Syllabus (Updated: Sep. 13)
Class Schedule
| Topic | Key | Readings | Assignments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Week 1: Sep. 3 | Introduction | What is logic? Requirements and expectations for this class |
Lemmon, Chapter 1.1 Alternative: Restall, Chapter 1
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(optional) |
| 2. Sep. 5 | Arguments | What is an argument? What are the differences between sentences and propositions? What are the criteria to evaluate an argument? |
Assignment 1 (due on Sep. 16) |
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| 3. Week 2: Sep. 10 | Validity and Soundness | How to judge an argument is valid How to judge an argument is sound |
Copi et al., Chapter 1.2 & 1.6 | |
| 4. Sep. 12 | Informal Logic | How to identify an argument What are some common fallacies? |
Copi et al., Chapter 1.3 & 4 | Assignment 2 (due on Sep. 23) |
| Sentential Logic | ||||
| 5. Week 3: Sep. 17 | Negation, Conjunction, and Disjunction | What are these logical operators or connectives? How are these logical connectives different from their counterparts in natural language? How to express a sentence using these connectives and sentential variables |
Halvorson, Chapter 2, p. 8-15 & 23 (skip p. 12) Copi et al., Chapter 8.1-8.2 C |
Assignment 3 (due on Sep. 30) |
| 6. Sep. 19 | Truth-tables | How to judge the truth values of negation, conjunction, and disjunction What is a truth table? How to construct a truth table |
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| 7. Week 4: Sep. 24 | Conditional and Biconditional | What are conditional and biconditional? What are their formal properties? What are sufficient and necessary conditions? |
Halvorson, Chapter 2, p. 16-21
Alternative: Lemmon, Chapter 1.2, p. 5-14; Chapter 1.4 Supplementary: Copi et al., Chapter 8.3 |
Assignment 4 (due on Oct. 7) |
| 8. Sep. 26 | Logical Equivalence, Tautologies, and Contradictions |
What is the definition of tautological equivalence, and how is it related to logical equivalence? What are the properties of tautological equivalence? What are some basic equivalences laws? What is a tautology and what is a contradiction? |
Copi et al., Chapter 8.8B "Logical Equivalence, Tautologies and Contradictions" (posted on Moodle) Alternative: Lemmon, Chapter 2.3 |
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| 9. Week 5: Oct. 1 | Assignment 5 (due on Oct. 14 or 21: up to you; the relevant materials will be covered in the first In-class Exercise) |
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| 10. Oct. 3 | Proof using Equivalence Laws | Understand the newly introduced laws Learn how to do proofs using equivalence laws Understand how to simplify sentential expressions |
"Using Equivalence Laws" (posted on Moodle) *Well-formed Formula: Lemmon, p. 42-46 *Brackets and the Scope of a Connective: Lemmon, Chapter 2.1, p. 47-48 |
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| 11. Week 6: Oct. 8 | Logical Implication | What is the definition of tautological implication, and how is it related to logical implication? What are the properties of tautological implication? What is Conditional Proof? How to understand it? |
Halvorson, Chapter 2, p. 12 | Assignment 6 (due on Oct. 28) |
| 12. Oct. 10 | Rule of Assumption: Lemmon, p. 8-9 Alternative: Halvorson, Chapter 2, p. 27-29 Supplementary: Object Language and Metalanguage |
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| Week 7: Oct. 15 | In-class Exercise 1 | |||
| Oct. 17 | Fall break | |||
| 13. Week 8: Oct. 22 | Proof using Implication Laws | What are implication laws (such as Conditional Proof and Monotonicity)? How to use these laws? |
"Logical Implication" (posted on Moodle) | Assignment 7 (due on Nov. 4) |
| 14. Oct. 24 | ||||
| 15. Week 9: Oct. 29 | Fool-proof Method | If an implication does not hold, how to produce a counterexample? How to do proofs by contradiction? |
Assignment 8 (due on Nov. 11; can be extended to 14) |
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| Predicate Logic | ||||
| 16. Oct. 31 | Singular Propositions | Why do we need predicate logic in addition to sentential logic? What are names? What are predicates? How to identify if a predicate is 1-place (unary), 2-place (binary), or 3-place? How to translate a sentence using individual constants, predicates, and connectives? |
Copi et al., Chapter 10.1-10.2 Supplementary: DeLancey, A Concise Introduction to Logic, Chapter 11: Names and Predicates |
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| 17. Week 10: Nov. 5 (Election Day) | Assignment 9 (due on Nov. 18; can be extended to 21) |
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| 18. Nov. 7 | Universal and Existential Quantifiers | What are individual variables? (How are they different from individual constants?) Are propositional functions sentences? What is universal quantifier? What is existential quantifier? |
Copi et al., Chapter 10.3, p. 437-439
Alternative: Halvorson, Chapter 6, p. 84-90 |
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| Week 11: Nov. 12 | Study Session | |||
| Nov. 14 | In-class Exercise 2 | |||
| 19. Week 12: Nov. 19 | Basic forms of quantification | What are some basic forms of quantification? How could a universal quantifier and an existential quantifier be related to symbolize the same sentence? |
Copi et al., Chapter 10.3-10.4, p. 440-443
Alternative: Chapter 12: “All” and “some” |
Assignment 10 (due on Dec. 3 or 5: up to you; if you'd like your assignment to be graded before the final exam, please submit on Dec. 3) |
| 20. Nov. 21 | ||||
| Week 13: Nov. 26 | Study Session | |||
| Nov. 28 | Thanksgiving Break | |||
| Inductive Logic | ||||
| 21. Week 14: Dec. 3 | Interpretation and truth-value assignments | What determines an interpretation? What is Reference? What is Extension? What determines the truth condition of a singular proposition in predicate logic? |
Supplementary: Halvorson, Chapter 8, p. 156-161 | |
| 22. Dec. 5 | Probability | Week 15: Dec. 10 | Final Exam | |