Description:  This course is the mental equivalent to strength training.  Just as athletes work out in the weight room to build muscles which will enhance performance in their sport, so we will be “working out” with logic exercises throughout this semester to strengthen and tone our intellectual muscles.  People who are well-trained in logic can reason more powerfully than others, argue more persuasively, and critique arguments more profoundly.  Not every exercise in logic will seem to have immediate pay-off in these ways—just as not every quad lift or hamstring curl shows immediate results on the soccer field.  But the cumulative effect of a semester work at logic will be the development of a sleek and supple intellectual “machine”: your mind!

Texts:      Luckhardt & Bechtel, How to Do Things with Logic
                Exercise book to accompany Luckhardt and Bechtel
                Hand-out readings and assignment sheets

Goals:
By the end of this course, students will be able:
·       To differentiate legitimate arguments from other rhetorical ploys (e.g. appeals to emotion, opinion, etc.);
·        To recognize common fallacies of argumentation (both formal and informal);
·        To work with Venn diagrams and the modern (Boolean) square of opposition in analyzing categorical propositions;
·        To work with logical operators (~ & Ú É º ) in both verbal and symbolic form;
·        To use truth tables to assess the truth or falsity of logical propositions;
·        To analyze, construct, and critique complex arguments in defense of controversial theses.

Means of Assessment:

·        The best way to become proficient at logic is through practice.  Therefore, homework exercises are an essential part of PHI 105.  (10%)

·        Class participation (often based on the aforementioned homework exercises) is another critical component of success in PHI 105.   (10%)

·        *NOTE:  You cannot PARTICIPATE if you do not ATTEND class.  Put in the language of symbolic logic:  ~ A  É ~ P. 

Therefore, any unexcused absence will adversely affect your participation grade.  If you are absent from a test without gaining prior permission for a legitimate excuse, you should not expect to be given an opportunity to make it up.

·        Since much of logic is cumulative, if you let yourself fall behind you will have a very difficult time getting caught up.  To help prevent this from happening, I will be giving frequent unit tests (four of them, roughly every other week; the fourth is optional, and will replace the lowest prior test grade) to assure full assimilation of logical principles and practices.  All tests—not simply the midterm and final—will ask questions about material from previous units and not simply about the unit most recently covered.  (15% @ = 45%)
Unit tests are scheduled for the following dates.
September 6
September 27
October 16
November 13 (optional; replaces lowest test grade)

·        Mid-term and final examinations will give you opportunities to put your new logical “muscles” into use by both constructing and critiquing complex arguments, as well as using symbolic formulas.  (midterm 15%; final 20%)   The midterm exam is scheduled for November 1.

The final exam will be on Monday, December 10, at 1:30 p.m.

Mark your calendar NOW!

Accommodations:  If you have documented learning needs and require specific accommodations (time and a half on tests, testing in an alternate environment, etc.), please contact Sue Kuehn in the Office for Students with Special Needs (upstairs in MG) to arrange for a letter to be sent to me.  I will be happy to work with you on these matters.

Attendance, Class Behavior, and Academic Integrity:  For a detailed description of a student’s responsibility and rights, see the Brevard College Student Handbook as well as the college catalog.  While students are strongly encouraged to help on another inside and outside of class in the mastery of logic, performance on tests and exams is a strictly individual matter (unless explicitly noted as collaborative).  Therefore, any violation of the Honor Code will result in a failing grade on the exercise in question and, if repeated, in the course as a whole.

Calendar: 

                 Last updated: October 19, 2001