This course is an introduction to first order
predicate logic. It is intended to provide a basis
for philosophy majors and minors to best appreciate
other upper level and seminar courses in philosophy.
This class is also particularly recommended for
students planning to attend law school or graduate
school.
This course introduces students to the technical
notions of validity, soundness, logical truth and
falsehood, consistency and inconsistency as they
apply to natural language sentences and arguments.
Students will learn the syntax and semantics of
the language of first order predicate logic, and
will use truth tables and other simple models to
study the semantic properties of sentences of this
language. Students will also use a natural deduction
system to study its syntactic properties. Some
applications to the semantics and pragmatics of
natural languages will also be considered. Students
will work from Barwise and Etchemendy Language,
Proof, and Logic, which contains a software package
that will be used frequently for homework assignments.
There will be two midterm exams, a cumulative final
exam, and weekly problem sets.
II. Required Text
1. Jon Barwise and John Etchemendy, Language,
Proof, and Logic, CSLI Publications, distributed
by University of Chicago Press. (list price: $65.00)
