Introduction to Formal Logic

The courses begins by
examining the human mind and seeing the ways in which logic is and is not a
natural part of the way we think. We’ll look at some of our cognitive biases,
ways in which social psychologists have demonstrated that the brain naturally
works against good inferences. Humans can be rational beings, but it takes work
to realize the pitfalls we need to avoid. Then, we’ll introduce a wide range of
logical concepts. We will rigorously introduce the notion of an argument and
examine both the types of arguments—deductive and inductive—and the criteria by
which we assess an argument—validity and well-groundedness. We will learn that
arguments have two parts: conclusions (that which is being argued for) and
premises (the support given for the conclusion). Next, we’ll focus on informal
logic—that is, considerations of well-groundedness, the criterion of assessment
that considers the truth of an argument’s premises. We’ll learn to spot common
fallacies, reasoning errors that sound good to the ear but that undermine the
support for the conclusion.