Course description: 102 Introduction to Logic (3) Fall, Spring
"An introduction to the nature of contemporary systems of logic and their application. Students will learn how to abbreviate arguments in ordinary language, to deduce conclusions, and to locate fallacies. Recommended for students of the sciences, computer programming, or mathematics, and the general student interested in the structure of arguments. Satisfies GE, category A3 (Critical Thinking)."
Text: Introduction to Logic by Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen. Other material will be distributed as handouts and posted on the class website. When in doubt about the meaning of a term in common use, consult a good general purpose dictionary.
Why do humans believe what they do, and not in some other way? One thing seems clear: they can't all be right. What is logic about? -- In a nutshell: this class will be concerned with how to tell good reasoning from bad; with saying what is 'goodness' in reasoning and discourse.
See also: Logic
(Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic)
What
is logic and why do philosophers study it?
(http://www.philosophy.ed.ac.uk/study_html/vade_mecum/sections/section1/whylogic.htm)
"[A]ll deep thought begins and ends in the attempt to grasp whatever touches one most immediately." [Soren Kierkegaard, The Journals of Kierkegaard 98 (1959) (quoted in Patricia F. Sanborn, Existentialism 21 (New York: Pegasus, 1968))]
Course outline and schedule
Logic and language. (1 week)
Uses of language. Sense and nonsense.
Extension and intension.
Definition; vagueness and ambiguity.
Reason and argument. (3 weeks)
Uses of logic. Argument and explanation. Inference. What is proof?
Logical form; intuition and rigour; classification of arguments.
Induction and deduction.
Validity, invalidity, soundness, inconsistency, truth and necessary truth.
Informal logic (deductive). (4 weeks)
Fallacious reasoning. Logical error - how reason goes wrong. Fallacies, fallacies, fallacies: formal and informal; deductive and nondeductive (=inductive).
Classification of fallacies: irrelevance, inconsistency, petitios, and non sequitors.
Formal logic and proof (deductive). - Formal logic: what is it? Informal and formal reasoning; intuition and rigor; objectivity and subjectivity; absolute and relative; ordinary language and symbolization; logical terms; extensional and intensional language; logical forms and patterns of argument; truth tables (for both sentences and arguments); inconsistency; deduction, deductive validity and soundness; cases of indeterminacy of logical form (1 week).
Sentential logic: syntax, truth tables (for sentences and arguments), tautology and contradiction. (2 weeks)
First-order predicate (quantificational) logic. Aristotelian logic (syllogism). Functions and relations. Identity. More on validity and proof (decision processes) (4 weeks)
A glimpse beyond FOL (1 week). Computation and logic. Decision processes. Other symbolic logics.
Course requirements, examinations, grading, and other class policies and procedures
Attendance: Being There (you might enjoy the entertaining film of that name) is at least half the battle. So be there. Roll will be taken each class, and will not count toward your grade, except as nonattendance will naturally affect performance. However, too many absences according to school policy will result in, first, a warning, then dismissal from class. Homework cannot be made up for easily, and similarly for examinations, except in the direst of circumstances.
Coursework: There will be weekly short take-home exercises or other assignments, usually to be done over the weekend. Additionally, 3 one hour mid-course examinations will be given, and a two hour final examination. These examinations will consist of short essay questions; i.e., you will be asked to write cogent English explanations, give analyses of examples similar to those discussed in class, and sometimes to regurgitate definitions and to construct proofs.
Grading: 1/3 from the final (100 pts.), 1/3 (100 pts.) from the two midterms (hence, 1/6 each), 1/3 (100 pts.) from the homework assignments. The final will be cumulative; i.e., it will consist of questions about material taken equally from each of the class sections, as above.
Office hours: directly after class, by arrangement, or via e-mail.
Late work: Rarely will homework will be accepted late. Exams missed may be made up only under the direst of circumstances.
Classes will consist of a combination of lecture and discussion with the students. I like to conduct discussions casually and Socratically (up to a point!). Please feel free to interrupt the lectures with pertinent questions.
There will be a class website, on which handouts and weekly exercises will be posted.
Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, and penalties attached to it.