Philosophy 111: Valid Reasoning I
Professor: Craig DeLancey
Email: craig.delancey@oswego.edu
Office: Campus Center 212A
Office Hours: MWF 11:30 a.m. -- 12:30 p.m. and by appointment



Introduction

This class is an introduction to formal or symbolic logic. This is the branch of philosophy that attempts to understand as clearly and precisely as possible the nature of good reasoning. Becoming skillful in logic is extremely useful, as good reasoning is essential to every endeavor you may undertake in life. We will study formal logic through developing a very precise logical language, sometimes called "First Order Logic" or FOL, and then seeing how this language can help us reason precisely. Examples of applications will include scientific reasoning and other kinds of reasoning. Students will also make arguments using the skills developed through studying formal logic.


Text

We'll use one text for this class:
Kalish, Montague, and Marr Logic
I also hope to supplement our class with short online lectures. These will repeat things I said in class, but will be available for you to review whenever you like. I'll post a URL as soon as I get this up and running.

Assignments and exams

You will have three exams, and also frequent homework assignments.

For the homework assignments, you will do problems from the book or that I develop. Logic is a discipline that requires practice. They will be graded strictly, in order to make clear what you have done correctly and what not; but your overall homework grade will be curved. Also, note that I will typically give you questions about material we have not discussed in class yet. This is a way to get you to think about the material before the lecture, so that you are better aware of what the lecture is about, what you need to understand from the lecture, what you may be failing to understand, and so on.

You can work together, but you must write up your homeworks by yourself. This means that you will not get credit for identifiably identical homeworks.

If you have a disabling condition which may interfere with your ability to successfully complete this course, please contact the Disability Services Office.

Attendance


SUNY mandates attendance for your classes. They also ask me to take attendance, which I will do by periodically passing around sign-in sheets.

However, I do not grade you for attendance. Please note the following very important fact: I respect you and believe you should be allowed to manage your own time. But because I treat you with respect I demand that you act like you deserve that respect. That is: do not come to class to talk to the person next to you, to text message your friends back in the dorm, to surf youtube, to read the newspaper. I consider this profoundly disrespectful, it distracts me a great deal, and I fear it distracts the people around you. You can do these things somewhere else, and I won't penalize you for doing so. Class time is for logic.

Of course, I understand that people like to talk to each other during class about class, asking their neighbor "what did DeLancey just say?" and so on. That's good -- in the best of all worlds we would all be doing that often during class. But manners require some taste and I'm sure you can show good taste in not overdoing that kind of talk to the point where I can't tell whether you're discussing logic or discussing lunch plans.

Similarly, don't come to class simply to leave after you hand in your homework, or come twenty minutes late, and so on. That's very distracting also.

Grading

The raw grade will be determined in the following way:
Homework assignments: 40%
Class exams: 35% (15%, then 20%)
Comprehensive final exam: 25%
Note that the exams count more as the class progresses. This means that you always have an opportunity in this class to catch up and do significantly better. This also accommodates that some people learn at different rates.

See my grading policy for a brief note on how I turn the raw grade into a final grade.

Homeworks will sometimes be reviewed in the class period where they are due. For this reason, late homeworks will not be accepted for credit.

You can always drop off a homework early by bringing it to my office. The secretary can put it in my mailbox; or, if no one is in, you can slide it under the door if it is clearly marked "FOR DELANCEY."

I regret that I delete all the following emails and their equivalents unanswered: "I missed class today, can you tell me everything you said?" "I don't have the book, can you type up the problems and email them to me?" "I know you don't accept the written homeworks by email, but can I email my homework to you until I come to class sometime and give you the hardcopy then?" "My roommate is in the hospital can you tell me whether I need to come to class today?" "Will we do anything important in class on September 29th?" And so on. You get the gist.

If you miss an exam and have an excused absence for the day you miss the exam, you may make it up, by special appointment with me, when you are able to come back to class. It is your responsibility to arrange any make-up exams as soon as you know you are going to miss the exam. Otherwise you may lose the opportunity to take the test, since I cannot give make-up exams after the class has gone over the answers.

Here is how you secure an excused absence: Only prior notification with credibly documented or easily verifiable reasons (e.g., medical visits to Mary Walker, documented participation in official sporting events, etc.) will result in excused absences. You must notify in writing, call, or email me prior to your absence from class. You must notify the Philosophy Dept. secretary, Pat Meleski, before you are going to be absent, via email at meleski@oswego.edu, or by phone at x2249. However, you must make sure she knows your name, the number of the course, the date, and your easily verifiable reason, along with a request to forward the information to me. It is better to give your information to me, except when you are unable to communicate with my phone or email for some reason.

Please hold onto all of your assignments and exams. Sometime before the end of the semester I recommend that you ask me to review the grades that I have recorded to make sure that I have not made any mistakes. I'm only human and can make typos in recording grades!

Any forms of cheating will earn a zero grade, and will be reported to the Dean.


College Policy on Intellectual Integrity

Intellectual integrity on the part of all students is basic to individual growth and development through college course work. When academic dishonesty occurs, the teaching/learning climate is seriously undermined and student growth and development are impeded. For these reasons, any form of intellectual dishonesty is a serious concern and is therefore prohibited.

The full intellectual integrity policy can be found at www.oswego.edu/administration/registrar/policy_text.html#cpii


Office Hours

In addition to the listed office hours, I encourage you to make appointments. I am available quite a bit. Please try to come to office hours with specific questions in mind. You can of course come with a general request for help, but it is always helpful if you spend a little time thinking about how I can best help you out.


Learning goals

In this class, it is your responsibility to learn, and to be able to describe, explain, and apply:

Schedule

I will frequently update an online schedule of readings and yassignments. It is your responsibility to check the www pages for the class at least every other day!