Exploring Modern Logic
Theory and Applications
- Philosophy
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Exploring Modern Logic is a student-friendly and highly engaging introduction to symbolic logic and its real-world applications. Assuming no prior knowledge of logic or philosophy, this book gives students the skills to accomplish quite easily such tasks as symbolizing statements and writing proofs that have historically been perceived as difficult. The book teaches students how to evaluate the logical strength of arguments on any subject, whether or not they know anything about the subject. Employing a strong sense of humor, the book acquaints students with the most common logical fallacies to which they are exposed every day, especially on social media and television, and reveals why each one is a fallacy. By enabling students to identify the role each statement in an argument plays, the book equips students to be good readers and good thinkers, thereby helping them to become better writers. In sum, this book makes learning modern logic fun for introductory students and is therefore ideal for use in a one-semester undergraduate logic course.
Endorsements (5)
“Textbooks are forged in the often-fiery cauldron of the classroom. Simply put, the best teachers write the best textbooks. Kirk MacGregor is the one of the best undergraduate teachers I’ve had the pleasure of knowing in my more than thirty years teaching undergraduate courses. He inspires his students to ‘learn to learn,’ an important learning objective when teaching courses in logic. His students apply what they’ve learned in a manner that enhances their life experience. Assign Exploring Modern Logic: Theory and Applications in your undergraduate classes; you won’t be disappointed. Let the learning begin.”
“Kirk MacGregor’s Exploring Modern Logic is a superb introduction and guide to understanding symbolic logic. It takes students who have no background in logic step by step to making manageable advances as they proceed through each chapter. This well-crafted book is clear, engaging, and enjoyable, and it reflects the author’s mastery of the subject as well as his seasoned pedagogy in the classroom.”
“Written by a prolific philosopher and scholar of religion with more than twenty years of acclaimed teaching experience, Exploring Modern Logic: Theory and Applications offers a compelling introduction to logic at a time when lucid, critical thinking is urgently needed. In a conversational, student-friendly style, it guides learners from symbolizing statements and mastering proofs to spotting fallacies and analyzing arguments in daily life. Perfect for pre-law students, the book equips instructors with all they need for general education courses—including syllabus design, course pacing, illustrative examples, pre-homework practice, assignments with solutions, as well as built-in reviews and exams. With clarity and humor, MacGregor makes logic both accessible and enjoyable!”
“Dr. MacGregor is a prolific and gifted scholar and writer. In Exploring Modern Logic: Theory and Applications, he expands his repertoire to demonstrate he is also an extraordinary teacher. Dr. MacGregor is drawing on years of teaching experience to create a text that matches the needs of contemporary students. His writing style is accessible and conversational. The chapters are broken into short readings with practice and homework and move from the most difficult theoretical work to application. I find this particularly useful not only because it develops the foundational skills in logic early but also because it demonstrates an excellent understanding of student abilities. The most difficult elements are early in the semester when the students are most fresh and have the mental bandwidth to focus. They learn they can do hard things. Dr. MacGregor has also thought carefully about teaching this book as a sole logic class in a curriculum, providing students the logic skills they need while structuring the text to match a standard semester with space for quizzes and practice sessions. This is a thoughtfully written and constructed textbook that takes into consideration the dynamics of the modern classroom.”
“Accomplished historian-philosopher and outstanding classroom instructor Kirk MacGregor has achieved what few deem possible: the creation of a college-level textbook in symbolic logic that is simultaneously clear, rigorous, and genuinely enjoyable to study. In Exploring Modern Logic: Theory and Applications, MacGregor expertly draws out students’ natural reasoning intuition and cultivates it into a robust analytical skill set indispensable in law, philosophy, theology, and in virtually every sphere of life where careful reasoning matters. Across thirty-two artfully scaffolded chapters—complete with accessible problem sets, assignments, and fully worked solutions—the text guides readers from ordinary English sentences to their symbolic representations, through proofs and common fallacies, and concludes with an introduction to modal logic designed to inspire further study. Exploring Modern Logic is as intellectually stimulating to learn from as it is rewarding to use in classroom or seminar teaching.”
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