PHIL 155.001 – Introduction to Mathematical Logic

Instructor: Kyle Driggers. This course meets MTWRF 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. in CW 208.

This is an introductory course in deductive logic. In this course, you’ll learn how to tell the difference between good and bad arguments with the help of a formal logical language. After we discuss the concepts of valid and sound arguments, you’ll learn how to translate messy English arguments into a clear formal language so that you can study the logical structure of those arguments. Most importantly you will develop the skill of taking apart complicated arguments and breaking them into manageable pieces to see whether those pieces add up to a valid argument. Anyone interested in becoming a better critical thinker (and anyone who enjoys solving puzzles!) will benefit greatly from this course.

This course satisfies a QR requirement and has no prerequisites. Grading will be divided among in- and out-of-class assignments and two exams.

The textbook is Colin Allen and Michael Hand’s Logic Primer, in case you’d like a sneak peek at what we’ll be working on.

If you’d like to know more about this course, please email me at rkdrigge@live.unc.edu.