Course Description

 This is an introductory course in formal logic that covers the use of symbolic techniques for the analysis and construction of good arguments. As it is with any worthwhile endeavour, starting out down the path can be equal parts intriguing, exciting, and terrifying. You may find yourself asking, with some degree of alarm, why the As are upside-down and the Es are backwards, or what double-sided arrows have anything to do with philosophy. Yet this is a worthwhile endeavour: Acquiring the ability to represent arguments in a formal manner will allow you to cut through the fluff that often accompanies philosophical positions and see them for what they are. Formal logic is a tool to be used to sharpen language and thought in order to bring clarity and precision.

This course is an introduction to formal logic. While an introduction, by the end of the course you will have competence with the foundational tools of formal analysis: truth tables, operators, and derivations. We will study both propositional and predicate logic.

Required Course Texts

1. Lande, Nelson. Classical Logic and Its Rabbit-Holes. (Hackett, 2013).

Summary of Course Requirements

Requirement	Description	Weight	Date
Weekly Assignments	Worksheets testing competence on the week’s material.	15%	Ongoing
Midterms	Two midterms covering the first two units.	2×25%	Weeks 05 & 10
Final Examination	One sit-down examination.	35%	See Registrar

Course Schedule

All information subject to change with notice. 

Week

Readings

Topic

Propositional Logic

01	CL: 1.1 to 1.3	Validity & Soundness
02	CL: 1.4 to 1.5	Operators
03	CL: 1.6	Truth Tables
04	CL: 1.7 to 1.10	Translation
05	Review and Midterm

Predicate Logic

06	CL: 5.1 to 5.2	Predicates
07	CL: 5.3 to 5.6	Quantifiers
08
09	CL: 5.7	Translation, Revisited
10	Review and Midterm

Derivations              

11	CL: 3.1 to 3.2	Seven Rules
12	CL 3.4 to 3.7	Constructing Derivations
13	CL: 3.8 to 3.9	Four More Rules

Legend

CL       Lande, Classical Logic and Its Rabbit-Holes