Phil 2321  •  Fall 2007
Logic II

Course Description

There are many logics (theories of valid reasoning). This course will provide an intermediate grounding in PL and QL (classical propositional logic and classical quantifier logic); it will examine some of the fundamental assumptions of classical logic (bivalence, truth-functionality, formalizability); and it will attend to the power and limitations of logic (the soundness, completeness, incompleteness, and undecidability theorems).

 

Students will learn, through lectures and practice, how to translate into formal logic and how to apply semantic, syntactic, and meta-logical methods to evaluating the validity of arguments.

 

Required Textbooks

John Nolt & alia. Schaum's Outline of Logic, 2/e. McGraw-Hill, 1998.
Dale Jacquette, ed. A Companion to Philosophical Logic. Blackwell, 2002/2006.

Grading and Policies

Because the material in this course proceeds cumulatively, it is especially critical that you attend regularly and keep up with the work. Make-ups for exams will be permitted only in the most dire and documented cases. For undergraduates: there will be six exams. They will contribute to your final grade as follows: 15%, 15%, 15%, 15%, 20%, 20%. For grad students: same exams as for undergrads, plus a classroom presentation; see me.

Schedule

Date Topic Reading Notes
Week of  Aug 21

Introduction

Nolt ch 1, 2

 

Week of  Aug 28

PL Tables

Nolt ch 3.1-3.6

Test 1 Thurs

Week of  Sept 4

Functional Completeness

Jacquette ch 3

 

Week of  Sept 11

PL Trees

Nolt ch 3.7

 

Week of  Sept 18

PL Trees; Intuitionism

Jacquette ch 33, 32

Test 2 Thurs

Week of  Sept 25

PL Proofs

Nolt ch 4

 

Week of  Oct 2

PL Proofs

Nolt ch 4

 

Week of  Oct 9

Multi-valued Logics

Jacquette ch 10

Test 3 Thurs

Week of  Oct 16

Set Theory

Nolt ch 6

 

Week of  Oct 23

QL Translations

Nolt ch 6

 

Week of  Oct 30

QL Translations

Jacquette ch 40, 4

Test 4 Thurs

Week of  Nov 6

QL Trees

Nolt ch 7

 

Week of  Nov 13

QL Proofs

Nolt ch 11

 

Week of  Nov 20

Formal Arithmetic

Nolt ch 11

No class Thurs.

Week of  Nov 27

Decidability; Godel

Jacquette ch 24

Test 5 Tues

Dec 11, 2-5:00     Final Exam

Syllabus subject to change.
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