Teaching Assistants

Section	Time	Teaching Assistant	Office and Phone	Office Hours
501	8:00-8:50 Friday	Deke Gould	Bolton 307, 862-6973	MTWF 10:00-11:00 AM
502	9:10-10:00 Friday	Deke Gould	Bolton 307, 862-6973	MTWF 10:00-11:00 AM
503	11:30-12:20 Friday	Cailin Emmett	Bolton 302C, 862-1435
504	12:40-1:30 Friday	Cailin Emmett	Bolton 302C, 862-1435
505	1:50-2:40 Friday	Cailin Emmett	Bolton 302C, 862-1435
506	8:00-8:50 Thursday	Peter Sutton	Bolton 305D, 862-6975
507	9:35-10:25 Thursday	Deke Gould	Bolton 307, 862-6973	MTWF 10:00-11:00 AM
508	11:10-12:00 Thursday	Peter Sutton	Bolton 305D, 862-6975
509	12:45-1:35 Thursday	Peter Sutton	Bolton 305D, 862-6975

Supplemental Instruction

Ryan Phillips

Times: Sun- 5-6, Mon 4:30-5:30, Wed

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT: GRADES AVAILABLE ONLINE

Please check the schedule...

How actually to prove No. S118

Course Text (required)

Logic Primer, 2nd edition (Allen & Hand, MIT Press 2001)
How actually to prove No. S117

Have you ever wondered what makes Mr. Spock or Commander Data tick? Or whether Rush Limbaugh's arguments are any good? And what about the Justices of the Supreme Court? Or politicians in Congress?

This class introduces students to formal techniques for evaluating arguments. These are the principles that underlie all sound reasoning as well as the design of all contemporary computer systems.

We cover a natural deduction system of sentential logic, truth-tables, a natural deduction system of first-order predicate logic, and the basic ideas of model theory. Exams are designed to test skill with the formal systems, particularly translation from English to formulas, proof techniques, and methods for showing invalidity. The skills that you will learn with these specific methods are not ends in themselves, but tools to help you understand what it really means to reason logically.

There are no prerequisites for the course. It satisfies a quantitative reasoning requirement for many students. With application, students learn to be more analytical, which is useful preparation for many careers and for the standardized tests such as LSAT and GRE that must be taken to enter those careers.

Grading Basis

Grades will be assigned on the basis of three exams, each worth 33.3^.%, and optional quizzes and other extra credit work (max 10% bonus).

Lecture and Exam Schedule

The lecture and exam schedule contains the following exam dates (midterm dates may change):

• 1st midterm March 4 on the sentential system (chapters 1 and 2)
• 2nd midterm April 22 on the predicate system (chapters 3 and 4)
• Comprehensive final on Friday, May 3, 10:00 a.m..

• Class Attendance
  If you can learn the material without coming to class, more power to you. But you should be aware of the following facts...
  • The text book is not designed for self-study. Class lectures provide essential additional information.
  • Logic, like mathematics, requires daily practice and the pace of the course accelerates as the semester goes by.
  • Some extra credit opportunities occur only in class.
• Exams
  • Midterms and final will be open book and notes -- but not open neighbor!
  • Midterm dates will be confirmed with at least 7 days notice.
  • Make up tests will be provided only in cases of authorized absence.
  • Bring your own paper (blue books not required).
• Quizzes
  • Quizzes will be closed book and notes during class time, but will involve a homework option when you may use notes and collaborate with others
  • Completely correct answers turned in at end of quiz period receive double credit
  • Homework option: Completely correct answers turned in at beginning of next class get normal credit
  • No partial credit on quizzes: they are bonus points! Logic requires accuracy
  • Since all quiz points are for extra credit, there will be no makeup assignments for quizzes even in cases of authorized absence from class. If you miss class it is your responsibility to obtain and deliver the assignment as required
  • Additional extra credit will be available via the course web page
• Additional Help
  • We have the world's first world-wide-web based automatic proof checker and interactive logic tutorials at http://logic.tamu.edu/
  • Course web page at http://aristotle.tamu.edu/~rasmith/Courses/Logic/2002a/
  • There will be organized Supplemental Instruction sessions for this course. Watch the web site for details.

Statement for Students with Disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Office of Support Services for Students with Disabilities in Room 126 of the Student Services Building. The phone number is 845-1637.