Learn English – Is the phrase “logic and reason” grammatically correct

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I have always interpreted logic to mean a systematic form (premise-reason-conclusion) of reason. So it seems that you are saying one word (reason) and a branch of that word (logic). But the "and" suggest they are two separate things. If my understanding if these two word are correct, it would be like saying "science and biology". As biology is a branch of science. Is logic considered a branch word of reason? Or are these two separate words?

Best Answer

Reason does not need to be logical (one can argue that reasoning is):

The basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction; a declaration made to explain or justify action, decision, or conviction; a fact or cause that explains why something exists or has occurred; a premise, usually the minor premise, of an argument. (TFD)

Reason is basically answering the question why. It implies rationality.

Logic is a systematic approach to a problem.

The study of the principles of reasoning, especially of the structure of propositions as distinguished from their content and of method and validity in deductive reasoning; a system of reasoning: Aristotle's logic; a mode of reasoning; the formal, guiding principles of a discipline, school, or science. (TFD)

To me, logic is the way one arrives at an answer.

Pre-Socratic philosophers did not appear to follow any logical principles; reason was descriptive rather than prescriptive, a way to understand how people actually think rather than how they ought to think.

This may be a 'semantic unit' handed down to us by philosophers. However, I don't think it's necessarily tautological, as you seem to imply.

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