Time Schedule:
S Marc Cohen
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 you to logic s a formal system and to develop your capacity for abstract thought. You will learn a simple 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. You will learn FOL through the use of several computer programs that were designed especially to enable you to write, read, and evaluate FOL sentences, as well as to construct proofs establishing deductive relationships among those sentences. You must have daily access for at least two hours to a computer (Windows or Macintosh, with an Internet connection) to take this course. Grades will be based on exams (50%) and on take-home problem sets (50%). There will be one mid-term exam, one final exam, and 20 problem sets – two per week. Suitable for nonmajors. No prerequisites. Meets QSR and I&S or NW requirements. TEXT: Language, Proof, and Logic, Barwise, Etchemendy
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
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Class assignments and grading