Course Policies
To review the course policies and logistics, go here.
The following is a rough outline of the first month of class. Both it and its successors are subject to revision according to the flow of the class, as well as our interests. Don’t be shy about stating topics you’d like to explore.
Texts:
(Applied Ethics) Cohen, Andrew I., and Christopher Heath Wellman. 2005. Contemporary debates in applied ethics, Contemporary debates in philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
(Copi) Copi, Irving M., and Carl Cohen. 2009. Introduction to logic. 13th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
(Nolt) Nolt, J. 1997. Logics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
(UA) Sinnott-Armstrong, W., and R.J. Fogelin (2009), Understanding arguments: An introduction to informal logic. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
All required selections from these books are available here. (Password is: logic-phil180)
| Date | Readings and assignments to be discussed |
| I. | Informal reasoning |
| A. | Basic concepts |
| 2/14 | Introductions. Syllabus. Course logistics. [PPT: Critical Thinking] [PPT: Plug for Philosophy] |
| 2/16 | Propositions & arguments: read Copi, pp. 4-9; do pp. 9-12 #3, 5, 9, 14, 15 (you will submit a hard copy, with corrections, on Friday). |
| 2/18 | Deduction, induction, & truth: read Copi, pp. 26-34; do p. 35 #1-8 |
| 2/21 | Validity & counterexamples: read Nolt, pp. 6-12; do Nolt, pp. 12-13 #1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14 |
| 2/23 | Read: Etzioni, A. “The Limits of Privacy” pp. 253-262 in Applied Ethics, Khalifa, Tutorial on Reconstructing Arguments. [PPT] [Handout on Argument Reconstruction] [Handout on Etzioni] |
| II. | Semiformal reasoning |
| A. | Basic notation |
| 2/25 | Symbolic language & basic operators: read Copi, pp. 315-327 |
| 2/28 | do Copi, pp. 327-328 (part A) #2, 8, 14, 21, 24; p. 329 (part C) # 4, 11, 24; pp. 329-331 (part D) #2, 8, 22 |
| 3/2 | Conditional statements & material implication: read Copi, pp. 331-339 |
| 3/4 | Class Cancelled |
| 3/7 | do Copi, p. 339-340 (part A) #2, 9, 19, 24; (part C) #2, 4, 8, 21, 22, 24 |
| B. | Truth tables |
| 3/9 | Validity & common argument forms: read Copi, pp. 346-355 |
| 3/11 | Material equivalence and Validity Exercises: read Copi, pp. 357-361; do pp. 355-356 (part B) #3, 4, 9; pp. 356-357 #2, 4, 8, 9 |
| 3/14 | Read Friedman, “The Case for Privacy” pp. 263-275 in Applied Ethics. [Handout] |
| III. | Formal proofs in propositional logic |
| 3/16 | Simple inference rules: read Nolt, pp. 82-89 |
| 3/18 | Class Cancelled |
| 3/21 -3/25 | Spring Break |
| 3/28 | do Nolt, 4.2, #1, 5, 11, 15, 19 |
| 3/30 | Class Cancelled |
| 4/1 | Class Cancelled |
| 4/4 | Hypothetical derivations: read Nolt, pp. 89-101 |
| 4/6 | do Nolt, 4.3, # 1, 6, 9, 15, 20 |
| 4/8 | Class Cancelled |
| 4/11 | Use the ten basic rules (Nolt p.102) and the derived rules (Nolt p.105-106) to prove the arguments in Copi & Cohen, p. 419, #17; pp. 420-421, #1-5 |
| 4/13 | Semi-Formal Proofs and Criticizing Arguments |
| 4/15 | Class Cancelled |
| IV. | Predicate Logic |
| A. | Syntax |
| 4/18 | Midterm Due by 10AM in my mailbox (2nd Floor Twilight Hall). Any other form of delivery (including under my office door) results in a 3-point penalty. Due in Class: Quantifiers, predicates, and names: read Nolt pp. 161-169; do Nolt pp. 169-171 # 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 |
| 4/20 | Do Copi & Cohen, p. 453, Part B, #1-10 |
| 4/22 | Class Cancelled – Student Symposium |
| B. | Inference |
| 4/25 | Existential Introduction: read Nolt, pp. 224-227 |
| 4/27 | Existential Elimination: read Nolt, pp. 227-232; do Nolt, p. 227 # 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 |
| 4/29 | Universal Elimination: read Nolt, pp. 233-234; do Nolt, p. 232 #2, 5, 6, 10 |
| 5/2 | Universal Introduction and Quantifier Exchange Rules: read Nolt, pp. 235-240, do Nolt, p. 234 #3, 5, 9 and p. 235, Exercise 8.3.2 |
| 5/4 | Review: Do Nolt, p. 240 (Exercise 8.4.2) #3, 6, 9, 12, 15 |
| 5/6 | Form groups of 3 with people from your discussion section for Saturday’s assignment |
| 5/7 | By 11:59PM: write your names and 1-2 sentences describing some aspect of essay writing where you think logic can help in a shared Google document. |
| 5/8 | By 11:59PM: look at all the suggestions by your fellow students. Vote for exactly one proposal that was not written by your group. We will use these to structure the remaining classes. |
| 5/9 | Review: Do Nolt, p. 241 (Exercise 8.4.3) #1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35. |
| 5/11 | Reverse engineering in essay writing. Read: Kinds of Analytical Essays |
| 5/13 | Discussion Sections: Fallacies, Part 1: Read Sinnott-Armstrong & Fogelin, Understanding Arguments pp. 273-313 |
| 5/16 | Discussion Sections: Fallacies, Part 2: Read Sinnott-Armstrong & Fogelin, Understanding Arguments pp. 314-350 |
| 5/22 | Final Due in my mailbox (2nd Floor Twilight Hall) by 5PM |