Lahore University of Management Sciences

PHIL 130 Logic & Critical Reasoning

Summer 2011 Instructor: Shabbir Ahsen Office: 225 New HSS Wing Office Hours: TBA Introduction: The course has been designed to introduce to the students the methods and techniques used to evaluate arguments. It assumes no prior knowledge of either philosophy or mathematics. The course covers topics in informal logic, deduction (both Aristotelian
and modern) and induction and its relationship to scientific reasoning. Topics include:

1) Introduction a. What is logic? b. Propositions, arguments (deductive and inductive), validity and soundness 2) Disagreements, Definition and Classification 3) Informal fallacies a. Fallacies of Relevance b. Fallacies of Presumption c. Fallacies of Ambiguity 4) Classical Deductive Logic a. Immediate inferences: Square of opposition, obversion, conversion, and contraposition b. Syllogism: Categorical, Hypothetical and Disjunctive 5) Modern Deductive Logic a. Truth Table b. Formal Deductions 6) Inductive Logic: a. Inductive Generalization and Inductive Analogy b. Causality and Scientific Explanation Course Objectives: 1) To help students sharpen their reasoning talents by equipping them with the skills to asses arguments. 2) To increase the capacity of students to formulate cogent arguments. 3) To help students examine and analyze fallacies. 4) To introduce truth-tables and formal deductions. 5) To help students understand the nature of scientific explanation and to distinguish it with other types of explanation.

Marks distribution:

Final: 35% Midterm: 35% Quizzes: 30%

Required Reading: The reading pack has been prepared from the following books: Copi, Irving Introduction to Logic, New York, Macmillan Co. 9th Edition, 1998. [Students are advised to get the 11th edition 2003 (Pakistani reprint available)] Barker, Stephan Elements of Logic, McGraw Hill, 1980. Kelly, David The Art of Reasoning, New York, W.W. Norton & Co. 2nd Expanded Edition, 1994.
Introduction a) Propositions, Arguments, Inference b) Induction and Deduction c) Validity a) kinds of disputes b) Definitions: Genus and Difference Definition a) Fallacies of Relevance

Language: Definition, Disagreement Classification Fallacies Fallacies

b) Fallacies of Presumption c) Fallacies of Ambiguity Categorical Propositions a) Square of opposition b) Further Immediate Inferences: i) Conversion ii) Obversion iii) Contraposition Categorical Syllogism a) figure, mood and standard form b) Venn Diagram & validity

Classical Deductive Logic (immediate inferences)

(Mediate inferences)

(Mediate inferences)

Categorical Syllogism c) Distribution of terms & Rules Hypothetical Syllogism i) Pure HS ii) Mixed HS (Modus Ponens, Modus Tollens) b) Disjunctive Syllogism Truth Table a) Logical Connectives a)

Hypothetical and disjunctive syllogism

Modern Deductive Logic (Propositional Logic) Modern Deductive Logic

b) Truth table and validity Formal Deduction and Validity

Modern Deductive Logic Inductive Logic

Formal Deduction and Validity Inductive arguments: a) Inductive Generalization b) Inductive Analogy Meaning of cause Explanation a) Scientific b) Unscientific

Logic of explanation