Introduction to Logic

Philosophy 103

Spring, 2009

Syllabus

Professor: Marvin Belzer

E-mail: mbelzer@bgsu.edu

Office: Shatzel 325

Phone: 372-7216

Office hours: W 2-4 and by appointment

Class meetings

Lectures will begin promptly on Wednesday and Friday at 11.30. You also are in a discussion section meeting each Monday with one of the three TAs. Please do not arrive late to the lectures or the discussion sections. Attendance is required at all lectures and discussion sections. There will be no class meeting on Friday, March 6.

There will be new homework assignments distributed during each WF lecture and also in some of the Monday discussion sections. The homework will always be due in the following lecture or discussion section.

Please make a special note that the homework assigned in the lecture on Friday is due in your discussion section early on Monday morning. If your schedule this semester will not allow you to complete this homework in a timely way, you should consider dropping this course, perhaps taking it during a different semester.

Textbook

You do not have to purchase a textbook. The text and homework exercises will be distributed in class and also will be posted online at Shantila's Inside Logic (http://personal.bgsu.edu/~mbelzer/insidelogicspr09.html). But you do NOT need to go online to get the material because nothing other than what is distributed in class will be posted online.

Goal #1

The first goal of the course will be to learn what basic logic is all about. You will work to achieve this goal in the following ways:

1. Regular attendance in class.

2. Reading the text.

Goal #2

Our second goal is to develop the practical skills of basic logic. You will achieve this by:

3. Doing homework exercises

Goal #3

A third goal is to develop concentration of mind and confidence that arises by mastering the practical skills of logic -- and to have fun doing it. You will achieve this as a beneficial by-product of doing the activities 1-3 mentioned above (regular attendance, studying the text, and doing the homework exercises).

I would like to emphasize that the development of your own logic skills during this semester is the primary focus of this course. Attendance and homework practice components are required parts of the course. They are not optional. This course will be suitable for you only if you are prepared to spend time and effort actually paying attention and practicing during this semester --during lectures, in discussion sections, and in doing practice exercises daily on your own.

Grades

Grades for the course will be based on the following:

1. Homework (8% of final grade)

2. Attendance and several surprise pop quizzes in class (8%)

3. There will be 4 (four) tests. The later tests are increasingly more important than the earlier ones, as is reflected here in the varying percentages each test is worth.

1st test	17%	Friday, February 6 (in class)
2d test	20%	Wednesday, March 4 (in class)
3d test	23%	Friday, April 10 (in class)
4th test (final exam)	24%	Thursday, May 7 TBA

Comment

I love teaching this course. I can teach you logic. I feel confident about my own skills as a professor, and about the skills of the TAs who will be working with me. Your commitment and efforts naturally will result in success, and we want to help you succeed. For these reasons I am confident you can earn at least a passing grade for this course if you commit to the following: (a) coming to all W and F lectures and your Monday discussion sections, (b) reading the text, and (c) daily doing homework practice exercises. However, if you do not commit to these activities, you probably will fail the course. Complacency and laziness definitely will result in failure.

Policies

If you must miss an exam or an assignment because of an emergency please notify your TA before the exam or before the scheduled assignment is due. If this is not possible (such as in the case of surprise pop quizzes in class) then you will be expected to provide documentation prior to being allowed to make up the work.

We take honesty seriously and so should you. It is fine to collaborate (confer with others) when working on the homework, but even then you should not simply copy the homework of others. Doing so will not help you learn the material.

It is not permissible to collaborate in any way on the exams. No cheating on exams will be tolerated. Please be aware of the University's policy on academic dishonesty.

Suggestions

Practice, Practice, Practice!!!

The only way you will do well in this course is if you work through all the Practice exercises in the text (beginning on the first day of the course). It would be smart to schedule some logic practice every day of the semester.

Come to class. Many of the points that we will cover cannot be readily grasped just from reading about them. The lectures and discussions are designed to complement the text and some additional material will be covered in class that is not included in the text. Also, as mentioned, there will be some pop quizzes in class and of course you need to be present in class in order to get the points on the pop quizzes.

Participate in class and discussion sections. Please remember that no question is a stupid question. If a question occurs to you, just raise your hand and ask it. Usually other students will share the same question that has occurred to you, so you benefit others as well as yourself by asking it. The more active you are in class, the faster you will learn and the more fun you will have in this course.

Come see me or your TA during our scheduled office hours, or make an appointment if you are not free during our scheduled office hours. Please feel free to meet with us individually in order to clarify a point brought up in class or to discuss some issue not raised in class or to talk about other issues.