(in Polish) Logic B

obligatory courses

The class has two components: informal logic (fallacies, evaluating arguments, induction) and naïve set theory

I. Introduction to set theory: 1. Basic concepts - set, membership relation, subset relation (inclusion), power set; 2. Algebra of sets - operations, laws, proofs; 3. Arbitrary unions and intersections; 4. Ordered pairs, Cartesian product; 5. Relations, functions, equivalence relations and ordering relations.

II. Informal methods of evaluating arguments: sentences and propositions; speech acts and conversational acts; the basic structure of arguments; a general method of argument analysis; truth, validity and soundness; usefulness of arguments; discussion of real-life examples of reasoning.

Inductive reasoning: induction, inductive generalizations; sources of bias (prejudice and stereotypes, slanted questions, informal judgmental heuristics); statistical syllogisms, reasoning about causes; necessary and sufficient conditions; problems in distinguishing sufficient conditions from necessary conditions; inferences to the best explanation, arguments from analogy.

Fallacies: the notion of fallacy; fallacies of clarity (vagueness, sorites, conceptual slippery-slope arguments, fairness slippery-slope arguments, causal slippery-slope arguments, fallacies of ambiguity, the role of definitions); fallacies of relevance (arguments ad hominem, appeals to authority); fallacies of vacuity (circular reasoning, begging the question).

Barbara Partee, Mathematical Methods in Lingustics

Herbert B. Enderton, Elements of Set Theory.

Fogelin, Robert; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, Understanding Arguments. An Introduction to Informal Logic, Harcourt Brace College Publishers 1997.

Fisher, Alec, The Logic of Real Arguments, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988.

Supplementary Reading:

Thomson, Anne: Critical Reasoning, Routledge.

Walton, Douglas: Informal Logic, Cambridge University Press

Knowledge:

The student will be made familiar with the basic concepts of set theory and will be acquainted with the informal methods of evaluating arguments. (KW05, KW06, KW09, KW10, KW11)

Skills:

The student will learn to do proofs involving set-theoretic constructs and will be warned against possible reasoning fallacies and biases. (KU05, KU07, KU10, KU16)

Social competence:

Clarity of thought and inquisitiveness. (KK02)

The class ends with the final exam covering all the material at the end of the semester. Additionally there will be 3-5 minitests throughout the semester. If the student passes all these minitests, they need not take the exam and the final grade will be calculated as the average of partial results. If the student has not passed all the minitests or if they would like to get a higher grade, they have to take the final exam. In that case whatever grade they get from the final exam is their final grade.

Acceptable number of missed classes without formal explanation: 2