A Survey of Doubts Raised by Critics of Logic and Allameh Tabataba’i’s Answers

Since ancient times, the opponents of logic with different approaches have cast doubts on the logical approach deeming it invalid or at best inappropriate. Criticisms leveled against logic can largely be divided into four groups which are concerned with: its utility, its validity, the motivation behind translation and dissemination of texts on logic in the Islamic world, and the consequences of employing logic. The present article first introduces these groups and then attempts to provide Allameh Tabataba’i’s precise and definitive answers to them, drawing mostly upon his works and comparing his answers to those of others. Considering logic as the man’s natural way of thinking and reasoning, Allameh argues that without employing it we cannot even prove a single issue in Islamic teachings. In his view, even in their criticism, critics of logic inevitably use such a natural way of reasoning.