Introduction to the course by Professor Tom Stoneham
Professor Tom Stoneham, Head of the Philosophy Department at the University of York, introduces you to the course.
Each week we will be introducing you to a different aspect of formal logic and its application to claims and arguments expressed in everyday language.
Week 1: Bringing Logic Into Focus
In the first week we will begin by looking at the idea of an argument, introducing the key concept of deductive validity, and taking a first look at logical form.
Week 2: Formal Languages and Natural Languages
This week we start to build our logical language by defining its first sentence-connective, we introduce a key tool—the truth-table—and start to explore relationships between our logical language and everyday (or natural) language.
Week 3: Complex Sentences and Logical Properties
This week we expand our logical language and look at how to tackle complex sentences. We see how we can clarify claims by avoiding a key kind of ambiguity. We explore how to test for key logical properties and relationships.
Week 4: Testing for Validity
In the final week we add our final and most controversial sentence-connective and explore its relation to connectives in English. We see how to test for validity, and we apply what we’ve developed to some more complex arguments.
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