Course aims:

This course is designed to introduce students to various topics in formal logic and uncertainty that they will encounter in low theory.
The concepts are illustrated with actual examples from the specialized literature. Exercises are designed to encourage the student to begin thinking about formal logic within a theoretical context.
Formative purpose of the course is to establish methods and techniques that allow us to distinguish Supply you with the tools you need to distinguish good deductive thinking from bad deductive thinking.

Course Entry Requirements:

N/A

Course contents:

1 The language of propositional logic 2. The syntax and composition rules 3. Functions of truth and truth tables 4. Tautologies, contradictions and contingency 5. Consistency and inconsistency 6. Logic equivalence 7. The validity of arguments 8. Natural inference 9. Valid argumentative forms (inference rules) 10. Argumentative conditional forms 11. Principles and rules of derivation 12. Conditional proof 13. The proof of tautologies 14. Consistency and inconsistency of the premises.

Teaching methods:

Lecture, conversation, exemplification.

Learning outcomes:

Modelling and solving some medium complexity level problems, using the formal logic knoweledges applied in law and administrative sciences.

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Written paper 50%; mid-term test 30%; seminar activities 20%.

Recommended reading:

• Barker-Plummer, Dave, Language, Proof, and Logic, 2nd edition, Jon Barwise and John Etchemendy, CSLI/Chicago (2011)
• Teller, Paul, A Modern Formal Logic Primer, which is freely available online: http://tellerprimer.ucdavis.edu/
• Pasigui, Ronnie E., Sumabat, Ruel P., Integrated Logic, CIO Printing Press (1996)
• Salmon, Merrilee H. Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, University of Pittsburgh Press. (2007).
• Soccio, Douglas J., Practical Logic: An Antidote for Uncritical Thinking, (2008).