Philosophy103 Logic
TF1:30-2:45;Denny110
Prof.Feldman(e-mail:[email protected])
EastCollege211,X1226
Spring,2016 PurposeandGoalsofthisCourse
Logicfocusesonthedistinctionbetweencorrectandincorrectreasoning.Correctreasoningyieldsvalid
arguments.Whatmakesargumentsvalidistheirform(howtheyarestructured)ratherthantheir
content(whattheyareabout).Tobetterunderstandtheformalfeaturesofarguments,logicianswork
withartificiallanguages(wewillcallthemsententiallogicandquantificationallogic)whichmakeuseof
symbols.Fromthis,wegetthename‘symboliclogic’.
Inthiscourse,youwilllearnlanguagesofsymboliclogic,bothsententiallogicandquantificationallogic.
YouwilllearnhowtotranslatesentencesfromEnglishintotheirsymbolicformsandexaminethe
conditionswhichwouldmakethemtrueorfalse,andyouwillexploretherelationoftruthconditionsto
equivalence.Youwilllearnhowmethodsoftruthtablesandnaturaldeductiontoprovevalidityand
invalidityinarguments.
TheconceptsofsymboliclogicalsoholdforreasoninginEnglish,thestudyofwhichwecall‘critical
reasoning’.Youwilllearnhowtoapplythemtoreallifearguments,understandtheirlimitationsand
examineadditionalconceptsinvolvingthestructures,strengthsandweaknessesofarguments,including
non-deductivearguments.Inthisway,youwilllearnhowtoevaluate,improve,critiqueandconstruct
arguments.
Attheendofthiscourse,youwillunderstandimportantlogicalconcepts,beabletoapplythese
conceptsusingtruthtablesandproofmethodstodeterminethelogicalstatusofsentencesand
arguments,andbeabletotranslatesentencesandargumentsfromEnglishintosymbolicformandback.
Youwillbeabletoidentifyandconstructarguments,bothdeductiveandnon-deductive,inordinary
Englishandevaluatethemforcorrectness.Throughthisunderstanding,youwillachievethecourse
goals:recognizingbadreasoning,learninghowtocorrectit,andseeingwhystrivingforgoodreasoning
isworththeeffort.
TEXTS:
RichardEpstein:ThePocketGuidetoCriticalThinking(4thedition,2011)ISBN9780981550770
(CT)
WilliamGustason&DolphUlrich,ElementarySymbolicLogic(2ndedition,1989)ISBN0881334128(ESL)
SCHEDULE:Youlearntodologicbydoingit;consequently,doingthehomework,usuallythe
problemsetsinthetextbookaseachsectioniscompleted,isessential.Ifyoudon’tdo
thehomework,youwon’tbeabletomastertheconceptsandtechniques.
Expecttospendafairamountoftimethissemesteronlogichomework.Manystudents
findthattheycometoenjoyit,eveniftheydon’texperienceitasenjoyableatfirst.
AssignmentsforthiscoursewillbeupdatedonMoodle.Besuretocheckthesitebefore
eachclass.Datesforassignments,andforexamsandquizzes,maybechangedwith
noticetotheclass.
Beforeeachclassmeeting,youwillbeassignedasectionofthetextbook,includingthe
associatedproblemset,ashomework,unlessotherwisenoted,andIexpectthatyouwill
haveworkedontheassignedreadingandproblemsbythetimeyoucometoclass.We
willreviewthatsection,includingsomeoftheproblemsinclass,sobepreparedto
discusstheproblemsandraisequestionsinclass.Makesureyouclearupwhatyoufind
confusingduringclassmeetings,orduringofficehours.Assignmentswillbepostedon
Moodlebeforeeachclass,socheckMoodleregularly.
Fundamentals
Jan.26:Whatisanargument?:ESL,1.1,CT3,4
Jan.29:'And','Or','Not':ESL1.2,1.3(top.22)
Feb.2:SymbolizingSentences:ESL1.3(pp.22-28)
Feb.5:MaterialConditionalsandBiconditionals:ESL1.4
Feb.9:Quiz1
SemanticMethodsforSententialLogic---Truthtables
Feb.9:TruthTablesfortruthfunctionalconnectives:ESL2.1
Feb.12:ConstructingandUsingTruthTables:ESL2.2
Feb.16:Quiz2
Feb.16:Testingargumentsforvalidity:ESL2.3
Feb.19:ShortCutMethod:ESL2.4
Feb.23:EXAMI
SententialLogic---DeductiveMethods
Feb.26:DemonstratingValiditybyDeduction:ESL3.1(topage93)
March1:Deductionsinvolvingtheconditionalandbiconditional:ESL3.2
March4:Quiz3
March4:ConditionalProof:ESL3.3
March8:IndirectProof:ESL3.4
March11:Review
March22:ExamII
QuantificationalLogic
March25:QuantifiersandQuantifiedSentences:ESL5.1
March29:MultipleQuantificationandRelations:ESL5.2,top.169
April1:Quiz4
QuantificationLogic---DeductiveMethods
April1:QuantificationRulesEI,EG:ESL7.1top.220
April5:QuantificationRulesUI,UG,QN:ESL7.1pp.220-232
April8:Quiz5
April8:Stratagems:ESL7.2top.241
April12:Stratagems:ESL72pp.241-243
April15:EXAMIII
CriticalThinking
April19:EvaluatingArgumentsinNaturalLanguage:CTsecs.1-5
April22:Criticalresponsetoarguments:CTsecs.6-9
April26:Quiz6
April26:Prescriptiveclaims:CTsec.12
April29:AnalogiesinReasoning:CTsec.15,
May3:ReasoningwithGeneralizations:CTsec.16
May6:Review
FINALEXAM:Monday,May16,9am
REQUIREMENTS:
Youmustbewillingtomakelogicyourlife.Accordingly,youshouldattendclassfaithfully,dothe
homeworkassignedforeachclass,andbepreparedtoshareyouranswers,questions,insightsand
confusionsinclass.
Duringthesemester,therewillbethreeexams,eachcounting20%ofthefinalgrade,andquizzes,
collectivelyworth15%.(Thesyllabusindicatesdatesfor6quizzesbutthedatesfor,andnumberof
quizzesmaybechangedduringthesemester,withnoticetotheclass).Thecumulativefinalexamwill
beworth25%.Nologicalpersonwouldmissaquizoranexam.Homeworkandclassperformancecan
raiseorlowerthestudentgrade.
AccommodationsforDisabilities
DickinsonCollegemakesreasonableacademicaccommodationsforstudentswithdocumenteddisabilities,andI
amavailabletodiscusstheirimplementationorotherconcernsyoumayhave.Studentsrequesting
accommodationsmustmaketheirrequestandprovideappropriatedocumentationtotheOfficeofDisability
Services(ODS)in106DanaHall.Becauseclasseschangeeverysemester,eligiblestudentsmustobtainanew
accommodationletterfromDirectorMarniJoneseverysemesterandreviewthisletterwiththeirprofessorssothe
accommodationscanbeimplemented.TheDirectorofODSisavailablebyappointmenttoanswerquestionsand
discussanyimplementationissuesyoumayhave.ODSproctoringismanagedbySusanFrommerat717-245-1734
orproctoring@dickinson.edu.AddressgeneralinquiriestoStephanieAnderbergat717-245-1734ore-mail
[email protected],see
http://www.dickinson.edu/homepage/71/disability_services.
Questions?Comeseeme.
AcademicHonesty:Isubscribetothecollegepoliciesonacademichonesty.Pleasebehonest.