Logic

obligatory courses

Blended learning

The course is intended to get students acquainted with logic as applied to

critical thinking and basic scientific methodology. The focus is on

acquiring skills in applying logic rather than on logical theory.

The course is intended to get students acquainted with logic as applied to

critical thinking and basic scientific methodology. The focus is on

acquiring skills in applying logic rather than on logical theory. The basic

topics from both informal logic, such as informal fallacies, semiotics,

definitions, and classification are covered in the first part of the course.

The second part covers the formal logic: propositional and predicate

calculus, as well as relation theory. These logical tools will be applied to

check validity and soundness of arguments in natural language.

The course is intensive and requires regular work (usually not more than

30 min./week, though). It is very hard to learn logic just a week before

the exam, as you cannot understand the topics introduced later without

knowing the basics. Note also that you cannot pass the exam just by

reading the textbooks. You should rather do more exercises (see the

software and websites recommended.) You also need to have Internet

access and a web browser to do the assignments.

Handbooks: Any of the following

1. Patrick Hurley, A Concise Introduction to Logic (at

http://academic.csuohio.edu/polen/ you can download LogicCoach 10

for Mac and Windows, runs also on Linux when using WINE). The CDROM

accompanying the book is highly recommended. Relevant

chapters: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8.

2. Irving M. Copi, Carl Cohen, Introduction to Logic, 11th edition or later.

Note: chapter numbers and titles vary across editions. You can skip the

sections on induction, categorical statements and syllogisms.

3. Paul Teller, A Modern Formal Logic Primer. Freely available in PDF

format at http://tellerprimer.ucdavis.edu/. Relevant parts: Volume I,

chapters 1-7; Volume II, chapters 1-6.

Note: the above textbooks do not cover set theory, classification, relation

theory and mappings but everything you need to know about these topics

will be on the handouts you receive during the lecture

After completing the course, students should be able to:

 Analyze arguments in natural language using logical tools

 Detect formal and informal fallacies in arguments

 Correct incomplete arguments

 Present valid arguments

 Define terms correctly

 Build taxonomies, especially classifications

 Use basic notions of logic, set theory and relation theory

 Know the basics of the propositional logic, predicate logic, naive set

theory and the theory of relations

 Know basic concepts of philosophy (in particular the ones philosophy

of language and semiotics)

 Know the logical foundations of empirical work, in particular the

structure of arguments as involved in covering-law explanations

 Search for multiple sources of information and think critically when

planning their own research

Assessment methods and criteria

Written Exam

The exam will cover the following topics:

1. Basic Logical concepts. Understand what argument is. Distinguish

between intension and extension; identify non-linguistic and natural

signs.

2. Informal fallacies. Identify popular informal fallacies in natural

language. Distinguish between formal and informal fallacy.

3. Definitions. Identify types of definitions relative to its purpose. Be able

to give lexical, stipulative and precising definitions. Know the

correctness criteria for definitions. Identify extensional and intensional

definitions.

4. Classification and set theory. Be able to say whether an enumeration

is a classification or a typology. Construct dichotomies. Know basic

operations on sets (union, intersection, complement). Know the

notion of an empty set.

5. General formal logic notions. Understand and use the notions of

validity, soundness, tautology, contradiction, material implication,

contingency of a statement, vicious circle, petitio principii and reductio.

6. Propositional calculus. Translate natural language into propositional

calculus. Know truth-tables for basic logical operators (negation,

disjunction, implication, conjunction). Be able to use truth-table

method to check validity and invalidity of statements (in a direct or

indirect way). Be able to check validity via natural deduction.

7. Predicate calculus. Translate natural language into predicate calculus.

Use Venn Diagrams. Be able to use natural deduction for predicate

calculus to check validity of arguments.

8. Formalizing arguments. Use propositional or predicate calculus.

Identify the structure of arguments, including enthymemes. Check

validity. Identify popular invalid forms or check their invalidity via

truth-table method. Distinguish soundness and validity of arguments.

9. Relations. Be able to describe simple relations as symmetric,

transitive, or reflexive (or combination). Give examples of relations of

a given type.

Note. If you:

 Scored “5” during the mid-term test and

 Did all assignments on Moodle correctly, as well as

 Excelled in two additional special exercises

… then you can be exempted from the exam and receive the final grade

“5”. The two special exercises will be (1) analyzing the logical structure of

an argument in a real scientific paper (preferably a short one); (2)

checking the validity of an argument in natural language using formal

tools.

The mid-term test (45 min) is for your information only. It can only help

you to avoid the final written exam; otherwise, it’s just to let you know if

you need to spend more time on logic.

Note that you will not be allowed to write the exam if you don't do the

assignments. The final mark will be based on (1) the evaluation of a

student's activity and assignments; (2) and the final exam. The rule is: if

the performance in class and results in assignments were excellent, a

student can get half of the grade more than what you would normally get

from the exam. So, if a student scored as many points as to get “4” on the

exam but was really good in the homework, she will get “4+” (4.5). If she

was really excellent on the exam, her homework won't help her, though.

The textbooks and the course assume that you are fluent in English;

however, the purpose of the course is not to grade your linguistic

competence but your logical skills. If you are having problems with

understanding English examples in textbooks, mail me for resources on

the web in Spanish, German or French, or for tips on Polish textbooks.

Attendance rules

No more than two absences without excuse are permitted, but home

assignments must be completed.