Introduction to Philosophical Argument
Florian Steinberger
The aim of this module is to introduce M.A. students with little or no academic background in
philosophy—‘conversion’ students—to some of the basic concepts and issues involved in the study of
logic. The course introduces students to the basic methods of formal logic. Students will learn how to
translate sentences and arguments from ordinary English into a formal language and how to read
formal expressions they may come across in philosophical papers. Upon successful completion of the
module students will have a grounding in the essentials of logic that will be useful both in itself and as
a basis for further philosophical study.
Reading:
 Logic (manuscript)
Lectures: Lectures for this module will be held in ** on Mondays from 6-7 during Spring
Term by Florian Steinberger (f.steinberger@bbk.ac.uk).
Exercise class: Exercise classes for this module will be held in **, on Mondays from 7-8
during Spring Term by Florian Steinbeger (f.steinberger@bbk.ac.uk).
Reading and exercise classes: The textbook for these classes is a manuscript authored
mainly by Professors Alexander Hieke (Salzburg) and Hannes Leitgeb (LMU Munich)
and to a much lesser extent by me. Most lectures come with assigned reading, which will
help you understand the lecture. Also, and crucially, you will be asked to do weekly
exercises relating to the material covered in the reading and in the lectures. You are
strongly encouraged to work through the exercises the best you can and to take full
advantage of the weekly exercise classes in which you will go over the exercises and
during which you will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Assessment: This module is assessed by a two-hour examination, held in the Summer
Term. Past papers may be consulted at www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/elib/exam
Moodle: Electronic copies of course materials are available through Moodle at
moodle.bbk.ac.uk. You will need your ITS login name and password to enter.
Winter Term
Week 1. Introduction
Reading: No reading – introductory session
Exercise class: No exercises – introductory session.
I. Propositional logic (PL)
Week 2. Logical grammar, types and tokens, use and mention
Reading: Ch. 1
Exercise class: No exercises
Week 3. Logical operators
Reading: Ch. 2
Exercise class: Ex. 1
Week 4. Translating to PL
Reading: Ch. 3
Exercise class: Ex. 2.
Week 5. The language of PL
Reading: Ch. 4
Exercise class: Ex. 3
READING WEEK
Week 6. Semantics of PL I
Reading: Ch. 5
Exercise class: Ex. 4
Week 7. Semantics of PL II
Reading: Ch. 5
Exercise class: Ex. 4
II. Quantificational logic (QL)
Week 8. Translating to QL
Reading: Ch. 8
Exercise class: Ex. 6
Spring Term
Week 9. The language of QL
Reading: Ch. 9
Exercise class: Ex. 8
Week 10. Semantics of QL
Reading: Ch. 10
Exercise class: Ex. 9