BSc:PHIL1-IntroductionToLogic

PHIL-Introduction to Logic

• Course name: Philosophy 1 - Introduction to Logic
• Course number: XYZ

Course Characteristics

This course is an introduction to formal symbolic logic. Philosopher John Locke once wrote that “logic is the anatomy of thought.” This course will teach students to analyse and evaluate arguments using the formal techniques of modern symbolic logic.

Key concepts of the class

• Deductive Reasoning
• Inductive Reasoning
• Abductive Reasoning
• Principles of Argumentation
• Logical Fallacies
• Propositional Logic
• Predicate Logic

What is the purpose of this course?

This course sets students upon a path of finely honed logical skills essential for life in the modern world. This course is thus specifically designed to improve writing, thinking and oral presentation skills that are applicable to all areas of academic study and relevant to working life.

- What should a student remember at the end of the course?

By the end of the course, the students should be able to know the basics of Logic Reasoning. In particular, they should be able to remember:

• what is an argument
• how to construct and reconstruct arguments
• how to use the square of opposition and Venn diagrams
• how to calculate truth values
• the formal structures of some arguments
• how to evaluate arguments critically
• the difference between deduction, induction, and abduction
• how to recognize and avoid logical mistakes and fallacies in arguments

- What should a student be able to understand at the end of the course?

By the end of the course, the students should be able to understand:

• what is categorical logic
• what is propositional logic
• what is predicate logic
• what is the difference between deduction, induction, and abduction

- What should a student be able to apply at the end of the course?

By the end of the course, the students should be able to apply the content of this course in all areas of their academic study but also in their working life, with special reference to the following disciplines:

• computer science
• engineering
• robotics

Course evaluation

Course grade breakdown

		Proposed points
Final Exam (Oral)	40	40
Video Presentations	30	30
MidTerm	30	30

Final Exam (Oral)

The final exam will consist of an oral interrogation conducted by the Professor. Students will be questioned in deep on the content of the course and will be assessed for being able to present with accuracy what was presented, for showing their own ability to reflect on it, and apply the presented concepts in a variety of situations.

Video Presentations:

Video Presentations are to be done in groups defined by the instructor at his discretion, with a max duration of 5 minutes (300 seconds). Groups from 4 to 7 students should be proposed to the instructor by week 2 of the course; the instructor will then review them and finalize them by week 4. Notice, that even this is a group work, the contribution of each member of the group should be crystal clear and any attempt of skipping this component of the exam will trigger a D in the course. Video presentations can be done on logical fallacies, materials for self-study and preparation will be posted on Moodle by the Professor.

MidTerm Exam:

This exam will consist of quizzes and various exercises (such as open theoretical questions, multiple choices, and true/false questions). The Mid-Term will be held in class on week 8. The exam will last 75 minutes.

Attendance/Participation

Weekly exercises (hereby reports) must be submitted to the instructor the day after the lab sessions are over. Although reports are not marked, they directly count towards participation. Failure to submit reports will incur in a penalty of your final mark which will be proportional to the number of reports missing.

Grades range

Course grading range

		Proposed range
A. Excellent	85-100	85-100
B. Good	75-84	75-84
C. Satisfactory	60-74	60-75
D. Poor	0-59	0-59

A: more than 85 of the overall score;

B: at least 85 of the overall score;

C: at least 75 of the overall score;

D: less than 60 of the overall score.

Resources and reference material

• Holyoak, K. J., Morrison, R. G. (Eds.). (2005). The Cambridge handbook of thinking and reasoning (Vol. 137). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Hurley, P. J. (2014). A Concise Introduction to Logic. Wadsworth Pub Co
• Tindale, C. W. (2007). Fallacies and argument appraisal. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
• Priest, G. (2017). Logic: A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Electronic copies of these books are available on Moodle for download. Students must read and carefully study the mandatory readings (mostly weekly slides, handouts or relevant papers) ahead of each lecture. The materials for the course will be uploaded by the Professor on Moodle in due time. Please note: The lectures will be highly interactive and the students will be interrogated on the readings during the lectures, sometimes via kahoots (this approach is known as flipped learning).

Course Sections

The main sections of the course and approximate hour distribution between them is as follows:

Course Sections

Section	Section Title	Teaching Hours
1	Basic Concepts	...
2	Fundamentals of Logic	...
3	Types of Inferences	...
4	Synthesis	...

Section 1

Section title:

Basic Concept

Topics covered in this section:

• Claims and Statements
• Premises and Conclusion
• Conditionals
• Arguments and Extended Arguments
• Argument Reconstruction
• Difference between Logic and Rhetoric
• Logical Validity
• Soundness

What forms of evaluation were used to test students’ performance in this section?

|a|c| & Yes/No
Development of individual parts of software product code & 0
Homework and group projects & 1
Midterm evaluation & 1
Testing (written or computer based) & 1
Reports & 1
Essays & 0
Oral polls & 1
Discussions & 1

Typical questions for ongoing performance evaluation within this section

1. Explain the difference between a valid and an invalid argument
2. Explain the difference between Rhetoric and Logic
3. Explain the steps involved in argument reconstruction
4. What is a logical inference and under which conditions is valid?
5. What is the difference between an argument and a statement?
6. What is a sound argument?

Typical questions for seminar classes (labs) within this section

1. Assess the logical validity of an argument
2. Individuate Premises and Conclusion in a sophisticated argument
3. Diagram an extended argument
4. Assess the soundness of an argument

Test questions for final assessment in this section

1. Solve exercises on logical validity and soundness
2. Reconstruct a sophisticated argument
3. Spot truth preserving inferences
4. Spot invalid inferences

Section 2

Section title:

Fundamentals of Logic

Topics covered in this section:

• Quantity and Quality
• Distribution
• Venn Diagrams
• Spare of Opposition
• Syntax
• Semantics
• Truth Tables for Propositions
• Truth Tables for Arguments
• Logical Operators
• Quantifiers
• Translation
• Rules of Inferences

What forms of evaluation were used to test students’ performance in this section?

|a|c| & Yes/No
Development of individual parts of software product code & 0
Homework and group projects & 1
Midterm evaluation & 1
Testing (written or computer based) & 0
Reports & 1
Essays & 0
Oral polls & 1
Discussions & 1

Typical questions for ongoing performance evaluation within this section

1. Solve Truth Tables
2. Use Truth Tables to analyse arguments
3. Use Venn Diagrams to represent categorical propositions
4. Use the Square of Opposition to infer the truth value of a proposition
5. Use Quantifiers to assess inferences

Typical questions for seminar classes (labs) within this section

1. Exercises to understand the importance of Categorical Logic for Arguments’ Assessment
2. Exercises to understand the potential implications of Propositional Logic for Computer Science
3. Exercises to get a glimpse of the importance of Predicate Logic in Science (e.g. Mathematics)
4. Exercises to understand the relation between connectors and truth tables

Test questions for final assessment in this section

1. What is the difference between Categorical and Propositional Logic?
2. How does Predicate Logic differ from Categorical and Propositional Logic?
3. Why is Predicate Logic so important?
4. What are Truth-Functions and why do we use them?
5. What are Conversion, Obversion and Contraposition and what’s their function in the Square of Opposition?

Section 3

Section title:

Types of Inferences

Topics covered in this section:

• Cogency
• Inductive Reasoning vs Deductive Reasoning
• Inductive Inferences
• Causal Inferences and Predictions
• The Problem of Induction
• Abduction
• The Epistemological Status of Deductive, Inductive, and Abductive Inferences

What forms of evaluation were used to test students’ performance in this section?

|a|c| & Yes/No
Development of individual parts of software product code & 0
Homework and group projects & 1
Midterm evaluation & 1
Testing (written or computer based) & 0
Reports & 0
Essays & 0
Oral polls & 1
Discussions & 1

Typical questions for ongoing performance evaluation within this section

1. Recognise Inductive Inferences
2. Distinguish between a Deductive and an Inductive Argument
3. Explain the difference between soundness and cogency
4. Explain the role and function of Abductive Logic

Typical questions for seminar classes (labs) within this section

1. Problematise around the different responses to the problem of Induction
2. Understand the difference between an epistemic externalist and epistemic internalist
3. Understand the difference between an epistemic internalist and a pragmatist
4. Critically reflect on the role of Induction in Science

Test questions for final assessment in this section

1. Understand the difference between Induction, Deduction, and Abduction
2. Being able to explain why Abduction is reducible to Induction
3. Comprehend the role of Deduction in Science
4. Understand the role of Causal Inferences and Predictions in Logic and Science

Section 4

Section title:

Synthesis

Topics covered in this section:

• Summary of the Topics covered in the course
• Role of Logic in Argumentation
• Role of Logic in Science
• Role of Logic in Daily Life
• Awareness of the logical structure of thinking
• Knowledge of the formal mechanisms of Symbolic Logic

What forms of evaluation were used to test students’ performance in this section?

|a|c| & Yes/No
Development of individual parts of software product code & 0
Homework and group projects & 1
Midterm evaluation & 0
Testing (written or computer based) & 1
Reports & 0
Essays & 0
Oral polls & 1
Discussions & 1

Typical questions for ongoing performance evaluation within this section

1. Apply the concepts learned in the third section of the course to specific case studies in the history of science (e.g. discovery of Uranus and the discovery of the Electron)
2. Reflect on whether science really uses Induction that much at all
3. Use the concepts learned in the second section of the course to better understand categorical (syllogistic) arguments
4. Understand the potential applications of Propositional Logic in Artificial Intelligence

Typical questions for seminar classes (labs) within this section

1. What is Categorical Logic used for?
2. What are the four types of categorical propositions?
3. Evaluate syllogisms
4. What is Propositional Logic used for?
5. Translate logically different statements
6. What is Predicate Logic used for?

Test questions for final assessment in this section

1. Can Logic help in argumentative debates? If so, how?
2. Are Religion and Logic irreconcilable?
3. Do you think Logic is a form of Art?
4. Is there a Logic in Scientific Discoveries?
5. What is the role of Logic (if any) in society and in the modern world?