Informal logic

Informal logic is the study of natural language arguments, and is typically less analytical than formal logic. The focus of informal logic lies in such activities as analyzing erroneous arguments to identify logical fallacies, and identifying and classifying similar reasoning strategies. The activity of analysing arguments in natural language and representing them in a system of formal logic is known as philosophical analysis and is sometimes regarded as part of informal logic.

Related Topics:
Argument - Formal logic - Logic - Logical fallacies - Philosophical analysis

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Opinion pieces of newspapers provide illustrative textbook examples of informal logic (see the Walton reference), usually because these pieces are short and often fallacious. However, informal logic is also used to reason about events in the human and social sciences. In fact, most reasoning from known facts to unknown facts that uses natural language, even if combined with mathematical or statistical reasoning can be regarded as an application of informal logic so long as it does not rely on additional empirical evidence.

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