PHIL2441001—LOGIC & LANGUAGE                             CANDICE L. SHELBY

T-R 10 a.m. to 11:15 p.m.                                                      OFFICE:  PLAZA M108

ROOM:  PLAZA #112                                                          (303) 556-3223

                                        EMAIL: cshelby@carbon.cudenver.edu

 

 

SYLLABUS

 

 

This course is not going to teach you logic.  You already use logic all the time, as you will discover on Class Day 1.  It will, however, help you to sharpen your reasoning skills considerably, so much so that you will no doubt feel “smarter” when it has been completed.  That will be accomplished through our concentrating on the principles of correct reasoning, both formal and informal.  In this class you will develop such specialized skills a distinguishing argumentative from non-argumentative passages in ordinary language, analyzing the form of an argument, and recognizing the moves known to the tradition as ‘fallacies’, or ‘mistakes’ in reasoning, both formal and informal.  Further, you will become familiar with (and, I hope, proficient at) deductive logic, of syllogistic, sentential, and propositional types.  Ultimately, you will learn to employ several techniques for determining the validity or invalidity of arguments in both ordinary language and in symbolic form, and to critically evaluate arguments you run across every day.

 

 

I WANT YOU TO KNOW RIGHT UP FRONT THAT THE ONLY WAY TO BECOME PROFICIENT IN LOGIC IS THROUGH PRACTICE!!!  --Like learning to ride a bicycle, simply reading the book or watching the video doesn’t get you there.

 

 

PROCEDURES:  The reading assigned for a given day should be done prior to class, to facilitate our discussions.  Homework problems will be assigned each meeting.  Grades, however, will not be based upon homework.  In the name of anti-authoritarianism and personal autonomy, I will not coerce anybody into doing homework.   I will do some exercises from each assignment at the beginning of the next class period, but will be looking to help students with the ones that proved difficult, which of course will not be identified unless people try them.

 

 

If it is not clear enough from the above, let me say this now—people who do not attend class regularly generally do not do well in logic courses.  So, while I do not make it my business to penalize absences, they do carry in themselves a potential penalty.  Still, it is your responsibility to determine whether missing class is a problem for you.

 

OFFICE HOURS:  Tues. and Thurs. 11:30 a.m. -2:30 p.m

 

 

 

PHIL2441001                                                                                     SYLLABUS P. 2

 

Grades

Grades will be based on the 4 (non-cumulative) tests and two writing assignments, according to the following breakdown:

 

                        Test 1                           20%

                        Test 2                           20%

                        Test 3                           20%

                        Test 4                           20%

                        Fallacies Paper 10%

                        SEARCH Paper           10%

 

 

Required Texts:

The Power of Logic, Stephen Layman (PL)

Study Guide to the Power of Logic, Stephen Layman

How to Think About Weird Things, 3rd ed., (but 2nd will work)*

                     Theodore Schick and Lewis Vaughn (WT)

 

*I have listed page numbers in the course schedule for both editions, marked with ‘ii’ for the 2nd edition and ‘iii’ for the 3rd.

 

About the Study Guide

            The study guide is a recommended addition to the texts you will be using for this course, but it is not required.  It summarizes chapters, gives a brief overview of the key concepts for each chapter, and provides supplementary exercises (with answers) for each chapter.  It is not an answer key to the exercises in the regular text, but it does give the answers to the “selected” questions from the text, which are also found at the back of the textbook.  If you find that you are having difficulty with reading The Power of Logic, perhaps the study guide would be of assistance, given that sometimes a briefer presentation is easier to understand.

 

 

Course Schedule

 

Aug  21                        Introduction

 

Aug  23                        Logic Puzzles

 

Aug  28                        Statements, Propositions, Truth, Arguments, Validity &

Soundness, PL pp. 1-19 and WT, pp. 69-86ii, 70-92 iii

 

Aug 30                         More about Induction/Deduction, Strength and Validity

                                    WT 13-27ii, 13-29iii and PL 377-385

 

PHIL2441001                                                                         SYLLABUS P. 3

 

Course Schedule (cont.):

 

Sept   4                                    Becoming Effectively Critical, PL pp. 385-405 and

WT pp. 150-191ii, 160-205iii

 

Sept   6                                    Arguments and Non-Arguments, PL pp. 47-70

 

Sept 11                                    Diagramming Arguments, PL, pp. 72-83, WT, pp.

 132-147ii, 134-146iii

 

Sept 13                                    Arguments from Analogy, PL pp. 405-420 and WT pp.

137-140ii, 146-154iii

 

Sept 18                                    Evaluating Arguments, WT, pp. 232-242ii, 250-260 iii

 

Sept   20                      Definitions and Their Place in Logic, PL pp. 95-116

 

Sept 25                                    Definitions as they Figure in Arguments, PL 116-125

                                    SEARCH Method Paper Due

 

Sept 27                                    TEST #1

 

Oct    2                                    Informal Fallacies, PL pp. 165-184

 

Oct    4                                    Informal Fallacies PL pp. 184-199

 

Oct   9                         Thinking about Informal Fallacies, WT pp. 93-106ii, 94-108iii, and

195-232ii, 211-247iii

 

Oct  11                                    Finding Informal Fallacies-- IN-CLASS EXERCISE

                                   

Oct  16                                    Wrap up and Review of Informal Fallacies

                                    Fallacy Paper Due

 

Oct  18                                    TEST #2

 

Oct  23                                    Categorical Propositions and Square of Opposition,

PL pp. 127-132 and 143-148

 

Oct  25                                    Some other Immediate Inferences and Existential Import,

PL pp. 148-154

 

Oct  30                                    Categorical Syllogisms PL pp. 154-163

 

PHIL2441001                                                                         SYLLABUS  P. 4

 

 

 

Nov   1                                    Using Venn Diagrams and the Rules, pp. 132-143

 

Nov   6                                    Syllogisms in non-Aristotelian Form (HANDOUT)

                                   

Nov   8                                    Review of Aristotelian Logic

 

Nov 13                                    TEST #3

 

Nov 15                                    Using Symbols in Logic, PL pp. 201-215

 

Nov 20                                    Truth Tables PL pp. 215-232

 

Nov 22                                    Thanksgiving…..turkey, football, no logic

 

Nov 27                                    Truth Trees (Abbreviated Tables), PL pp. 232-246

 

Nov 29                                    Proofs, PL pp. 249-264

 

Dec    4                        Proofs, PL 264-283    

 

Dec    6                        Review and Catch Up

 

Dec 11 or 13                TEST #4       ...and now you’re smarter