100 Best Logic Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

5.0

Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ev Williams, and 45 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? [source]

2

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

5.0

Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers at

Recommended by Steve Jurvetson, Seth Godin, Cory Zue, and 2 others.

Steve Jurvetson

Steve Jurvetson recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

In the last week, I discovered that at least two of my smart friends hadn't read Godel, Escher, Bach. They have now. You should too. [source]

Cory Zue

More recently books like Godel, Escher, Bach and Sapiens have influenced my thinking a lot. [source]

3

The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Eight Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning

Nathaniel Bluedorn

4.8

What is a fallacy? A fallacy is an error in logic - a place where someone has made a mistake in his thinking.

“A cloud is 90% water. A watermelon is 90% water. Therefore, since a plane can fly through a cloud, a plane can fly through a watermelon.”

This is a handy book for learning to spot common errors in reasoning.

-Covers logical fallacies and propaganda techniques.
-Fun to use -- learn skills you

4

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou

4.7

An innovative, dramatic graphic novel about the treacherous pursuit of the foundations of mathematics.
This graphic novel recounts the spiritual odyssey of philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his agonized search for absolute truth, he crosses paths with thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert & Kurt Gödel, & finds a passionate student in Ludwig Wittgenstein. But his most ambitious goal—to establi

Recommended by Marcus du Sautoy.

Marcus du Sautoy

This is quite a recent publication and I saw the first inklings of this graphic novel when I went to a meeting in Mykonos on maths and narrative and it really looked an incredibly exciting project. I enjoy the graphic novel as an art form and I’ve always enjoyed Tintin and this has a very Tintinesque line to it, the illustration. But it brings alive one of the great stories of 20th-century mathematics, which is the crisis that happened when Gödel proved that there are statements about numbers which are true but which will never be proved. And this went against the whole ethos of mathematics since the ancient Greeks. If something is true, we should be able to prove why it’s true. If there are infinitely many primes, we can prove that there are infinitely many primes. But we don’t know that there are infinitely many twin primes: Primes that are two apart, like 17 and 19. Maybe that’s a true statement that doesn’t have a proof and we’re trying to chase something that doesn’t exist. Gödel’s theorem, proved in the 1930s, was a real bombshell for the philosophy of mathematics. [source]

Cover unavailable

5

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Ludwig Wittgenstein

4.7

Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the twentieth century, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his life. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme brilliance, it captured the imagination of a generation of philosophers. For Wittgenstein, logic was something we use to conquer a reality which i

Recommended by Reid Hoffman, Sonia Micu, and Tom Stoneham.

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

Reid recommends studying Ludwig Wittgenstein, about whom he's taught a course at Oxford. "One of the bedrocks of modern analytics philosophy is to think of language ... if you're trying to talk to someone else about some problem, and you're trying to make progress, how do you make language as positive an instrument as possible? What are the ways that language can work, and what are the way that language doesn't work?". [source]

Sonia Micu

The book I read many times already is Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Don’t say it’s pretentious. It is beautiful. Some even say it’s poetry. I am far from understanding his complicated genius, but I think I’ve learned how to read it and I think I’ll never stop going back to it. [source]

Tom Stoneham

Wittgenstein’s book is about how we understand the thinkable and the unthinkable, which is a traditional philosophical problem. [source]

6

A Rulebook for Arguments

Anthony Weston

4.7

From academic writing to personal and public discourse, the need for good arguments and better ways of arguing is greater than ever before.

This timely fifth edition of A Rulebook for Arguments sharpens an already-classic text, adding updated examples and a new chapter on public debates that provides rules for the etiquette and ethics of sound public dialogue as well as clear and sound thinking in

7

Gödel's Proof

Ernest Nagel, James R. Newman, Douglas R. Hofstadter

4.7

In 1931 Kurt Gödel published his fundamental paper, "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems." This revolutionary paper challenged certain basic assumptions underlying much research in mathematics and logic. Gödel received public recognition of his work in 1951 when he was awarded the first Albert Einstein Award for achievement in the natural sciences--per

8

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

4.6

Preview Summary

Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are a

Recommended by Max Levchin, Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, and 22 others.

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?" [source]

Andra Zaharia

'While I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read … Predictably Irrational. [source]

Chris Goward

Here are some of the books that have been very impactful for me, or taught me a new way of thinking: … Predictably Irrational. [source]

9

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments

Ali Almossawi

4.5

This book is aimed at newcomers to the field of logical reasoning, particularly those who, to borrow a phrase from Pascal, are so made that they understand best through visuals. I have selected a small set of common errors in reasoning and visualized them using memorable illustrations that are supplemented with lots of examples. The hope is that the reader will learn from these pages some of the m

10

The Demon-haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark

Carl Sagan

4.5

Preview Summary

How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutio

Recommended by Dallas Campbell, Edip Yüksel, James Randi, and 2 others.

Dallas Campbell

@TheChilterns Even if you profoundly disagree with Clarke, it’s very detailed. The classic is of course ‘The Demon Haunted World’ by Carl Sagan. When I’m Prime Minister it will be compulsory reading at school! Best book on what science is/isn’t and why we think the way we do. 👍 [source]

Edip Yüksel

For Philosophy of Science class, I am now using Carl Sagan's book as the REQUIRED text book. Instead of bombarding students with terminology and names, we should let them enjoy the dancing of synapses in their own 3-pound grey jelly. In this thread I will share quotes from Sagan. https://t.co/rBEPVvEiuO [source]

James Randi

First of all, Carl was my very good friend, and we had a lot of confidences over the years. He was the epitome of the scientific mind and the scientific thinker. In The Demon-Haunted World, one of his later books, he investigates pseudoscience, frauds and fakes, and the mistakes that scientists made over the years. It’s very comprehensive. He had a whole chapter devoted to “Carlos” – or Jose Alvarez, who travelled all over the world doing this act as a fake psychic, and then revealed the whole thing on Australian television. Carl was quite taken with that story, and he and Jose spent a couple of hours together at a scientific conference that they both attended. [source]

Cover unavailable

11

Introduction to Logic

Irving Copi

4.5

This book introduces the fundamental methods and techniques of correct reasoning, in a manner that shows the relevance of the topics to readers� everyday lives. Many new exercises introduced in this edition help supplement and support explanations, aid in review, and make the book visually stimulating. This edition also includes a revised Logic tutorial on CD-Rom--further simplifying the study of

Cover unavailable

12

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

Lewis Carroll

4.5

In 1862 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a shy Oxford mathematician with a stammer, created a story about a little girl tumbling down a rabbit hole. Thus began the immortal adventures of Alice, perhaps the most popular heroine in English literature.

Countless scholars have tried to define the charm of the Alice books--with those wonderfully eccentric characters the Queen of Hearts, Tweedledum, and Tweedle

Recommended by Eric Weinstein, Jean Webb, Larry Doyle, and 1 others.

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Jean Webb

An imaginative, clever and fun fantasy story that satirises nineteenth century England at the same time as celebrating academic thinking. [source]

Larry Doyle

You’d have to be a zombie to miss the humour in it – it’s hilarious. Although the book is ancient, the humour feels modern [source]

13

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.5

Preview Summary

Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, and The Bed of Procrustes.

Now in a striking new hardcover edition, Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth se

Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Ev Williams, James Altucher, and 6 others.

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

And throw in “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness”. “Fragile” means if you hit something might break. “Resilient” means if you hit something, it will stay the same. On my podcast Nassim discusses “Antifragility” – building a system, even on that works for you on a personal level, where you if you harm your self in some way it becomes stronger. That podcast changed my life He discusses Antifragility throughout history, up to our current economic situation, and even in our personal situations. [source]

Anant Jain

The five-book series, "Incerto", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb has had a profound impact on how I think about the world. There’s some overlap across the books — but you'll likely find the repetition helpful in retaining the content better. [source]

Art De Vany

I used this book is a class I taught on the economics of uncertainty. [source]

14

Logic: A Very Short Introduction

Graham Priest

4.5

Logic is often perceived as having little to do with the rest of philosophy, and even less to do with real life. In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject, explaining how modern formal logic deals with issues ranging from the existence of God and the reality of time to paradoxes of probability an

15

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.5

Preview Summary

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was.

The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from t

Recommended by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and 18 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

From the book "The Everything Store: and the Age of Amazon" “The scholar argues that people are wired to see patterns in chaos while remaining blind to unpredictable events, with massive consequences. Experimentation and empiricism trumps the easy and obvious narrative,” Stone writes. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

And throw in “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness”. “Fragile” means if you hit something might break. “Resilient” means if you hit something, it will stay the same. On my podcast Nassim discusses “Antifragility” – building a system, even on that works for you on a personal level, where you if you harm your self in some way it becomes stronger. That podcast changed my life He discusses Antifragility throughout history, up to our current economic situation, and even in our personal situations. [source]

Cover unavailable

16

Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking

D.Q. McInerny

4.5

Whether regarded as a science, an art, or a skill–and it can properly be regarded as all three–logic is the basis of our ability to think, analyze, argue, and communicate. Indeed, logic goes to the very core of what we mean by human intelligence. In this concise, crisply readable book, distinguished professor D. Q. McInerny offers an indispensable guide to using logic to advantage in everyday life

17

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.4

Preview Summary

From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder.

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem; in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what he calls the "antifragile"

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen, and 20 others.

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

You ask about success. To be successful you have to avoid being “fragile” – the idea that if something hurts you, you let collapse completely. You also have to avoid simply being resilient. Bouncing back is not enough. Antifragile is when something tries to hurt you and you come back stronger. That is real life business. That is real life success. Nassim focuses on the economy. But when I read the book I kept asking myself, “how can I apply this to the areas of my life where I feel most fragile?” [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Vlad Tenev

The general concept is applicable to many fields beyond biology, for instance finance, economics and monetary policy. [source]

18

The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decision

dobelli rolf

4.4

Preview Summary

The Art of Thinking Clearly by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli is an eye-opening look at human psychology and reasoning -- essential reading for anyone who wants to avoid "cognitive errors" and make better choices in all aspects of their lives.

Have you ever: Invested time in something that, with hindsight, just wasn't worth it? Or continued doing something you knew was bad for yo

Recommended by Robert Cialdini and Nigel Warburton.

Robert Cialdini

Author

Dobelli examines our most common decision-making failings with engaging eloquence and describes how to counter them with instructive good sense. [source]

Nigel Warburton

This is an unpretentious book. Dobelli doesn’t claim to be an original thinker himself. He’s a summariser of other people’s thoughts. What he’s done is brought lots of different things together in one place. Each of the 99 entries is pretty short, and it’s the kind of book to dip into. [source]

19

How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method

George Pólya

4.4

A perennial bestseller by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out--from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have reli

20

What Is the Name of This Book?: The Riddle of Dracula and Other Logical Puzzles

Raymond M. Smullyan

4.3

"The most original, most profound, and most humorous collection of recreational logic and math problems ever written." — Martin Gardner, Scientific American
"The value of the book lies in the wealth of ingenious puzzles. They afford amusement, vigorous exercise, and instruction." — Willard Van Orman Quine, The New York Times Book Review
If you're intrigued by puzzles and paradoxes, these 200 mind-be

Cover unavailable

21

From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays

Willard Van Orman Quine

4.3

These nine essays are largely concerned with the theory of meaning and references—semantics. At the same time adjacent portions of philosophy and logic are discussed. To the existence of what objects may a given scientific theory be said to be committed? And what considerations may suitably guide us in accepting or revising such ontological commitments? These are among the questions dealt with in

Recommended by Robert Talisse.

Robert Talisse

Although Quine doesn’t often describe himself as a pragmatist, he is, in my view, a fully-fledged pragmatist and any attempt to call him a pragmatist in a deeply qualified sense is a mistake. The standard, popular story about the development and founding of pragmatism that gets told is that Dewey dies in 1952, and pragmatism comes to an end a little bit before his death. Pragmatism is America’s philosophy, it is the dominant philosophical orientation in America and elsewhere from the early 1900s up until the end of the World War II, and that’s mainly credited to Dewey and the influence of Dewey’s work. Then, somehow, around the end of the war, for all kinds of interesting reasons, philosophers lose interest in Dewey and become fascinated by some British imports, such as logical empiricism. Pragmatism gets marginalized or dismissed or eclipsed by linguistic analysis, and ordinary language philosophy and the things that are associated with Russell and Moore and Wittgenstein. Pragmatism then lies dormant until the 1980s, when it’s revived by Richard Rorty — notice Rorty, it might seem peculiar to some people, is not on my list. [source]

22

Language, Truth, and Logic

Alfred J. Ayer

4.3

Classic introduction to objectives & methods of schools of empiricism & linguistic analysis, especially of the logical positivism derived from the Vienna Circle. Topics: elimination of metaphysics, function of philosophy, nature of philosophical analysis, the a priori, truth & probability, critique of ethics & theology, self & the common world etc.
Introduction
The elimination of metaphysics
The func

23

How to Prove It: A Structured Approach

Daniel J. Velleman

4.3

Geared to preparing students to make the transition from solving problems to proving theorems, this text teaches them the techniques needed to read and write proofs. The book begins with the basic concepts of logic and set theory, to familiarize students with the language of mathematics and how it is interpreted. These concepts are used as the basis for a step-by-step breakdown of the most importa

24

Computability and Logic

George S. Boolos

4.3

Computability and Logic has become a classic because of its accessibility to students without a mathematical background and because it covers not simply the staple topics of an intermediate logic course, such as Godel's incompleteness theorems, but also a large number of optional topics, from Turing's theory of computability to Ramsey's theorem. Including a selection of exercises, adjusted for thi

Cover unavailable

25

Socratic Logic

Peter Kreeft

4.3

A complete system of classical Aristotelian logic intended for honors high school and college.

Cover unavailable

26

To Mock a Mockingbird and Other Logic Puzzles

Raymond Smullyan

4.3

This is a challenging puzzle book covering logic, philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, computer science and mathematics. It contains many puzzles and their solutions and aims to attract many readers in an age where computer science, logic, and mathematics are becoming increasingly important and popular.

Cover unavailable

27

A Concise Introduction to Logic

Patrick J. Hurley

4.3

Inside: Logic Resource CD-ROM

Cover unavailable

28

Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery

Imre Lakatos, John Worrall, Elie Zahar

4.3

A novel introduction to the philosophy of mathematics, mostly in the form of a discussion between a group of students and their teacher. It combats the positivist picture and develops a much richer, more dramatic progression.

Recommended by Alf Coles.

Alf Coles

I first came across this book at university in a course on the philosophy of mathematics. Looking back, it was one of my first experiences of how maths could be different to how I was taught it. In the book, Lakatos takes a particular area of mathematics to do with shape and recreates an imaginary dialogue where he and the characters in the book go through this extraordinary process of developing what mathematicians would call conjectures. So they are developing predictions about how a particular property of a shape might operate, or which types of shape it might be true for. There’s this amazing description of a process which, for me, is at the heart of doing mathematics, which is coming up with conjectures, coming up with predictions and then the search for counter-examples that don’t fit that conjecture, and, as a result of that, the refinement of the conjecture itself. It’s quite a scientific process: you come up with an idea and you try and refute it. [source]

Cover unavailable

29

Introducing Logic: A Graphic Guide

Dan Cryan

4.3

Logic is the backbone of Western civilization, holding together its systems of philosophy, science and law. Yet despite logic's widely acknowledged importance, it remains an unbroken seal for many, due to its heavy use of jargon and mathematical symbolism.This book follows the historical development of logic, explains the symbols and methods involved and explores the philosophical issues surroundi

Cover unavailable

30

Philosophy of Logic

Willard Van Orman Quine

4.3

With his customary incisiveness, W. V. Quine presents logic as the product of two factors, truth and grammar--but argues against the doctrine that the logical truths are true because of grammar or language. Rather, in presenting a general theory of grammar and discussing the boundaries and possible extensions of logic, Quine argues that logic is not a mere matter of words.

Recommended by Tom Stoneham.

Tom Stoneham

Quine’s book is about when we construct a formal logic, when we create these formal languages, then we’re making philosophical decisions or choices about how we do it. The Philosophy of Logic is all about the philosophical arguments that underlie the decisions to do logic in one way or another. [source]

31

The Logic of Scientific Discovery

Karl R. Popper

4.3

2014 Reprint of Original 1959 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This book by one of the world's foremost philosophers of science presented a striking new picture of the logical character of scientific discovery--a picture which does full justice to the liberating effect of the Einsteinian revolution in physics and its immense impact

32

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Brian Christian and Griffiths

4.3

Preview Summary

A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we

Recommended by Doug McMillon, Chris Oliver, Emi Gal, and 2 others.

Doug McMillon

CEO/Walmart

Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. [source]

Chris Oliver

This is a great book talking about how you can use computer science to help you make decisions in life. How do you know when to make a decision on the perfect house? Car? etc? It helps you apply algorithms to making those decisions optimally without getting lost. [source]

Emi Gal

When asked what books he would recommend to young people interested in his career path, mentioned Algorithms to Live By. [source]

33

Naming and Necessity

Saul A. Kripke

4.3

If there is such a thing as essential reading in metaphysics or in philosophy of language, this is it.

Ever since the publication of its original version, "Naming and Necessity" has had great and increasing influence. It redirected philosophical attention to neglected questions of natural and metaphysical necessity and to the connections between these and theories of reference, in particular of nam

34

The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric

Sister Miriam Joseph and Marguerite McGlin

4.3

The Trivium guides the reader through a clarifying and rigorous account of logic, grammar, and rhetoric. A thorough presentation of general grammar, propositions, syllogisms, enthymemes, fallacies, poetics, figurative language, and metrical discourse--accompanied by lucid graphics and enlivened by examples from Shakespeare, Milton, Plato, and others-makes The Trivium a perfect book for teachers, s

Cover unavailable

35

Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies - Academic Edition

Bo Bennett

4.3

This book is a crash course in effective reasoning, meant to catapult you into a world where you start to see things how they really are, not how you think they are. The focus of this book is on logical fallacies, which loosely defined, are simply errors in reasoning. With the reading of each page, you can make significant improvements in the way you reason and make decisions. "Expose an irrationa

36

Critique of Pure Reason

Immanuel Kant, Paul Guyer, et al.

4.2

'The purpose of this critique of pure speculative reason consists in the attempt to change the old procedure of metaphysics and to bring about a complete revolution'

Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is the central text of modern philosophy. It presents a profound and challenging investigation into the nature of human reason, its knowledge and its illusions. Reason, Kant argues, is the seat o

Recommended by Adrian Moore, Luciano Floridi, and Simon Blackburn.

Adrian Moore

This is the greatest philosophical book of all time. This is Kant’s masterpiece. [source]

Luciano Floridi

I find reading Kant a bit like understanding cricket as a foreigner: hard to get at first, but once you get it, it’s very enjoyable. [source]

Simon Blackburn

An illuminating way to think of the Critique is as a kind of prolonged wrestling match with Hume. [source]

Cover unavailable

37

Crimes Against Logic: Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders

Jamie Whyte

4.2

Uncover the truth under all the BS

In the daily battle for our hearts and minds--not to mention our hard-earned cash--the truth is usually the first casualty. It's time we learned how to see through the rhetoric, faulty reasoning, and misinformation that we're subjected to from morning to night by talk-radio hosts, op-ed columnists, advertisers, self-help gurus, business "thinkers," and, of course,

Cover unavailable

38

An Introduction to Non-Classical Logic: From If to Is

Graham Priest

4.2

This revised and considerably expanded 2nd edition brings together a wide range of topics, including modal, tense, conditional, intuitionist, many-valued, paraconsistent, relevant, and fuzzy logics. Part 1, on propositional logic, is the old Introduction, but contains much new material. Part 2 is entirely new, and covers quantification and identity for all the logics in Part 1. The material is uni

Cover unavailable

39

Introduction to Logic: and to the Methodology of Deductive Sciences

Alfred Tarski

4.2

First published in Polish in 1936, this classic work was originally written as a popular scientific book — one that would present to the educated lay reader a clear picture of certain powerful trends of thought in modern logic. According to the author, these trends sought to create a unified conceptual apparatus as a common basis for the whole of human knowledge.
Because these new developments in l

Cover unavailable

40

Logic: An Introduction to Elementary Logic

Wilfrid Hodges

4.2

If a man supports Arsenal one day and Spurs the next then he is fickle but not necessarily illogical. From this starting point, and assuming no previous knowledge of logic, Wilfrid Hodges takes the reader through the whole gamut of logical expressions in a simple and lively way. Readers who are more mathematically adventurous will find optional sections introducing rather more challenging material

The attendees in the altMBA program actually influenced me the most in my book purchases: Robin Flaherty persuaded me to buy Thank You For Arguing. [source]

Cover unavailable

50

An Introduction to Formal Logic

Peter Smith

4.2

Peter Smith introduces the reader to the languages of propositional and predicate logic, and then develops formal systems for evaluating arguments translated into these languages, concentrating on the easily comprehensible "tree" method. His commentary is supplemented with examples and exercises, making the text appropriate for a first logic course. The book will also provide a basis for further r

51

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking

Jordan Ellenberg

4.2

The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands

The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life

Recommended by Bill Gates, Auston Bunsen, and Nick Ganju.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

The writing is funny, smooth, and accessible -- not what you might expect from a book about math. What Ellenberg has written is ultimately a love letter to math. If the stories he tells add up to a larger lesson, it’s that 'to do mathematics is to be, at once, touched by fire and bound by reason' -- and that there are ways in which we’re all doing math, all the time. [source]

Auston Bunsen

I’ve got a few, one book that really impacted me early on as someone coming from a middle-class family was “Rich dad, Poor dad”. Since then I’ve read many books but one that really stands out is “How not to be wrong” by Jordan Ellenberg which really reignited my appetite & appreciation for math. [source]

Nick Ganju

Written for an audience of people who have historically been intimidated by math … and introduces things in a very simple way, and then works up to more complex concepts. [source]

Cover unavailable

52

Introduction to Metamathematics

S.C. Kleene

4.2

Stephen Cole Kleene was one of the greatest logicians of the twentieth century and this book is the influential textbook he wrote to teach the subject to the next generation. It was first published in 1952, some twenty years after the publication of Gadel's paper on the incompleteness of arithmetic, which marked, if not the beginning of modern logic, at least a turning point after which oenothing

Cover unavailable

53

Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

Maria Konnikova

4.2

Preview Summary

No fictional character is more renowned for his powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes. But is his extraordinary intellect merely a gift of fiction, or can we learn to cultivate these abilities ourselves, to improve our lives at work and at home?

We can, says psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova, and in Mastermind she shows us how. Beginning with the "brain attic"--Holmes's m

Recommended by Kirk Borne.

Kirk Borne

To Change the Way You Think, Change the Way You See: “To observe, you must learn to separate situation from interpretation, yourself from what you are seeing.” https://t.co/jYH02Yh8u1 Also see this book: https://t.co/uKXYEPDHOM #Cognitive https://t.co/43hHzNb55A [source]

54

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake

Dr. Steven Novella

4.1

An all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking in the popular "The Skeptics Guide to the Universe" podcast's dryly humorous, accessible style.

It's intimidating to realize that we live in a world overflowing with misinformation, bias, myths, deception, and flawed knowledge. There really are no ultimate authority figures-no one has the secret and there is no place to look up the definitive answers

55

Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy

Bertrand Russell

4.1

2017 Reprint of 1919 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy has been a seminal work for more than nine decades. It gives the general background necessary for any serious discussion on the foundational crisis of mathematics in the beginning of the twentieth century. Requiring neither prior knowledge

Cover unavailable

56

Logic Made Easy: How to Know When Language Deceives You

Deborah J. Bennett

4.1

"Professor Bennett entertains as she instructs," writes Publishers Weekly about the penetrating yet practical Logic Made Easy. This brilliantly clear and gratifyingly concise treatment of the ancient Greek discipline identifies the illogical in everything from street signs to tax forms. Complete with puzzles you can try yourself, Logic Made Easy invites readers to identify and ultimately remedy lo

Cover unavailable

57

Funster 1,000+ Sudoku Puzzles Easy to Hard: Sudoku puzzle book for adults

4.1

The brain is a wonderful thing to tease.

Two hundred grid-based logic puzzles from Puzzle Baron, the mega-popular online puzzle site! For each puzzle, readers are given a background story and a list of clues and then left with only pure logic to arrive at the correct answer. Unlike other logic puzzle books, every puzzle includes statistics - such as the average completion time, the record completio

Cover unavailable

67

Suzanne High

4.1

Cover unavailable

72

The Logical Structure of the World and Pseudoproblems in Philosophy

Rudolf Carnap, Rolf A. George

4.1

Available for the first time in 20 years, here are two important works from the 1920s by the best-known representative of the Vienna Circle. In The Logical Structure of the World, Carnap adopts the position of “methodological solipsism” and shows that it is possible to describe the world from the immediate data of experience. In his Pseudoproblems in Philosophy, he asserts that many philosophical

73

Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain

Antonio Damasio

4.1

Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading

Recommended by David Brooks and Paul Thagard.

David Brooks

Damasio worked with people who have suffered strokes and as a result are incapable of feeling emotion. And far from making good decisions, they make terrible decisions, and their lives fall apart. [source]

Paul Thagard

This book understood emotion in terms of what the brain does – not as a kind of abstract computational process but very much tied in with the particular brain processes. [source]

80

Meaning and Necessity: A Study in Semantics and Modal Logic

Rudolf Carnap

4.0

"This book is valuable as expounding in full a theory of meaning that has its roots in the work of Frege and has been of the widest influence. . . . The chief virtue of the book is its systematic character. From Frege to Quine most philosophical logicians have restricted themselves by piecemeal and local assaults on the problems involved. The book is marked by a genial tolerance. Carnap sees himse

81

My First Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids: Spatial Reasoning, Math Puzzles, Logic Problems, Focus Activities. (Develop Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Analytical & STEM Skills in Kids Ages 4, 5, 6.)

Dan Allbaugh

4.0

Educational fun through simple rules, engaging activities, diverse challenges, and playful characters.My First Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids is the third release in the international best-selling Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids series. The book’s personality remains true to the series, but the content is curated to facilitate the first steps of young learners on their intellectual journey. All act

82

Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids: Spatial reasoning, math puzzles, word games, logic problems, activities, two-player games. (The Gritty Little Lamb ... & STEM skills in kids ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.)

Dan Allbaugh

4.0

Educational fun through simple rules, engaging activities, diverse challenges, and playful characters. Visually compelling puzzles and games engage children in purposeful problem-solving and STEM skill development through grit-building challenges. Over 150 developmentally appropriate activities are organized by subject and captivate a wide spectrum of learners.Spatial ReasoningMath PuzzlesLogic Pr

89

The Complete Works: The Revised Oxford Translation, Vol. 1

Aristotle, Jonathan Barnes

4.0

Cover unavailable

90

Logic: The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth

Isaac Watts

4.0

In Logic, Watts address proper thinking under the four basic functions of the human mind: perception, judgment, reasoning, and disposition. In part one, Watts addresses human perception, the cultivation of ideas, and how we associate them with words. In part two, Watts treats human judgment and its ability to construct various kinds of propositions, while giving guidance for avoiding the formation

Cover unavailable

91

Logic: A Complete Introduction: Teach Yourself (Complete Introductions)

Siu-Fan Lee

4.0

Cover unavailable

92

From Frege to Gödel: A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879-1931

Jean van Heijenoort

4.0

The fundamental texts of the great classical period in modern logic, some of them never before available in English translation, are here gathered together for the first time. Modern logic, heralded by Leibniz, may be said to have been initiated by Boole, De Morgan, and Jevons, but it was the publication in 1879 of Gottlob Frege's "Begriffsschrift" that opened a great epoch in the history of logic

93

Proofs: A Long-Form Mathematics Textbook (The Long-Form Math Textbook Series)

Jay Cummings

4.0

This textbook is designed for students. Rather than the typical definition-theorem-proof-repeat style, this text includes much more commentary, motivation and explanation. The proofs are not terse, and aim for understanding over economy. Furthermore, dozens of proofs are preceded by "scratch work" or a proof sketch to give students a big-picture view and an explanation of how they would come up wi

Cover unavailable

94

Logic: The Laws of Truth

Nicholas J.J. Smith

4.0

Logic is essential to correct reasoning and also has important theoretical applications in philosophy, computer science, linguistics, and mathematics. This book provides an exceptionally clear introduction to classical logic, with a unique approach that emphasizes both the hows and whys of logic. Here Nicholas Smith thoroughly covers the formal tools and techniques of logic while also imparting a

95

The Art of Logic in an Illogical World

Eugenia Cheng

4.0

96

The Master Theorem - A Book of Puzzles, Intrigue and Wit

M .

4.0

I'm M, or at least that's how I'm known, and I'll be your guide.

The Herculean test of your grit is as follows: Find the word or phrase solution to each one of my encrypted logic puzzles, called Theorems. Doing so will earn you entry into the elite ranks of The Master Theorem. It may take you some time, but trust me—it’ll be worth it.

What's in it for you:
Read my cryptic ramblings alongside each

Cover unavailable

97

Philosophy of Logics

Susan Haack

4.0

The first systematic exposition of all the central topics in the philosophy of logic, Susan Haack's book has established an international reputation (translated into five languages) for its accessibility, clarity, conciseness, orderliness, and range as well as for its thorough scholarship and careful analyses. Haack discusses the scope and purpose of logic, validity, truth-functions, quantificatio

98

Hashi Bridges Puzzle Book: 125 Hashiwokakero Logic Puzzles for Adults

Alex Smart

4.0

Unwind, focus, and connect the islands, one bridge at a time.Enjoy the quiet satisfaction of solving 125 engaging Hashi Bridges puzzles. Also known as Hashiwokakero, this Japanese logic puzzle challenges you to connect numbered islands using bridges whilst following some simple rules.Inside you’ll find:• 50 puzzles sized 9x12• 50 puzzles sized 12x15• 25 puzzles sized 15x20Whether you have a few pe

Cover unavailable

99

The Logic of Sense

Gilles Deleuze, Constantin V. Boundas, Mark Lester, Charles Stivale

4.0

Considered one of the most important works of one of France's foremost philosophers, and long-awaited in English, The Logic of Sense begins with an extended exegesis of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Considering stoicism, language, games, sexuality, schizophrenia, and literature, Deleuze determines the status of meaning and meaninglessness, and seeks the 'place' where sense and nonsense coll

Cover unavailable

100

You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

David McRaney

4.0

An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise.

Whether you’re deciding which smart phone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic, but here’s the truth: You are not so smart. You’re just as deluded as the rest of us--but that’s okay, because being deluded is part of being human.

Recommended by Jessica Flitter.

Jessica Flitter

Honestly, almost every major topic that we cover in an introductory social psychology chapter is covered in the book. It makes psychology real: this isn’t something that theoretically exists in the classroom. It exists every single day. That’s why I love this book. [source]