LOGIC (PHIL 230)
Course Objectives
This course has the highly practical aim of improving your ability to think clearly. Specifically, by the end of the semester you should have improved your abilities to: (1) identify arguments from other kinds of discourse and separate what is relevant to an argument from what is not; (2) evaluate arguments in a reasoned and constructive way (as opposed to merely disagreeing with their conclusions); and (3) construct your own arguments that are clearly stated and free of fallacies.
On the more theoretical side, you will become familiar with different forms of deductive and inductive logic. Deductive forms include terminal (or syllogistic), propositional (or statement or sentential), and quantified predicate logics. Inductive forms include analogical, causal, statistical, and hypothetical, and includes work on calculating the probability of simple and compound events.
This will be, at times, a strenuous journey, but one not without rewards, perhaps the finest being the opportunity to contemplate beauty in its purest form. It also boosts your LSAT and GRE scores, for whatever that’s worth.
Some virtues to bring with you into the philosophy classroom:
humility when comparing your beliefs with those of others;
patience for listening closely to views that seem foolish or misguided to you;
courage to advance in the face of adversity what seems to be the correct view;
endurance for following arguments to their conclusion;
humor for those moments when you feel the utter futility of your efforts.
Manchester University // Registrar // Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies // Last updated: 30 May 2019