Seminar in Logic

Course description

This course has two parts. The first part of this course aims to make you fluent in propositional and predicate logic to the degree that you could teach a first course in logic at the undergraduate level. You will learn the basics of propositional and predicate logic (symbols, syntax, semantics, translation, tables, trees, proofs), design a syllabus for your very own logic course, and create instructional material for this course. Your competency in logic will be assessed using CANVAS quizzes (you will be able to retake these quizzes until you achieve mastery). Your ability to teach a course in logic will be assessed using the syllabus you constructed and your instructional material.

The second part of this course has two main goals. First, we will go beyond what is typically covered in a first-course of symbolic logic. This will prepare you to understand logic on a deeper level and for answering questions from more advanced students. The second goal is to gain fluency in reading philosophical papers that make use of logic. To this end, some time will be devoted to covering topics relating to logic that align with your academic interests. At minimum, we will cover the basics of alternative logical notation, truth-functional completeness, different proof systems, many-valued logics (along with its philosophical motivations), predicate logic with identity, definite descriptions, higher-order logic, and modal propositional logic. In the past, this course has also covered feminist logic, african logic, the role of logic in the humanities, argument diagramming, fallacies, logical puzzles, informal logic, the relation of logic to the LSAT, and deontic logic.