Course Syllabus

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Welcome to PHIL.323 Philosophy of Logic. In this course, you will learn to philosophise about logic. The two major questions we will address are: "what is logical consequence?", which includes the exploration of some alternatives to standard conceptions of logical conseqence; and "what are logical terms?", which includes the examination of connectives, quantifiers, and constants. This course requires more reflection and reading than a typical logic course, and cumulates in a research project on a conception of logic driven by each student's opinions, doubts, and interests. This course is a good opportunity to reflect on the assumptions behind the logic you have learned as part of either the Philosophy major or the Logic and Computation major.

PHIL 323 is a Stage III Course for Philosophy (BA major), and for Logic and Computation (BA major and minor, BSc major). It is a 15 pt course with a workload of up to 10 hours / week. PHIL 222 is a prerequisite.

Staff

Lecturer/Tutor: Andrew Withy
Office: 206-449 (Arts 1, level 4)
Course Director: Patrick Girard
Office: 206-447 (Arts 1, level 4)

Assessment

Notes: 10%. Students will maintain a Canvas page containing a copy of their class notes.
Exercises: 10%. Students will complete short exercises each week.
Assignments: 30%. Several assignments will be set. The best three will count for 10% each.
Group Work: All assignments may be attempted as individuals. Some may be attemped in a group.
Research Project: 50%. Essay form, minimum 3000 words.
Final Exam: No final exam.

Timetable

Lectures: Thursday 3-5 and Friday 3-4 in 206-201 (Arts 1, basement)
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10-1 in 206-449 (Arts 1, level 4)
                     (was Tues 2-5, Thurs 12-1 in first half semester)

Written and Recorded Material

The course textbook is Stephen Read's Thinking About Logic. Don't bother buying a copy if you don't have it. There will be lots of secondary reading. You are expected to attend all the lectures and take your own notes, a copy of which you will keep on Canvas. We will try to record lectures, but it seems pretty shonky. You can read other participants' notes (including mine) on Canvas if you are away.

Course Schedule

  • Topic 1a - Axioms, Hilbert style proofs
  • Topic 1b - Defining Connectives
  • Topic 2a - The Lewis Argument
  • Topic 2b - Notation variants
  • Topic 3 - Multi-value truth tables L3, K3, LP, FDE (Post)
  • Topic 4 - Smiley Entailment types 3, 4, 5, 6 (syntax/semantics)
  • Topic 5a - Relevant Logic R (Fitch-style)
  • Topic 5b - Connexivism KC (semantics)
  • Topic 6a - Linear Logic MALL (Gentzen-style) *postponed due to Cyclone*
  • Topic 6b - Containment AI (Hilbert-style)  *cancelled due to Easter*
  • Topic 7 - Dialetheic Logic [Patrick Girard]
  • Topic 8 - What is Logic? What is Logical Consequence?
  • Topic 9 - Connectives
  • Topic 10 - (mainly Subjective) Conditionals
  • Topic 11 - Linear Logic MALL (Gentzen-style)
  • Topic 12 - Assertibility A4 (Truth tables & preference relations)

Course Summary:

Date Details Due