Professor: Tony Roark troark@boisestate.edu                                                                 

Office: 1019 Lincoln Hall, Rm. 106                                                                                                            

Phone: 426-3378                                                                                                                                      

Philosophy 201

Introduction To Logic

Text:           Layman, The Power of Logic, 3^rd edition (a custom-bound version is available in the BSU bookstore).

Course website:     www.boisestate.edu/people/troark    Link to ›Didactics›

I.        Course Objectives.

This course is designed to enable you to:

·          understand the basic logical concepts (e.g., arguments, premises, conclusions, validity, soundness, and consistency);

·          analyze discourse containing demonstrative arguments;

·          evaluate arguments using the basic techniques of propositional logic (e.g., truth tables);

·          construct formal proofs of validity in accordance with fundamental principles of logical inference;

·          develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

II.      Course Requirements.

A.      Homework consisting of exercises from the text. Bring two copies of your work to class: one copy is turned in to me at the beginning of class, and one copy is for you to keep and ›grade› as we work through the problems in class. The copy you submit will not be returned, as part of your job is to determine in class whether your answers are correct. For submitted work: if I judge that you have made a good-faith effort to answer all of the questions assigned to the best of your ability, you will receive full-credit for the day (5 points), whether or not your answers are correct. If if it appears to me that you have not made a good-faith effort to answer all of the questions to the best of your ability, you will receive no credit. There will be 13 homework assignments this semester, but because only 12 will be considered in determining marks, the total points possible for this requirement is 60.

B.      Quizes designed to keep you on top of the material and diagnose confusion or misunderstanding in a timely manner. Unlike the homework assignments, quizes will be graded for correctness. There will be 11 quizes worth ten points each, but your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Thus, 100 points are available for quizes.

C.      Exams designed to test your mastery of the course material. The first is valued at 75, the second at 80, and the final exam at 85 points, for a total of 240 points.

           Total points possible for the course = 400. Final grades will be set as follows:

360-400 (90%) =        A

316-359 (79%) =        B

272-315 (68%) =        C

228-271 (57%) =        D

< 228                           =        F

III.    Policies.

·          All hand-written work must be done in pencil›work in pen will receive no credit.

·          Unless we›ve made arrangements in advance, or unless you can document a medical or family emergency, no late work will be accepted. No exceptions.