Required in stage
Optional in stage
First term
Second term
Both terms
Not organised
This year
Next year
Alternating years
External
Prerequisites
Taught by
Language of instruction
Duration
Identical coursesLogic (B-KUL-W0W03A)
Cannot be taken as part of an examination contractAims
The overall goal of this course is to introduce students to logic, on the one hand as an independent scientific discipline, and on the other hand as a methodological foundation for their further philosophical education.
At the end of this course, the student has/is:
- acquired insight into fundamental logical notions such as 'validity', 'syntax' and 'semantics';
- acquired thorough knowledge of the most important logical systems, viz., propositional logic, predicate logic and modal logic;
- capable of translating sentences from natural language into a logical artificial language;
- aware of the (philosophical) advantages, but also the limitations, of such translations (from natural language to artificial language);
- capable of investigating the validity of an argument by formalizing it in one of the aforementioned formal logical systems;
- developed a certain appreciation for the abstraction, precision and philosophical relevance of formal logic;
- learned about the most important fallacies (e.g., argumentum ad populum);
- capable of detecting such fallacies in (philosophical and other) texts.
Previous knowledge
No previous knowledge is required.
Identical courses
This course is identical to the following courses:
W0EA1A : Logic (No longer offered this academic year)
Is included in these courses of study
Activities
6 ects. Logic (B-KUL-W0W03a)
Content
This course offers a thorough introduction to philosophical logic. The following topics will be covered:
- delineation of the discipline; reasoning and argumentation; logical validity;
- syntax and semantics of propositional logic;
- syntax and semantics of predicate logic (aka 'first-order logic');
- syntax and semantics of modal logic (the basics);
- translating sentences from natural language to one of the aforementioned logical systems, incl. attention to the philosophical issues surrounding such translations (e.g., conversational implicatures);
- applying the aforementioned logical systems to elucidate certain philosophical problems (e.g., B. Russell's theory of definite descriptions);
- basic notions from argumentation theory, in particular the fallacies.
The course exercises are taught by Lisann Penttilä.
Course material
The textbook is An Introduction to Formal Logic (2nd edition, 2020) by Peter Smith; cf. https://www.logicmatters.net/ifl/
All course material will be made available via Toledo.
Format: more information
The course consists of lectures and exercise sessions. There are also a study lab sessions, in the context of which a ‘mock exam’ will be organized during the semester. Examples of exam questions are given during the lectures, exercise sessions and study lab sessions.
Evaluation
Evaluation: Logic (B-KUL-W2W03a)
Explanation
The exam comprises theoretical questions as well as exercises.