Interview with Ron Tagliapietra

Can you tell us about yourself and your work at Bob Jones University?

I have worked as an author at Bob Jones University Press for 15 years. In that time, I revised the high school math texts and the Geography text. Currently, I am working on the junior high math texts. Besides these textbooks, I have also written The Seven Wonders of the World and Great Adventurers of the 20th Century. I am also currently working on a book on survival stories.

I have also written books for two other publishers. Three outdoor guides are distributed by Fern Creek Press: The Southern Sixers (on the 40 highest peaks in the South), 150 South Carolina Waterfalls, and Waterfalls of the States (covering 225 falls in the US, at least one in each state). Two Bible related books are published by Xlibris: Bible Preservation and the Providence of God (written with Sam Schnaiter on textual criticism) and Math for God's Glory (on the biblical basis for mathematics).

Can you tell us about your logic book Better Thinking and Reasoning and how you came to write it?

I taught a course in set theory and logic in math departments at Judson Baptist College, The Dalles, Oregon, and at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, Owatonna, Minnesota. The course stressed deductive logic only. When the teacher of the logic course in the philosophy department left Pillsbury, I started teaching that course. The text I used (Hurley) was great, and I wondered why no one had ever taught me inductive logic before. After revising the math texts for BJUP, my boss asked me what I wanted to write. I suggested a logic text, and it progressed from there. It was my first book on BJUP and came out in 1995.

Better Thinking and Reasoning focuses on the practical aspects of reasoning. Each of the 12 chapters includes the biblical basis for the topic. Furthermore, each chapter also focuses on its importance in a field: from history to science, from law to medicine. Even home-making is addressed (in question 5, page 105). All the applications are listed in the index (under applications). High school students will profit from comparing the sample essays on George Washington in Chapter 11. The introduction "To the Teacher" explains how to use the book as a resource, as a supplementary unit in a course, as a study skills course, as a logic course, or as an independent study.

The book builds from definitions, through classifying statements as true or false, to arguments and fallacies. It closes with a chapter on other tools in logic. The 6 chapters on arguments and fallacies alternate with respect to inductive and deductive reasoning, getting progressively harder. The 7 criteria for a good theory (in Chapter 8) are especially useful.

How important is it for Christians to study logic and at what age do you recommend students begin the study of logic? What other logic books would you recommend?

Logic is essential for every Christian. It is used in studying and interpreting the Bible, defending the faith, and witnessing. It is also used on a daily basis from evaluating advertisements to making decisions.

It is deplorable that in most curricula, Geometry is the last hold out for the explicit teaching of logic. For some 2000 years, it has been taught like reading and writing in every year of school (Logic was part of the trivium, the three key studies in the seven liberal arts). Now it is just a unit in one class, and sadly, even that last bastion is under attack. Some publishers do not offer a geometry class anymore, but integrate it into their algebra courses. Such courses may offer simple proofs but without the explicit teaching of logic, but most of them cover perimeter, area, and volume formulas without the proofs.

I recommend students begin studying logic in about fifth grade. Although my book is primarily intended for students in grade 10 (concurrent with Geometry) or later, it has been used successfully down to grade 7. Most students will find it easier if they have taken Geometry first, since good Geometry courses cover proofs. While proofs use only deductions, which are harder, previous exposure to them in a required class will make my book seem easier.

I recommend two books, but both are intended for college rather than high school audiences. First, A Concise Introduction to Logic by Patrick Hurley (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co.) is thorough and well done, though not Christian. Hurley offers many everyday examples and brings the subject to life. Second, Exegetical Fallacies by D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House) is thoroughly Christian, though it does not always use the standard terms for fallacies. Carson includes fallacies from commentaries and other Christian books (even some of his own) and wants to make Christians aware of the importance of logic.

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