Elementary Logic (650:045:01) Dr. Edgar Boedeker
Fall 2008 Tues. & Thurs.,
Office hours: Tuesdays from
Required Text:
Patrick J. Hurley, A Concise
Introduction to Logic, Ninth Edition.
Why Study Logic? A brilliant (but rather eccentric) Austrian named Ludwig Wittgenstein
(1889-1951) wrote what is surely the greatest philosophical work on logic, the
50-page-long Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.
When he was 24 years old, hard at work on this book, he wrote to
himself: “Whatever logic will turn out to be, it will be a very unique science.” Soon,
he would discover that it is not a “science” at all – at least not in the way
that biology, chemistry, and even higher mathematics are sciences. That is, logic does not try to make true and
abstract statements about particular kinds of things, such as living things,
molecules, or various kinds of numbers.
But this does not mean at all that logic is merely “subjective”, so that
I have my logic and you have yours.
Rather, logic occupies an absolutely central place within statements, and especially within the relations among them. For
example, biology tells us that all whales are mammals, and that no mammals are
fish. From these two statements, we can logically draw the conclusion, or
“infer,” that no whales are fish (and thus that quite a number of statements in
Moby Dick are false).
Logic occupies a similarly central place in ordinary,
everyday speaking and thinking. For example,
if someone tells you that they’ll either study tonight or go to a movie, and
they don’t end up going to a movie tonight, then you can infer – at least if
what they’ve said is true – that they’ll study tonight. Logic examines these and other kinds of inferential relations among
statements. Indeed, logic (as an
academic discipline) can be defined as the study of inferential relations among
statements.
Thus logic is absolutely central to genuine thinking (as
opposed to merely experiencing sensations or images) and to genuine language
(as opposed to the sort of thing that parrots or newborn infants do). For this reason, we already understand logic, and have as long as we have been able to
genuinely speak and think. What, then,
is the point of studying logic as an
academic discipline?
The answer is that the “natural” languages we speak, such
as English or German, did not arise solely for the purely logical purpose of
making inferences between some statements and others. Instead, they developed for a host of
reasons, many having to do with convenience and brevity. For such reasons, our languages sometimes
mislead us into inferring some statements that really don’t follow from others,
even though they might seem to.
Essentially,
the point of studying logic is to make us aware of these kinds of errors. This helps us in three ways. First, the study of logic can help us avoid
errors in our own thinking, so that
we can come to make only those inferences that really do follow from the
statements we believe. Second, logic can
help us be clearer when we present our thoughts, in speech or in writing, to
others. Third, and perhaps most
importantly, studying logic can help us to avoid being swayed by people who –
whether they know it or not – try to persuade us to accept some conclusion that
really doesn’t follow from what we know to be true. In this way, studying logic can help make us
sharper, more critical readers, thinkers, and citizens.
Course Content:
This course will introduce you to different formal and informal methods of
analyzing, symbolizing, and evaluating arguments. Topics covered will include sentence logic,
basic predicate logic, and informal fallacies.
Course Format:
Class meetings will consist of lecture, discussion, and weekly quizzes. Also be aware that there will be a lot
of homework for this class!
Grading:
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
1. Twelve quizzes, worth a total of 60% of your final grade.
2. The assigned homework will be worth a total of 40% of your final grade. The homework due since the last quiz will be accepted only in class at the beginning of the class meeting on the day on which it is due. Homework will be graded with a “check” (full credit), “check-minus” (half credit) or a “check-plus” (credit-and-a-half), based on the perception of your good-faith effort in completing it.
3. On Wednesday, December 17, from
Further note: Each semester, I teach
about 100 students. Although I give each
as much individual time and attention as I possibly can during the semester, I
will not be able to send you your individual grade for the course at the end of
the semester. I submit the grades to the
Registrar as soon as I can during the week of final exams, and ask you to
kindly wait to see your grade until it has been reported electronically.
Website: The Department of Philosophy and Religion has
relatively few funds available for photocopying (or for anything else, for that
matter!). The great majority of our
course materials will therefore be placed on our website: http://www.uni.edu/boedeker. These materials will include handouts to
supplement the textbook. Please check
the website frequently for updates.
MAILSERV: From time to time, I will
send announcements pertaining
to the class via e-mail. To facilitate
our electronic communication, a MAILSERV distribution list has been created for
this class using your UNI e-mail addresses. The list members
include myself and the students who were registered
for the class when the list was created. It is a private list (i.e., only
the list members may post to it), but has open subscription. To send to
the list, use 650-045-01-FALL@uni.edu.
If you registered late, or
if you wish to be able to send and receive e-mails at an e-mail address other
than your UNI one, then please add your e-mail address to this list by
sending a message to
where the body (not
the subject heading) contains these two lines:
SUB 650-045-01-FALL
END
In a similar manner, if you drop this course, you may
remove yourself from the list by sending a message to
mailserv@uni.edu
where the body (not
the subject heading) contains these two lines:
UNSUB 650-045-01-FALL
END
It will be your responsibility to make sure you are
subscribed to the MAILSERV right away, check your e-mail regularly, and read
the announcements.
Cheating and plagiarism (from UNI’s academic ethics policy): “Students at UNI are required to observe the commonly accepted standards of academic honesty and integrity. Except in those instances in which group work is specifically authorized by the instructor of the class, no work which is not solely the student's is to be submitted to a professor... Cheating of any kind on examinations… is strictly prohibited… Students are cautioned that plagiarism is defined as the process of stealing or passing off as one’s own the ideas or words of another, or presenting as one's own an idea or product which is derived from an existing source.”
Disabilities: I will make
every effort to accommodate disabilities.
Please contact me if I can be of assistance in this area. All qualified students with disabilities are
protected under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42
U.S.C.A., Section 12101. The
Tentative Course Schedule:
August 26: Introduction.
August 28: read Section 1.1; do exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9,
11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30; II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. Handout
September 2: read Section 1.2; do
exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27,
29, 30, 32, 33, 35; II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9; VI: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. Handout
September 4: read Section 1.3; do exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9,
11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30; and 1.3 III (all). Handout
September 9: read Section 1.4; do exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9,
11, 12, 14, 15; II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15.
September
11: do exercises 1.4 III: 2, 3, 5, 6,
8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20; V (all).
September
16: read Section 6.1; do exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20,
21. Handout
September 18: re-read Section 6.1; do exercises
I: 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50. Handout
September
23: do exercises 6.1 II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15,
17, 18, 20; III (all). Handout
September
25: read Section 6.2; do exercises I:
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9; II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15.
September
30: do exercises 6.2 III: 2, 3, 5, 6,
8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24; IV: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14,
15.
October 2: read Section 6.3; do exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9,
11, 12, 14, 15; II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15; III: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. Handout1
Handout2.
October 7: read Section 6.4 and do exercises 6.4 I: 2, 3, 5, 6,
8, 9; II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 18, 20; read Section 6.5 and do exercises
6.5 I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15.
October 9: do exercises 6.5 II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. Read Section 6.6 (including summary on pp. 336-7) and do exercises 6.6 I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20.
October 14: do exercises 6.6 II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20; III 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9; IV: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9.
October 16: read Section 8.1; do
exercises 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21. Handout1 Handout2.
October 21: do exercises 8.1:
23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51,
53, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60. Also read Section 8.3 (on the change of
quantifier rules), but only p. 411
through the middle of p. 412. Handout
October 23: read Section 4.7; change the instructions for 4.7 to
“Translate the following into predicate logic propositions;” and do exercises
4.7 I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27 Homework help and Handout.
October 28: change the
instructions for 4.7 to “Translate the following into predicate logic
propositions;” and do exercises 4.7 I: 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44,
45, 47, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60 Homework help.
October 30: read Section 4.1 and Section 4.3 (noting that we’ll
be using only the modern, or Boolean, interpretation of universal
categorical propositions – not the
Aristotelian one); do exercises 4.1: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8; 4.3 I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8; and
4.3 III (for II 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15).
November 4: using the
homework you’ve already done from Section 4.7 and the “homework help” given
there as a guide, change the instructions for 4.7 to “Express the following as
Venn diagrams” and do these exercises again, this time expressing these
sentences using Venn diagrams instead of propositional logic.
November 6: read
enough of pp. 237-238 in Section 5.1 to understand the concepts of syllogism, categorical syllogism, and the first three conditions of standard
form (we won’t be using the fourth); also read Section 5.2 (but only
pp. 244 through the top of 251); using only use Boolean (not Aristotelian)
Venn diagrams – i.e., the ones you’ve read about – to test the arguments for
validity, do exercises 5.1 I: 2, 3, 5; and 5.1 II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9.
November 11: using only
use Boolean (not Aristotelian) Venn diagrams, do exercises 5.2 I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20;
and 5.2 II: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9.
November 13: read Section 5.4; do exercises 5.4: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9
– using Venn diagrams (not “the rules
for syllogisms”) to test the arguments
for validity or invalidity. Also
read Section 5.5; do exercises 5.5: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 – using
Venn diagrams (not “the rules for syllogisms”) to test the arguments for validity or invalidity.
November 18: read Section 5.6. Do exercises I: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15; II for the enthymemes you completed in exercise 5.6 I; and 5.6 III: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. Also do exercises 2.1 II 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, but ignoring the instructions in the book. Instead, treat each passage as an enthymeme or series of enthymemes, identify the missing statements, and indicate whether they are premises or conclusions.
November 20: read Section 2.1 (“Varieties of Meaning”), Section 2.2 (“The Intension and Extension of Terms” but only pp. 82-83), Section 2.3 (“Definitions and Their Purposes” but only pp. 86-91), and Section 2.4 (“Definitional Techniques” but only pp. 98-99); do Exercises 2.1 III: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 20; exercises 2.3 III 1-9; exercises 2.4 II 7 b-e; and exercises 2.4 III 8-10 .
December 2: read Section 3.1 and do exercises 3.1: 2, 4, 6, 9, and
10, stating whether the argument commits the formal fallacy of affirming the
consequent, denying the antecedent, or some other formal fallacy. Also read “8. Red Herring” (pp. 122-123),
“15. Begging the Question” (pp. 145-147), “16. Complex Question” (pp. 148-149),
“17. False Dichotomy” (pp. 149-150), “18. Suppressed Evidence” (pp. 150-151),
and “19. Equivocation” (pp. 152-153). Do
exercises 3.1: 2; 3.2 I: 3, 13, 21, 23; 3.2 I: 23; 3.3. III: 3, 13 and 24; 3.4
I: 1, 3; 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25; 3.4 III: 4, 7, 13, 14,
15, 20, 23, 30, 31, 35, 39, 40, 43, 44, 50; and 3.5 I: 1, 3, 9, 11, 16, 17, 20,
23, 26, 30, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 45, 46, 51, 54, 59; if the argument commits a
fallacy, state which why it is a red herring, which question is begged, what is
falsely presupposed by the complex question, which disjunction is false, which
evidence is suppressed, or which word or phrase is the source of the
equivocation. Handout
December 4: read “4. Argument Against the Person” (pp. 116-119),
“6. Straw Man” (pp. 120-121), “9. Appeal to Unqualified Authority” (pp.
128-129), and “10. Appeal to ignorance” (pp. 130-131). Do exercises 3.1: 5 and 8; 3.2 I: 2, 6, 8;
11, 16, 17, 18, 19; 3.3. I: 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14; 3.3 I: 4, 6, 10, 14, 20,
25, 29; 3.3 III: 12 and 22; 3.4 III: 1, 3, 9, 16, 17, 25, 27, 36, 45; and 3.5
I: 10, 14, 24, 40, 43, 49, 51, 53, 56; if the argument commits a fallacy, state
its false implicit assumption.
December 9: read “11. Hasty Generalization” (pp. 131-133), “12.
False Cause” (pp. 133-135), and “14. Weak Analogy” (pp. 137-138). Do exercises 3.1: 4 and 7; 3.2 III; 3.3. I:
1, 2, 6, 9, 13, 15; 3.3 III: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 19, 22, 27, 28; 3.3 IV;
3.4 I: 8 and 14; 3.4 III: 8, 11, 13, 22, 24, 37, 38, 42, 46, 48; 3.4 IV; and
3.5 I: 7, 12, 13, 18, 20, 22, 25, 28, 29, 33, 36, 41, 42, 43, 47, 52, 55, 57,
58, 60; if the argument commits a fallacy, state its false implicit assumption.
December 11: review
and/or catch-up day.
Wednesday,
December 17,