Course Syllabus

Welcome to PHIL 012: Symbolic Logic

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Overview

Description

This is an introductory course in symbolic logic. Logic is the science of correct reasoning. Symbolic logic is a particular branch of logic that studies correct reasoning using a formal or artificial language. This course will articulate two different formal languages: propositional logic and predicate logic. In both languages, we will examine how these artificial languages relate to English (a natural language), different ways in which formal languages can be used to determine whether arguments are valid (or invalid), and how to reason using these languages.

Objectives

There are a number of objectives for this course. By the end of the course you should be able to do (or have done) all of the following: 

• Objective 1, Learn Two Symbolic Languages: Students will learn the vocab­ ulary, syntax, and semantics of two different symbolic languages (propositional & predicate logic) and how these languages relate to English (chs. 1, 2, 6).
• Objective 2, Learn Key Analytical Skills & Vocabulary:  Students will learn how to use the symbolic languages taught in this course to determine certain fundamental features of language and how to talk about these features using analytical vocabulary, e.g.   the conditions under which sentences are true or false, the definition of validity (chs.1,3,4,7).
• Objective 3, Learn How to Formally Test Arguments: Students will learn how to use various mechanical tests (known as “decision procedures”) to (i) test propositions, sets of propositions, and arguments for various properties, e.g. validity and to (ii) develop counter-models for valid arguments (chs.3,4,7).
• Objective 3.1, And, Learn How to Formally Test Real-World Arguments: Students will learn how to use learned information (ch.2, ch.6) about the relationship between symbolic logic and English with learned information about the truth-tree method (ch.4, ch.7) to mechanically determine whether everyday arguments are deductively valid or invalid.
• Objective 4, Learn How to Solve a Proof: Students will learn how to formally solve proofs in two different languages. That is, they will learn a set of inference, derivation, or “proof” rules and use these rules to show that a conclusion follows from a set of premises (chs.5,8).
• Objective 5, Learn to Think Like a Logician: Students will learn how to articulate how certain methods and procedures used in logic relate to various logical properties that belong to everyday argument and arguments in symbolic languages (chs.4,6,7).
• Objective 6, Respectful Dialogue: Students will engage in respectful conversation with classmates as well as collaborate with their peers to better learn logic.

Organization

In summary, your coursework is all online and will include:

• Reading your textbook.
• Working through the online materials for each lesson
• Completing chapter exercises for each lesson.
• Taking eight practice quizzes.
• Taking eight lesson quizzes.
• Taking five exams.

Online Learning and Attendance

This course has been developed to promote asynchronous learning. The instructor and students do NOT meet on a designated day and time each week. For each lesson, there is a time-frame to complete all activities and assignments, and you may work at your own pace within that time-frame. However, you must adhere to the due dates outlined on the Calendar. (Due dates can also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) You should log into the course daily to check for updates, review lessons, and participate in activities.

Please check the CANVAS website regularly. An online version of the syllabus is available there, and you will be notified of any cancellation of a course meeting or assignment there. If you need to contact your instructor, send a well-constructed email to your instructor’s email address with an appropriate subject line (e.g. PHIL012 Logic Question) and with an appropriate address (e.g. “Dear Instructor X”). Failure to do either may result in your email being inadvertently deleted or a failure to respond. Students are responsible for activity on their computer accounts so only send emails pertinent to the course.

Materials

Texts

Agler, David W. 2013. Symbolic Logic: Syntax, Semantics and Proof. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield. Paperback: ISBN: 978-1442217423 Hardcover: ISBN: 978-1-4422-1741-6 Kindle / eBook: ISBN 978-1442217430**

Note 1: It is highly recommended that you purchase either the paperback or hardcover version of the text. The text contains a variety of mathematical / special systems that don’t always display properly on electronic versions of the text.

Note 2: The text for this course contains an Errata (Links to an external site.) (a list of corrections). Nearly every logic text has these, e.g. The Logic Book. It is recommended that you download the Textbook Errata and before each chapter, you use it to correct the text before you begin reading the material. In addition, if you believe there is a typo in the text or in Canvas, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Note 3: The text can be purchased directly from the publisher (Rowman and Littlefield) or through various other vendors (e.g. Amazon). 

**E-Book Option: An online version of one or more of your texts is available at no cost as a Penn State Library E-Book. Some E-Books will only be available online, while others will be available to download in full or in part. You may choose to use the E-Book as an alternative to purchasing a physical copy of the text. You can access the E-Book by selecting the Library Resources link on the course navigation, and then selecting the E-Reserves link. For questions or issues, you can contact the University Libraries Reserve Help (UL-RESERVESHELP@LISTS.PSU.EDU).

Course Reserves

There are course resources on reserve for this course that can be accessed through the Penn State Libraries. To access your Course Reserves, please go to the https://libraries.psu.edu/ then click on the "Course Reserves" tab under "FIND". From there, type in the course number "PHIL 012" (note that there needs to be a space between PHIL and 012).

For any questions you may have about searching, viewing, or printing your Course Reserves, refer to the Viewing/Printing Electronic Reserves page (Links to an external site.) at https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/reserves/usingreserves.html (Links to an external site.).

Grading

Final letter grades will be assigned based on the scale below.

Scale

Due Dates

All assignments are due by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the date indicated on the Calendar. (Due dates can be also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) As a general rule, you will NOT be able to go back and make up missed assignments. It is your responsibility to keep up with your assignments. Students with an excused absence (e.g. hospitalization, jury duty, family emergency, or military service) may be asked to produce proper documentation in order to make up graded work. All make-up work is at the discretion of the instructor.

Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or spouses with unique circumstances (e.g. upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, disabilities, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made.

Notes

• To Do List: Some assignments may not appear in the To Do list under the Home tab. Use the Calendar or Syllabus to ensure that you are fully aware of assignment due dates.
• Late work will only be accepted for Quiz #1 and Lesson #1 Exercises. The penalty for turning these two assessments in late is a letter grade deduction for every day that the assessment is late. After the first week of the course, no late work will be accepted. Please keep in mind that the window in which you can submit a variety of assignments is large, e.g. a week to turn in the Lesson #1 Exercises, so do not wait until the last minute to turn in your assignments.

On Calculating Your Grade

While CANVAS provides a rough approximation of your grade, the syllabus is the definitive guide for determining your grade. Please use the percentages in the Assignments section below to determine your grade. See also, University Grading Scale and University Policy 47-00.

On Curving

The policy on curving or dropping assignments is at the discretion of the instructor. The default policy is that individual assignments will not be curved. However, in the case that the average grade for students who have fully completed the course is below 75%, a curve will be instated so that the average  grade of students who completed the course is 75%.

On Dropping the Course

Consult the Registrar or your academic adviser for drop procedures. Consult the Handbook for taking an Incomplete (D/F).

Assignments

Basic information about each assignment group is provided below. For detailed directions about an individual assignment, see the assignment information under the Modules tab.

Homework Exercises

Value: 5% total

You are required to complete exercises from the textbook and upload them as a file to CANVAS. Exercises are graded in terms of completion rather than whether or not they are correct. In order to receive full credit, you must do all of the following:

Complete at least TEN of the exercises from the chapter, clearly labeling these, and uploading them as a file (preferably PDF) to the Exercise File Dropbox in the Lesson Module (in CANVAS) before the due date.

Example #1: Suppose Chapter 1 had three sections A, B, and C and each section has 5 problems each.  You decide to do the following:  Chapter 1, Exercise Set #1, A, #1-4, B#1-3, and C #1-3. This would satisfy the requirement.
Example #2: Suppose Chapter 5 has eight sections. However, you decide to do ten exercises from the "End of Chapter Exercises".  This too would satisfy the requirement.  

While completing ten exercises will satisfy the requirement, you may want to do more in order to better prepare for quizzes and exams.

Practice Quizzes

Value: 10% total

Each lesson will contain a practice quiz that you should take when you have completed the readings, done all the exercises, and gone through all the on-line materials. These are designed to help you assess how prepared you are for the quiz and/or exam for that lesson. You will have three attempts on these quizzes, only your highest grade will be recorded.

Quizzes

Value: 8 for 10% total

Most lessons will also contain a quiz covering the material for that lesson. The format of the quiz will vary depending on the subject matter of the lesson, but it will be similar to that of the practice quiz for that lesson.

Exams

Value: 5 for 70% total

There are 5 exams.  The format for each exam varies depending on the material covered.

Three Notes on Quizzes and Exams

Note 1: While quizzes/exams are not proctored, you are not permitted to consult with other students or your instructor during exam period (except, of course, to resolve some technical issue).

Note 2: Quizzes/exams are subject to a time limit. After the time expires, the exam will be inaccessible and the grade will be calculated based on what is completed so far. Students will be given a warning prior to the time limit. See exam instructions for details.

Note 3: Some quizzes/exams require a file upload. All work that is uploaded must be typed. Please do not submit photos of handwritten work.

For a detailed Use the following link to see a detailed List of Required Activities and Assignments

University Policies

Academic Integrity

According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity, an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.   

Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic sanctions, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes (see G-9: Academic Integrity).

Unless your instructor tells you otherwise:

• Always include an in-text citation that includes the author(s) last name(s) and the year the source was published at the end of any sentence or below any image that includes words, images, or ideas you found in a source, always included quoted text within quotation marks, and always include a reference for any source at the end of your paper (ask your instructor about the format you should use).
• All of your graded coursework must be created by you without help from anyone in the course or otherwise. If you have questions about this, you should ask your instructor before submitting work for evaluation.
• All course materials you receive or access are protected by copyright laws. You may use course materials and make copies for your own use, but unauthorized distribution and/or uploading of materials without the instructor’s express permission is strictly prohibited. Students who engage in the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials may be held in violation of the University’s Code of Conduct and/or liable under Federal and State laws.

Disability Access

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources website provides contact information for every Penn State campus (Links to an external site.) at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources/disability-coordinator. For further information, please visit the Student Disability Resources website (Links to an external site.) at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources.

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation (Links to an external site.) described at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources/applying-for-services. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Penn State's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) office offers residential and distance-based Penn State students non-emergency mental health services in the form of case management, community resource referrals, supportive listening, care giver support, and much more.

Students may request assistance from CAPS regarding a variety of common mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, and stress. CAPS services are designed to enhance students' ability to fully benefit from the University environment and academic experience. Call CAPS at 814-863-0395 (8 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday EST) or submit an inquiry online (Links to an external site.) at https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/form/caps-contact-form to schedule an appointment with a mental health advocate, who can help you address mental health concerns that may interfere with your academic progress or social development. This appointment will include a one-on-one session that can be conducted via telephone, teleconference (Skype, FaceTime, etc.), or locally at Penn State University Park. For more information on services provided through CAPS, please visit the Penn State CAPS website (Links to an external site.) at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/. Students enrolled at the World Campus are also encouraged to visit its Mental Health Services page (Links to an external site.) at http://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/student-services/mental-health-services.

Reminder: These services are for non-emergencies only. If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis situation, please call your local crisis center or 911.

Nondiscrimination

Penn State is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, admission and employment for all persons. It is the policy of the University to maintain an environment free of harassment and free of discrimination against any person because of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, physical or mental disability, gender, perceived gender, gender identity, genetic information or political ideas. Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the realization of the University's educational mission, and will not be tolerated. For further information, please visit the Affirmative Action Office website (Links to an external site.) at https://affirmativeaction.psu.edu/.

Reporting a Bias Incident

Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated and can be reported through Educational Equity via the Report Bias webpage (Links to an external site.) at http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/.

TEACH Act

The materials on the course website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.

University Emergency Procedure

In the event of a University-wide emergency, the course may be subject to changes. Exigent circumstances may require alternative delivery methods, class materials, and interactions with the instructor and/or classmates. In addition, there may be revisions to grading policies and the Calendar, including assignments and their due dates.

In the event of a University-wide emergency, please refer to the Canvas website at https://psu.instructure.com for specific information related to the course. For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to the Penn State website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at https://www.psu.edu or Penn State News website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at https://news.psu.edu.

To register with PSUAlert, a service designed to alert the Penn State community when situations arise that affect the ability of a campus to function normally, please go to the PSU Alert website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at https://psualert.psu.edu/. Subscribers can receive alerts by text message to cell phones, and also can elect to have alerts sent to an email address.

Syllabus Subject to Change

The class will likely adhere to the information outlined in this Syllabus and the Calendar, but adjustments may be made based on what actually transpires during the semester. Remaining in the course after reading this Syllabus will signal that you accept the possibility of changes and responsibility for being aware of them.