Riding on the coattails of last week’s Logic discussion, I find it important to discuss its place in modern education. One might think that, given the critical thinking phenomenon in contemporary schools, Logic would be an integral part of the language and arithmetic curriculum, considering the critical thinking it employs.

Yet as we are all too aware, Logic and logical thinking have not been present in classrooms for decades.

While the need for an extensive Logic course throughout middle and high school can be refuted and argued against, the more compelling argument is in favor of it.

Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far in one direction, creating an imbalance that current and former students are now suffering from.

Logic often receives criticism for being robotic and unconcerned with the feelings and emotions of those involved. Since Logic’s only concern is with facts and the pursuit of truth, those who employ it regularly forget to veil it with proper rhetoric. While the statement, coined by the ever beastly Mr. Shapiro, “facts don’t care about your feelings,” bears absolute truth, the smartest among us today use it as an excuse to be nasty, when they could otherwise not be.

This is to say that educators and curriculum writers alike have shifted their focus away from truth-related matters and materials, instead moving toward the pathos of education. Constant interpretation of text based solely on how it makes one feel in the goal of finding a message. We have ignored the truth in the aim of coddling modern students, to avoid offense.

Make no bones about it, Logic, true Aristotelian Logic is hard. Partially, the reason we have moved on from it, or thrown it up the academic ladder, is that we claim it is only for those older, more mature, or more determined students. Yet in centuries past, students at all levels applied Logic, regardless of their age.

It is time that logos had an equal share, a seat at the table, if you will.

As stated previously, Logic is a workout for the mind, in the same way a puzzle is, perhaps just more difficult. To view or understand things logically is to see them from a certain perspective, another perspective. Being able to view things from a logical perspective and separate them from your emotions or the emotions of a situation can be a vital tool throughout one's life. In business or family life, being able to see the solution is lost in the current art of conversation.

To appropriately balance the emotion-driven station of modern curriculum, we introduce the instruction of Logic into the classroom. Should all students be skilled orators or debaters? At the very least, they should have a foundation to build on. The solution is actually quite simple.

As we know, Logic is the basis of debate and argument. Who likes to argue the most? Middle schoolers and early high schoolers.

So why not give them a proper license to drive the vehicle of argument? Since these hooligans are already primed to fight, it makes sense to equip them with the proper weapons and then train them on how to use them effectively. 7th, 8th, and 9th graders should all be required to take a speech and debate class that serves as an introductory and basic Logic course.

Without even a resemblance to a logical frame of mind, future generations will be hopelessly influenced by the propaganda of self-possessed men and women.

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Thanks for reading!

I appreciate you taking the time to engage with these ideas. I hope this newsletter gave you something to think about.

So...I have a podcast called The Modern Republic.

On said cast, I see how many times I can say "um" or "whatever you want to call it" in a thirty-minute window, while also discussing the problems plaguing modern education and subsequently society. It's a great time.

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