Logic. Many years ago, I took a course in logic at the University of Maryland, and I am glad that I did. It is a subject that I highly recommend. Most people today don’t realize how important logic once was as a subject of study. Back in the 18th Century, logic was a required subject at most major European and American universities. You couldn’t get a college degree if you hadn’t studied logic. Unfortunately, not only is logic no longer a required subject anywhere, most universities, including big ones, no longer offer even a single course in the subject. I don’t know why that is. It is certainly not because the ability to think logically is no longer important, and it is certainly not because illogic is no longer a problem in academia, business, or politics – especially politics. I sometimes listen to Congressmen and presidential candidates on TV saying incredibly illogical things, and it depresses me to think that these people run the country.
What Happened To Logic?
I had a tenant who told me, and more than once, that: “Landlords in Berkeley don’t take care of their properties as well as they used to, and I don’t think they ever did.” I told this guy that there was a flaw in his logic, but he didn’t see it. He thought I was telling him that he was being illogical because I was a landlord myself, and I was simply defending the people my business from criticism. After a while, this guy’s roommates started talking the same way. One of his roommates said to me: “Berkeley landlords never took care of their apartments as well as they used to.” It was very frustrating for me to listen to this. They were all college students, but none of them could see the flaw in their logic.
G. Harrold Carswell. Here is a example of illogical thinking by a politician that I remember well. In 1970, President Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court. The nomination came under fierce criticism on the grounds that Carswell was an incompetent judge. His rulings were often overturned by higher courts on the grounds that Carswell failed to understand the applicable law. Carswell was also an unapologetic white supremest who said nasty things about black people. The Senate ultimately rejected Carswell’s nomination to the Supreme Court. One of Carswell’s few supporters in the Senate from outside the Deep South was Roman Hruska of Nebraska. Senator Hruska agreed that Carswell was a dim-witted judge, but Hruska argued that for that reason alone, Carswell should be on the Supreme Court. Senator Hruska said: “There are a lot of mediocre people in this country, and they deserve a little representation too.” In other words, the interests of incompetent people would be best served by having incompetent judges on the Supreme Court. Senator Hruska became a national laughing stock and was defeated in the next election. I don’t think Senator Hruska ever saw the logical flaw in his argument.