Logic and Reasoning

Table of Contents:

▶️ Course Description

You have probably been told that going to college will help you think better. While most of your other classes help you think better about specific topics, such as how mechanical objects interact (physics) or how living organisms function (biology), this class aims to strengthen your general thinking skills, no matter what the topic.

First, we learn about the primary way in which we support our ideas and beliefs, namely, arguments. This is the focus of a branch of philosophy called logic and the topic of the first half of our class. In this part of the course, we will get a glimpse of what logic is about by developing an artificial toy language together, which we use to examine some of the key logical concepts, including, most notably, validity and soundness.

While logic provides a systematic and formal way of analyzing thinking, as you will find out, it abstracts from the messiness that our actual thinking often involves. In the second half of the course, we attempt to remedy this omission by examining how our thinking systematically goes wrong. We learn about different psychological biases and reflect on the spread of fake news, conspiracy theories, and, more generally, bullshit in our social environment today.

Our discussion-based course relies on an open environment where every class member’s contribution is welcome. 3 credit hours.

🤝 Office Hours

I invite you to come to office hours as often as you like. My office door is always open. You can meet in person or virtually, though I strongly prefer the former. In either case, please sign up using the following scheduler. ➡️

My office hours are scheduled for these times, but again, check the scheduler page for the most up-to-date availabilities.

Zoom Scheduler

• Wednesdays 12-2 pm and Thursdays 2 pm-4 pm and by appointment

My office is on the second floor of Robinson Hall, Room 202.

☯️ Sections

🎯 Goals and Objectives

1. Recognize and evaluate individual arguments using basic deductive reasoning structures, basic inductive methods, and informal fallacies.
2. Read, reconstruct, and evaluate extended arguments in various contexts using these structures and methods.
3. Write effective arguments appropriate to various potential rhetorical situations (linked sections only).
4. Engage critically with the social aspects of information transfer and uptake.
5. Develop an ability to identify and learn some ways to mitigate against fake news and conspiracy theories.

📚 Text and the Materials

We don’t have a designated textbook for the class, but in the second half of the semester, we will read two of the four chapters of the following book together. So, you’ll need to purchase it. It will be a worthy addition to any library, so it won’t waste your money.

• O'Connor, Cailin & Weatherall, James Owen (2019). *The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread.* New Haven, CT, USA: Yale University Press.

Beyond the above book, we will work with the following materials, which are available in PDF format 💯% free:

1. Our logic textbook, which is called forallx. There is no need to make physical prints of the textbook.
2. There are a limited number of articles. You are responsible for printing a hard copy and having it with you during the week we discuss itm. We have a strict no-electronic device policy.

📈 Grading

As the course description indicates, the course is divided into two major parts: Logic and Non-Ideal Reasoning. We will cover different materials in the two parts, which require different study habits and class participation. You will also have very different assignments for the two parts. Your final grade for the course has the following components. You’ll complete items 1, 2, and 3 in the first half and 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the second.

Part 1 (Weeks 1-8)