Logic and reasoning

Jaroslav Peregrin (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (19 April, 2012) titled "Logic and reasoning". Abstract: Logic, it is often held, is primarily concerned with reasoning; and the conviction that logic and reasoning are two sides of the same coin nowadays usually equates with the conviction that logic spells out some directives for the "right" management of beliefs. In this talk I put forward an alternative view, based on seeing rules of logic rules as constitutive rules, not instructing us *how* to reason, but rather providing us with certain vehicles or *in terms of which* to reason. This also emphasizes the social nature of beliefs: they are entities forged in a social mold, formed by rules originating from social argumentative practices. Because of this fact, I suggest, trying to understand logic by means of studying (rules of) the kinematics of beliefs of a solitary individual is essentially misguided.