Material Logic
A Traditional Approach to Thinking Skills
by Martin Cothran
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: Material Logic, A Traditional Approach to Thinking Skills, by Martin Cothran. Spiral-bound paperback student book and answer key, $31.90/set. Published by Memoria Press. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by buying this program from our Christian Book Distributors link or Amazon affiliate link.
Written by Martin Cothran, author of Traditional Logic and other classical studies books, Material Logic is Memoria Press's program for high school logic studies. It focuses on "major" logic, a different discipline than the formal logic ("minor") in the Traditional Logic books. "Formal logic studies the structure of argumentation; material logic studies the content of argumentation."
The book begins with an introduction to logic and how it fits in the Trivium. Mr. Cothran differentiates modern, mathematically-based logic with the traditional logic, a language skill, studied in ancient Greece and Rome and in Renaissance times. The author asserts that logic in the Trivium is neither the "critical thinking" found in most juvenile logic books nor the manipulation of symbols (best suited for study during the Quadrivium) found in modern logic texts. "Material logic studies how words are related to the ideas they signify, as well as how they can be used [with] one another."
Material Logic, consisting of fifteen chapters, covers "comprehension" (modes of being) and two of the "modes of knowledge," definition and division. A second volume that will cover the third "mode of knowledge," argumentation, and "demonstration" is planned for the future. The exercise format will be familiar to those who have used Mr. Cothran's books in the past; however, a few of the chapters in this text have up to seven days of exercises, so that the chapter study will take place over two weeks.
Case studies of essays by famous Christian thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Sir Francis Bacon allow the student to apply his knowledge. After students read the selection, they learn how to analyze content by marking the text and answering Mr. Cothran's carefully crafted questions.
Material Logic ends with three brief appendices. The first is a summary of how to mark a book, using an excerpt of Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book as the example. The second is a worksheet on how to define, while the third is an explanation of and format to follow for dividing and classifying.
The answer key contains all the questions from the student text and their answers. The print is very small in order to fit all the material in a fifty page volume.
Recommendation: Material Logic is a crucial course for classical homeschoolers, because it focuses on language and communications abilities, the key to a liberal arts education. This largely forgotten branch of study allows students to learn the skills needed to understand and gain wisdom from "Great Books."
As with Martin Cothran's other books, this program is easy to implement with its clear text and exercises. A video program would be an excellent supplement for future release.
HomeschoolChristian.com resources related to this review:
HomeschoolChristian.com's Classical Education Section
Interview with Cheryl Lowe of Memoria Press
Review of Introductory Logic by Douglas Wilson and James Nance
Review of Introductory Logic Videos
Review of Logic I, Tools for Thinking by Norman Birkett
Review of Traditional Logic by Martin Cothran
Review of Traditional Logic II by Martin Cothran
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