Syllogistic Reasoning in the Age of AI

As AI becomes increasingly central to education, it is transforming how learners interact with information, solve problems, and reason. AI systems can rapidly generate explanations, arguments, and logically structured responses, offering benefits in accessibility, efficiency, and personalized support. However, these advances raise profound philosophical and pedagogical questions about understanding, critical thinking, and intellectual freedom. This paper examines the relationship between AI-assisted learning and the tradition of syllogistic reasoning, focusing on the distinction between simulated reasoning and genuine understanding. Drawing on the history of logic, philosophy of mind, and recent educational research, it argues that AI can appear to reason without possessing conceptual understanding in the human sense. Crucially, overreliance on AI output can detach learners from thinking, reducing opportunities for reflective engagement and independent critical thinking. The paper also analyzes the potential effects of cognitive offloading, passive reliance on technology, and superficial involvement in logical processes. The paper does not reject AI in education but calls for a pedagogical balance in which AI supports learning while preserving active intellectual engagement, interpretive reflection, and conceptual understanding. By connecting philosophical analysis with contemporary debates on AI literacy and education, it argues that the future of logical education depends on maintaining the distinction between getting right answers and developing genuine reasoning skills. Ultimately, it suggests that technology should augment, not replace, the human abilities that enable meaningful intellectual reasoning.

کلیدواژه ها:

AI in Education ، Syllogistic Reasoning ، Diagrammatic Reasoning ، Philosophy of Education ، Understanding-based Reasoning ، Simulation of Reasoning ، Epistemic Agency