up--thanks!

~Steve