Some Remarks on Teaching Logic in Higher Education Institutions

In different branches of science, the word  can denote different scientific activities. Logic courses taught in humanities departments and the ones taught in engineering departments only share similar course titles, a number of preliminary definitions, and examples. This raises the question about the nature of logic and the purpose for teaching it to students of different academic majors in higher education institutions. Normally, the answer would be that logic, similar to other courses, equips students with tools or skills which they will need in their studies. But what are these tools and skills and what is the best method for teaching them to students of different academic majors? In this article, I aim to answer this question by examining the three major options: Aristotelian logic, first-order predicate classical logic, and informal logic. I try to demonstrate that there are both philosophical and psychological reasons in favor of teaching informal logic as the main material in introductory courses in logic; specifically introductory courses aimed at student who do not major in logic.