Courses:

Logic I >> Content Detail



Syllabus



Syllabus



Course Description


This course provides an introduction to the aims and techniques of formal logic. Logic is the science of correct argument, and our study of logic will aim to understand what makes a correct argument good, that is, what is it about the structure of a correct argument that guarantees that, if the premises are all true, the conclusion will be true as well? Our subject (though, to be sure, we can only scratch the surface) will be truth and proof, and the connection between them.



Course Requirements


There will be a homework assignment every week or every other week, and a mandatory 3-hour, open-book final exam. The final will carry the same weight as three homework assignments.



Collaboration Policy


I encourage you to work together on the problems, but when you sit down to write up your final answers, do it by yourself, without looking at anyone else's work.



Course Calendar


The calendar below provides information on the course topics, which are taken from chapters in the course manuscript. The manuscript entitled Logic: The Art of Persuasion and the Science of Truth was written by the faculty member and is available in the readings section.


Chapter #Topics
1Introduction: The Place of Logic Among the Sciences
2Sets and Functions
3Sentential Calculus Introduction
4Sentential Calculus Semantics
5Extension Theorem
6State Descriptions, Disjunctive Normal Form, and Expressive Completeness
7SC Substitutions
8The Search-for-Counterexample Test for Validity
9Compactness Theorem
10SC Derivations
11SC Completeness
12Substitution of Equivalents
13SC Translations
14Trouble with "If"s
15Monadic Predicate Calculus
16Derivations in the Monadic Predicate Calculus
17Completeness in the Monadic Predicate Calculus
18Predicate Calculus
19Predicate Calculus Derivations
20Identity
21Russell's Theory of Definite Descriptions
22Sense and Reference
23Function Signs
24Sentential Calculus Revisited: Boolean Algebra

 








© 2010-2021 OpenCollege.com, All Rights Reserved.
Open College is a service mark of AmeriCareers LLC.