Formal Semantics

0 My Semantics class have started a unit of logic and I've found myself surprisingly fascinated by it. On my lecturer's advice I've been doing some reading on the subject (books like "The language instinct" and "Everything that linguists have wanted to know about logic but were too ashamed to ask") and feel that I've learned a lot about the topic, except for one thing. 02br
00I've learned a lot about logic and how to apply it in linguistics, but I don't really feel comfortable talking about WHY we use it. I know what I think on the subject; I believe that we use logic because languages don't really reflect reality, but rather our perception of it (if a language COULD perfectly describe reality, we wouldn't need so many of them!). The rigidity of logic allows us to sort out ambiguities and get at the real meaning behind words and sentences. I'm still unsure about its ability to translate concepts. 02br
00What do other people think? Why DO we utilise such a rigid, rule- based thing as logic to describe something as fluid and illogical as language? 02br
00Apologies for anonymous posting; I've registered but my password has not yet shown up. 0-