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Logical or Illogical?

Cornish writes, “The foundational pillars for thinking, pursuing truth, and acquiring knowledge are the Laws of Logic. These weren’t invented by Aristotle or anyone else. Like gravity, they just are—reflections of God’s reality and the world He made. They govern the way we think, often assumed to be part of our God-given common sense. No moment goes by in which we do not use or assume logic. To deny it requires using it.”[1]

Logic has three interconnected laws:

(1) The Law of Non-contradiction. This law simply states that two contradictory statements about anything cannot be true at the same time and in the same respect. For example, a person cannot smell and not smell at the same time and in the same way.

(2) The Law of Excluded Middle. This law states that something either is or is not. It cannot be both at the same time. For example: you are either smelling or not smelling, there is no middle ground (excluded middle).

(3) The Law of Identity. Simply stated, something is either itself or something else. For example: George Washington is George Washington because he cannot be someone else. To be both George Washington and someone else violates the Law of Identity and is therefore illogical.

As we explored the various “isms” covered in the previous blogs, we found a common denominator in all of them. Every single one of those philosophies is a self-refuting philosophy. They self-destruct because the very propositions used to make their claims destroy the claim itself. In every case the argument is defeated by itself rendering them all illogical.


[1] Rick Cornish, 5 Minute Apologist Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2005), p. 33.

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