Deductive Logic (Phil. 205)

T Th 12:30-1:50 (MC 154)
Instructor: Dr. Darrell Arnold

Office: Psych 165
Tel. 2620
Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 9:45 - 10:45

Course Description: Logic is a common denominator for multiple sciences and areas of human life. It is used in the sciences, in mathematics, in political theory. This course investigates deductive logic, with a special focus on learning symbolic logical representations. Fundamental questions are: What forms of deductive argumentation are logically valid? What forms are logically sound? Though we do view logic as something applicable universally, in all cultures and for all times, there have been considerable historical developments in the field of logic. Aristotle is important for systematically developing the field and using simple symbolic form. But nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy witnessed a fundamental growth in the field. We will examine some of these traditional and some of these new forms of logical representation, with a view to sharpening our critical thinking skills and learning to differentiate valid from invalid argument. In doing so, among other things, we will examine some well-known arguments from the history of philosophy such as the ontological proof for the existence of God, the teleological proof, and others.

In the background are numerous philosophical questions regarding logic, which we will occasionally refer to. Is the world itself logical, as Aristotle maintained? Or is it merely that a commonly shared rational human consciousness organizes the world similarly, as Kant argued? Or is it perhaps that the logical forms of thought that we use merely reflect developments in our culture because of technologies that have developed such as writing? While these and similar questions will not constitute the fundamental material of this course, they are important as background questions. Some queries from the philosophy of logic will be touched upon.

Objectives: The students will learn syllogistic logic, basic prepositional logic, prepositional proofs, basic modal logic, and some about fallacies. For all this, it is necessary to learn to translate arguments into symbolic form and to evaluate those forms for validity. Specifically this will entail learning to work with Venn diagrams, and truth tables. It will also entail learning inference and simplification rules, as well as direct and indirect methods of proof and refutation.

Course work: Regular class participation and work on exercises. There will be numerous quizzes and three exams.

Grading: Quizzes: 20%. Each exam: 25%. Class participation 5%. For cheating, students will fail their tests and/or quizzes and may fail the course.

Texts: Harry J. Gensler, Introduction to Logic.
Supplementary Texts may be added.
You should download the software accompanying Introduction to Logic at Harry Gensler's site.

Students with Disabilities:
This university abides by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stipulates that no students shall be denied the benefits of an education solely by reason of a handicap. If you have a documented disability that may impact your work in this class and for which you may require accommodations, please see the instructor to make arrangements. In order to receive accommodations, you must be registered with and provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office, which is located in the Psychology Building, Room 232.

The course lesson plans and readings

PDF course documents to be added

I will not be adding PDFs for this course unless the course material later more strongly deviates from the Gensler book. For now, just read the material in Gensler.

Relevant logic links

coming soon.