Learning outcomes

The course concerns the formal analysis of natural language arguments and sentences, with a focus on philosophical argumentation. The main goals of the course are: (a) completing the basic logic training; (b) providing an introduction to quantified statements and first order inference; (c) presenting and discussing celebrated philosophical argumentations in a standard reconstruction.

Program

Prerequisites: none.

COURSE CONTENT

Preliminary issues:
Validity and soundness, formal languages and calculi, syntax e semantics.

Propositional logic:
Syntax, natural deduction, and semantics (truth tables).
Introduction to the analysis of arguments:

Formal analysis of arguments:
Analysis of quantified statements and first order inference, elements of predicate logic.

Discussion and analysis of philosophical arguments:
Discussion and formal analysis of philosophical arguments from metaphysics (e.g., arguments for and against the reality of change, of time, of material objects), ethics (e.g., arguments for and against the reality of free will), and epistemology (e.g. sceptic and anti-sceptic arguments).

DIDACTIC METHODS

All the topics dealt with in the course shall be introduced in the class, typically with the aid of either the blackboard or projections from screen.
The course is highly interactive. Students are asked to complete a number of exercises during the class, both by pen and paper and using the software that comes with the reference book (classes are held at a computer room; during the course the software will be always available there). Discussion on actual philosophical arguments and their reconstructions is encouraged.
Students that have bought the reference book may avail themselves of Grade grinder, an Internet grading service, to automatically evaluate their homework.
Fortnightly (or so) the teachers’ note will be made available.

REFERENCE BOOKS

Dave Barker-Plummer & Jon Barwise & John Etchemendy, Language, Proof and Logic (Edition 2), CSLI, Stanford 2011, chapters 1-9; it is recommended that students be acquainted with the software that comes with the book (i.e., the applications Tarski’s world, Fitch, and Boole). The book is available on the main online bookshops.

Teacher’s note (in Italian) available online at the end of the course.

Examination Methods

Written test with optional oral examination.

Teaching materials e documents

•   Appunti Logica (m)   (pdf, it, 250 KB, 5/28/13)
•   Compito di prova Logica (m)   (pdf, it, 59 KB, 6/6/13)