PHL207: Introduction to Logic (syllabus below) is the core logic course for philosophy majors at Hillsdale College. All students at the College are required to take Classical Logic and Rhetoric and Math and Deductive Reasoning as a part of the core curriculum, which gives students some familiarity with Aristotelian Logic (in the former) and some basic sentential logic (in the latter). As such, one of the initial challenges our Introduction to Logic course faces is making sure that it doesn’t overlap too much with the other logic courses on offer at the College. One of the biggest effects this had on the syllabus was that we spend relatively little time on Aristotelian logic, and then only toward the end of the semester, which allows us to better contrast it with predicate logic.
The course is largely modeled off of the logic course I took my freshman year at Ball State University (taught by the late, great Dr. Thomas R. Foster), which first gave me my love for logic. The course has been extremely well received, and I’m now the faculty advisor for the Hillsdale College Formal Logic Club on campus. (And even though this sounds like it might be the one of the most niche and nerdy clubs on campus, I’m happy to say that this year we have over 90 members, out of a student body of only 1500!)
So, what has made the course a success? To be sure, I don’t think it has much to do with the syllabus itself. As you can see, the syllabus is, I think, fairly boiler-plate. Undoubtedly, a huge part of what has made the course a success is the fact that I tend to have absolutely fantastic students, who are (i) interested in learning logic, (ii) comfortable in the classroom and around each other, and (iii) appreciative of my sense of humor (miraculously!). (To be sure, I think bringing humor into the classroom can go a long way toward making students feel relaxed and comfortable; and, in my experience, if students are feeling relaxed and comfortable, they’ll be much more likely to participate and ask questions.) But I try to meet my students where they are; I know that a lot of them are interested in theology and literature, so I try to use examples from those disciplines in the classroom. And I try to simply have fun with the lectures. For example, I’ll have a Star Wars themed day, where all of the examples we are considering for the day are about the Star Wars movies. Last year, when the first images of a black hole were released, I generated examples and proofs that focused on the science of black holes. While none of this really manifests itself on the syllabus, it does allow us to have a fair amount fun in the classroom, and (I think/hope) it allows the students to see my passion for logic—with the hope that that passion is contagious.
A small point that might easily go unnoticed: it is not an accident that the class is on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule (as opposed to a Tuesday-Thursday schedule). In my view, if students are going to learn and use logic, it’s best if they are practicing what they’re learning on a fairly regular basis.
Another small note: My preferred logic textbook, Logic and Philosophy: A Modern Introduction, is currently out of print; thankfully, however, a new edition of the book is due to be released by Hackett Publishing in time for the Fall Semester of 2020.
I hope the syllabus is helpful. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
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Ian Church
Ian Church is an Assistant Professor at Hillsdale College. He is the co-author (with Peter Samuelson) of Intellectual Humility: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Science (2017) and the co-editor (with Robert Hartman) of the Handbook of the Philosophy and Psychology of Luck (2019). His areas of specialization are epistemology and the philosophy of psychology.
