PHIL225

Practice Final Exam Now Posted

2010-12-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

The practice final exam (225_Practice_Final_F10.pdf) is now in the course documents folder.

Remember to submit your best attempt on all questions to receive 2% toward your final grade.

Due Date: Monday 6 Dec, 4:10 pm sharp - no late submissions accepted.

Preparing for Wed 1 Dec

2010-11-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

For class on Wed 1 Dec, please do the following.

Read:

Try exercises from the following:

9.2 a-e, g-i, m, n
9.3.1 a-q
9.3.2 a-h
9.3.4 a-h
9.3.5 a-h, j-n

Preparing for Mon 29 November

2010-11-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

To prepare for class on Monday 29 November, I would like you to do two things.

(1) Go to the Videos on PL Truth-Trees page and watch the videos posted there.

(2) Read Sect. 9.1 and do exercises 9.1 a - h

If everyone does (1) and (2) (or at least one of (1) and (2)), you'll all be able to master basic truth-trees in PL before the end of the quarter!

Quiz 7, Part II Now Posted

2010-11-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of Quiz 7 (Quiz7_Part2.pdf) is now posted in the Course Documents Folder.

Due: Mon 29 Nov at the beginning of class. No Late Submissions Accepted.

I'll also be posting something for you to learn on your own about truth-trees in PL in the next couple of days!

Quiz 7, Part I Now Posted

2010-11-18T00:20:00.000-08:00

Quiz 7 Part I is now posted in the Course Documents Folder (follow the link on the right side-bar). This part is due electronically no later than midnight, Mon 22 Nov. I will publish part 2 of Quiz 7 (which will be due at the beginning of class on Mon 29 Nov) on Mon 22 Nov, unless I announce otherwise.

Preparing for Wed 17 Nov

2010-11-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

Last class, we finished our discussion of the formal syntax of PL. As you will have noticed, my treatment of that topic was a tiny bit less formal than the discussion in the text (in Sec. 7.7). We will now have to further depart from the text so that we can have enough time for truth-trees in PL.

We have only two main tasks left for the rest of the quarter:

To learn about the semantics of PL
To learn how to use truth-trees in PL to test for logical properties of sentences, pairs of sentences, sets of sentences, and to see whether an argument in PL is valid.

To prepare for class on Wed 17 Nov, please do the following.

Read 8.1-8.4

Focus on understanding the notion of an interpretation in PL and on the conditions for sentences to be tautologies, contradictions or contingencies, for pairs of sentences to be logically equivalent, for sets of sentences to be consistent, and for arguments to be valid.

Do NOT worry about the exercises in these sections; I'll explain why in class.

You will NOT have an in-class quiz this week. I will be giving you a take-home quiz.

Preparing for Mon 15 Nov

2010-11-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

On Mon 15 Nov, we will continue symbolizing sentences slightly more complex than A, E, I, and O sentences in PL. We will then discuss the formal syntax of PL.

To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following in the given order.

Read and do exercises from 7.7
Read and do exercises from 7.5

BEFORE you submit another SL truth-tree...

2010-11-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

One can avoid a lot of errors when doing truth-trees in SL by following a few simple rules. I've created a check-list that you can use to make sure you won't lose any points on your SL truth-trees for bad reasons.

If you are working on the Extra Credit assignment for Quiz 5 that has SL truth-trees, get the checklist (SL_truth-tree_check-list.pdf in the Course Documents Folder) and use it to check each and every one of your truth-trees before you submit your work.

Preparing for Mon 8 Nov

2010-11-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

On Monday 8 Nov we will continue our informal discussion of the syntax of PL by learning how to symbolize more and more complex sentences in PL. We will begin by symbolizing categorical propositions (A, E, I, O senteces) and then work toward more complex examples.

To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following.

Read 7.6, do all exercises
Read 7.7, do all exercises.

Preparing for Wed 3 Nov

2010-11-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

On Wed 3 Nov, we will continue our discussion of the syntax of PL. We will quickly review how to symbolize sentences that do not involve generality first. We will then introduce quantifiers and begin symbolizing sentences that do involve generality.

To prepare for Wednesday's class, please do the following.

Read and do the exercises from 7.3 and 7.4

You will also have a quiz at the end of class. Your quiz will include:

Questions on symbolizing sentences not involving generality in PL (such as the ones discussed in 7.3)
Questions on symbolizing sentences with generality in PL (such as the ones discussed in 7.4)
One or more true/false questions on truth-trees in SL

Please remember the one-time change in office hours for Wed 3 Nov.

Preparing for Mon 1 Nov

2010-10-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

On Mon 1 Nov, my primary goal will be to ensure that everyone understands how to use truth-trees to test for all logical properties, including validity, which we have yet to cover. More importantly, I'll want to ensure that everyone understands why the truth-tree tests work as they do.

To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following.

Read and do exercises from

4.7
7.1 (no exercises in this section)
7.2
7.3

Remember: Your Take-Home Quiz 5 is due at the beginning of class.

Quiz 5 Posted

2010-10-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Be sure to read the instructions in Quiz 5 very carefully.

Quiz 5 is due at the beginning of class on Mon 1 Nov. No late submissions accepted.

You can find the quiz in the course documents folder by following the link on the right side bar.

Get started today!

Preparing for Wed 27 Oct

2010-10-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

After last class, you are now all ready to handle complex truth-trees in SL. To test yourself, try the following exercise.

Use a completed truth-tree to determine whether the following set is consistent. If the set is consistent, recover all truth-value assignments on which all members of the set are true.

{(C & ~D) ≡ A, (A & C) ⊃ ~(D ∨ A)}

A complete answer to this problem appears on pp.140-141 of your text.

To prepare for class on Wed 25 Oct, please do the following.

Read:

Do exercises from all those sections until you've mastered truth-trees, and using truth-trees to test for logical properties.

Note about Quiz: You will have a take-home quiz this week.

Preparing for Mon 25Oct

2010-10-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

On Mon 25 Oct we will continue our discussion of truth-trees. To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following:

Read:

Do the following exercises:

4.3 - all
4.4 - all
4.5 - all

If all goes according to plan, I will also be returning and discussing your mid-terms on Monday.

Solutions for Practice Mid-Term Posted!

2010-10-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

Look in the course documents folder on the right side-bar to find the solutions to the Practice Mid-Term (Mid_Term_Practice_Solns.pdf).

Good luck with all your studying!

Preparing for the Mid-Term

2010-10-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Your mid-term will be tomorrow, Wed 20 Oct. You will have the entire period to complete the examination.

I have now posted a practice mid-term in the course documents folder (see link on right side-bar) for you all to try. I will post solutions for the practice mid-term tomorrow morning.

Good luck with all your studying!

Preparing for Mon 18 Oct

2010-10-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

On Mon 18 Oct we will begin our discussion of truth-trees. For Monday, please do the following

Read:

4.1-4.3

Try exercises from:

4.2 (all)
4.3 (all)

Reminder: Take-Home Quiz 4 is due at the beginning of class Mon 18 Oct.

Preparing for Wed 13 Oct

2010-10-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

You have all learned a lot of logic in a few short weeks. It is important that we use a portion of next class to review some of what you have learned. We will then devote some time to a careful examination of the material in Sect. 3.6. We will begin truth-trees next week.

To prepare for class on Wed 13 Oct, please do the following.

Download the document called SL_Review_Partial.pdf and do as many of the exercises there as possible. Note that these review exercises. They are intended to sediment your understanding of key concepts. Strive to score 100% (you can do it!). The document called SL_Review_Partial_Solns.pdf contains answers to some of the exercises.
CAREFULLY read Sect. 3.6

Preparing for Mon 11 Oct

2010-10-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

We are ready to wrap up our discussion of Chpt. 3 on Mon 11 Oct. So, for Monday, please do the following:

Read:

Try exercises from the following groups:

3.4 all
3.5.1 - 3.5.4

REMINDER: Your take-home Quiz 3 is due at the beginning of class on Mon 11 Oct - No Late Submissions Accepted.

Take-Home Quiz Today - Wed 6 Oct

2010-10-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

As I was preparing for today's class, I realized that I would rather spend a bit more time on instruction and student learning rather than testing today. So your quiz today will be a TAKE-HOME quiz. It will be due at the beginning of Monday's class (11 Oct).

Preparing for Wed 6 Oct

2010-10-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

For Wed 6 October, please do the following.

Read:

Try exercises from the following groups:

3.1.2
3.1.3
3.2.1
3.3.1
3.3.3
3.3.4

You will have a quiz at the end of class. The quiz will include questions on:

Symbolizing sentences containing material conditionals (including sentences containing the phrases "necessary condition" and "sufficient condition").
Determining whether an expression of SL is well-formed and explaining what's wrong if the expression is not well-formed.
Constructing a simple truth-table to determine whether a given sentence of SL is a contradiction (truth-functionally false), a tautology (truth-functionally true), or a contingency (truth-functionally indeterminate).

Preparing for Mon 4 Oct

2010-10-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

Because we devoted quite a bit of time to our discussion of the material conditional and "unless", next class we still have to cover Section 2.4 on the formal syntax of SL. After that, we will return to Section 2.2 (especially the guidelines for paraphrasing on p. 51) and do some exercises from that section.

To prepare for our next class (on Mon 4 Oct), please read, in the order cited:

Section 2.4
Section 2.2 (but don't worry about the "at least one," "exactly one," "at least two" stuff)

Here is the list of all exercises you should do to master the material in Chapter 2:

2.1.1
2.1.4
2.1.5
2.1.7
2.4.1
2.4.3
2.4.4
2.4.5
2.2.3 b, d, f, g, h
2.2.5

Remember: Doing a bit of logic every day (or two) will help you master the material.

Preparing for Wed 29 Sep

2010-09-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

On Wed 29 Sep we will do the following

Finish our discussion of the material conditional
Introduce the material biconditional
Practice symbolizing by using examples from Exercises 2.1E
Practice symbolizing the following: 2.2E 3b, d, f, g

You will have a Quiz at the end of class that covers all of the material in 2.1. Some of the questions will ask you to symbolize sentences (or provide idiomatic English language versions of sentences in SL). There will also be a question or two where you have to determine whether a statement is true or false and explain why.

To prepare for class and the quiz

Review all of Section 2.1 (and your lecture notes from class today)
Practice symbolizing with the following exercises: 2.1.1, 2.1.4, 2.1.5, 2.1.7, 2.2.3b, d, f, g
Read Section 2.2, especially the guidelines for paraphrasing BUT don't worry about the stuff on "exactly one" and "at least one" etc.

The quiz will not explicitly include any material from Chapter 1.

PHIL225: Do Your Homework -- Today!

2010-09-24T09:03:00.001-07:00

Here's a simple challenge:

By the end of today, be sure you should understand:

* Truth-functional connective
* Compound sentences vs. atomic sentences
* Conjunction, disjunction, negation

By the end of today, you should be able to symbolize simple sentences involving conjunction, disjunction, and negation such as:

P: Pedro reads frequently.
Q: Quin reads frequently.
R: Raul reads rarely.

(1) Pedro and Quin read frequently.
(2) Quin reads frequently, but Pedro doesn't.
(3) Either Raul reads rarely or Quin doesn't read frequently.
(4) Neither Pedro nor Quin read frequently.
(5) Pedro and Quin read frequently, but Raul reads rarely.
(6) Either Pedro and Quin read frequently or Raul reads rarely and Quin doesn't read frequently.

If you master these concepts and skills by the end of today, you'll have plenty of time to deal with the material conditional over the weekend (and possibly on Monday before class).

Preparing for Mon 27 Sep

2010-09-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

For Mon 27 Sep, please do the following.

Read: 2.1 (all of it) - pay special and close attention to the discussion of the material conditional. Understanding the truth-conditions (or at least remembering them) of the material conditional is one of the most challenging things you'll do in this course. It is also one of the things that can really get in your way if you do not learn it correctly. So it is very important to learn it well from the start.

Exercises: 2.1 (all of them) - Of course, you can be selective as you begin. Remember to try some challenging ones and not just stop after doing the first few exercises in any given group. You may, of course, just do the unstarred ones to begin with so you can check your work.

Preparing for Wed 22 Sep

2010-09-21T09:57:00.001-07:00

Read: Chpt. 1 of The Logic Book by Bergmann, Moor, and Nelson (BMN hereafter)

Exercises: 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.4.1, 1.6.5, 1.7.1.

As you read along, pay special attention to the notions of consistency and validity.

There will be a quiz at the end of Wednesday's class. The quiz questions will be very similar to the ones in the exercises listed above.

Welcome

2010-09-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the course blog for PHIL 225. Throughout the quarter, I'll be using this blog to post reading assignments, suggested exercises, solutions, and other course-related materials.

For starters, we want to ensure that everyone can view the logical symbols we will be using throughout the course correctly. We will use the following notation:

And: &
Or: ∨
Not: ∼
If...then: ⊃
If and only if: ≡
Universal Quantifier Symbol: ∀
Existential quantifier symbol: ∃
Therefore - ∴