Time Schedule:
Laurence A Bonjour
PHIL 120
Seattle Campus
Elementary symbolic logic. The development, application, and theoretical properties of an artificial symbolic language designed to provide a clear representation of the logical structure of deductive arguments.
Class description
The aim of this course is to introduce students to logic as a formal system and to develop their capacity for abstract thought. We will study an artificial language (First Order Logic, or FOL, for short) designed to make possible a clear and unambiguous representation of the logical structure of deductive reasoning. We will use this language to restate and evaluate arguments originally couched in a natural language (English). Attention will also be given to fundamental logical concepts such as logical validity, proof, consistency, and others. In studying FOL, we will use a set of computer programs that are designed especially to enable us to write and evaluate FOL sentences, as well as constructing and evaluating formal proofs involving these sentences.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Suitable for nonmajors. No prerequisites. Anyone taking this course must have regular access to a computer (Windows or Macintosh, with an internet connection)—preferably one of their own onto which they can load the software and store answers to exercises.
Class assignments and grading
Grades will be based on exams (50%) and on homework problems from the text (50%). There will be one mid- term exam, one final exam, and 150 assigned homework problems (distributed over the quarter). Answers to most of the homework problems will be submitted electronically, via the internet.
