Philosophy 102: Introduction to Logic
Winter Quarter 2015 Syllabus
Course Description
Logic is the study of methods for evaluating whether the premises of an argument adequately support its
conclusion. Philosophy 102 focuses on deductive arguments, arguments in which the premises, if true, are
supposed to guarantee the truth of the conclusion. Once you have mastered the material in this course, you
will be better able to evaluate your own arguments and those of others.
Logic is a tool that can be applied to any intellectual endeavor in which people attempt to give
reasons to support conclusions, but it is especially useful in the study of philosophy, where there is a
particular emphasis on the development and evaluation of arguments. In addition, logic provides the basis
for both mathematics and computer science, and so the study of logic is the study of the foundations of
those fields. And, finally, logic is a sub-field of philosophy that is interesting in its own right.
Mastering the material in this course should help you in all of your intellectual endeavors, but
should especially help you in reasoning well about ethics, politics, religion, and philosophy. In addition,
mastering the material in this course will prepare you for the study of logic at more advanced levels.
Finally, mastering the material in this course will help prepare you for entrance exams to graduate school.
Philosophy 102 covers elementary symbolic logic. It does not cover such topics as morality, the
existence of God, skepticism, knowledge, persons, or freedom. Students interested in these topics should
take Philosophy 112, 113, or 114, which are offered every quarter. Mastering the material in this course
will help you in those courses. Philosophy 102 is a prerequisite for nearly every 300- and 400-level course
in Philosophy, as well as Philosophy 202, Intermediate Logic, which is offered Fall Quarter each year.
Instructor
Daniel Howard-Snyder has been in the Philosophy Department at Western since 2001. He received his BA
in Philosophy and Religion from Seattle Pacific University and his PhD in Philosophy from Syracuse
University. He is the father of twin teenage boys, William and Peter, and husband of Frances, also a
professor in the Philosophy Department at Western. He is the author of numerous articles in epistemology,
philosophy of religion, and philosophical theology, and he is the editor or co-editor of The Evidential
Argument from Evil (Indiana 1996), Faith, Freedom, and Rationality (Rowman & Littlefield 1996), Divine
Hiddenness (Cambridge 2001), and The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil (Blackwell 2013). He
is also co-author of The Power of Logic (McGraw-Hill 2013, 5th edition). He routinely teaches introductory
and intermediate logic (Phil 102/202), epistemology (Phil 410), and philosophy of religion (Phil 335).
Office hours
Mondays and Wednesdays 12:30-1:30pm at Bond Hall 312
Course email
phil102winter2015@gmail.com (operational on the first day of classes)
Course website
http://faculty.wwu.edu/howardd/phil102/phil102.html
Course text
Chapters 1, 2, 7, and 8 from The Power of Logic, 5th edition, co-authored by Frances Howard-Snyder,
Daniel Howard-Snyder, and Ryan Wasserman, available as a custom-made paperback at the University
Bookstore. Alternatively, the entire book is for rent and for sale on Amazon.com.
Course goals
The overall goal is to help students develop and refine their natural ability to reason. More specifically, by
the end of the course, students should (1) understand the basic concepts of argument assessment, be able to
identify several “famous” forms of argument, and construct counterexamples to invalid forms of argument;
(2) be able to identify arguments in simple English and reconstruct them into well-crafted form for logical
assessment; (3) master the technique of using truth-tables to evaluate validity and invalidity; and (4) learn
and implement the inference and equivalence rules in a system of natural deduction.
1
Course policies and procedures
Corresponding to each day that our class is scheduled to meet, there is a session listed in the Course
Schedule. Among other things, you will find at each session the reading and Exercise Sets that you should
do before class on that day. Students who excel in this course faithfully do their Exercise Sets in a timely
fashion. I recommend that you allot about two hours on average to do exercises and reading for each
session. Sometimes you will need more; sometimes less. We will do many of the exercises in class, so
bring paper and pencil to get them done.
The course grade is based on a 100 point scale. Exercise sets are collectively worth 40 points, 1
point each. Two exams are collectively worth 40 points, 20 points each. You cannot pass the course unless
you pass at least one of the exams. The two BLPR writing assignments are collectively worth 20 points, 10
points each.
Typically, each time we meet I will do three things. First, I will entertain questions regarding the
Exercise Sets due on that day. Second, I will highlight various things from the reading assigned for that
day. Third, I will do exercises that will prepare you to do the next Exercise Sets.
Exercise Sets & Extra Credit
See the Exercise Set link at the website for more info. You are required to complete 40 of the exercise sets.
You must complete a set to get credit for it. There is no partial credit for a set. To complete an
Exercise Set, you must get all of the exercises in the set right. You can be assured of getting an exercise
right if you either
(1) attend class and we do an exercise together,
(2) you do it at the Power of Logic Web Tutor here http://www.poweroflogic.com/cgi/menu.cgi,
(3) you do it with the Phil 102 Study Groups, or
(4) you do it with me at my office hours.
40% of your course grade is based on 40 required exercise sets, worth one point each. You must handwrite
each exercise. No exercise sets will be accepted late without an email letter from the student requesting
permission to turn them in late sent prior to the due date and time.
Bellingham Lectures in Philosophy and Religion
The BLPR–http://www.wwu.edu/blpr/–is an annual lecture series. This year it is sponsored by the
Provost’s Office, the Office of Undergraduate Education, the College of Business and Economics, the
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Ethics Initiative, and the Department of Philosophy.
Christian Miller, Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University, and Director of The Character
Project, is the BLPR 2015 Distinguished Lecturer. See the link at the website for more information.
You are required to attend Dr. Miller’s afternoon lectures on Thursday, February 26, 4:105:30pm, at AH 100, AND Friday, February 27, 4:10-5:30, at AH 100. Two classes—Wed, Feb 25, and
Fri, Feb 27—will be replaced by these two lectures. If you cannot attend a lecture due to a schedule
conflict, e.g. employment, you must see me at office hours within the first three weeks of the Quarter to
make alternative arrangements.
At his lectures, Dr. Miller will be giving reasons for various conclusions. You have two writing
assignments, one for each lecture: Write out (legibly!) at least one of Dr. Miller’s arguments as clearly as
you can. Be sure to carefully distinguish the premises from the main conclusion, and be sure to distinguish
sub-conclusions from the main conclusion. Once you’ve done that, write out reasons for or against what
you regard as the weakest premise in his arguments. In the past, students have found that the extensive
Question-and-Answer session immediately following the lecture has been very helpful in doing this
assignment. As you leave the lecture, turn in your assignment at one of the designated locations. I’m
looking for a good-faith effort on your part, not something publishable. You are not allowed to turn in
someone else’s writing assignment. Note: no more than one page per lecture. Be sure to place your Wnumber at the top of the page.
Out-of-class help
Western provides magnificent resources for help outside of class. There are my regularly scheduled office
hours, of course. There are also Drop-In Tutoring and 102 Study Groups that meet twice a week. See the
2
Tutoring Center website for details and schedules: http://www.wwu.edu/tutoring/. There’s also one-on-one
tutoring with a philosophy major, but the university does not pay for it; if you’re interested, ask me about it.
Unscheduled exams
Unscheduled exams are exams not taken at the scheduled time, e.g. makeup exams due to illness,
emergency, or conflict with other exams. All unscheduled exams will be given in accordance with the
policy stated here, http://www.wwu.edu/assess/makeup.shtml, no exceptions. NOTE: fill in the form as
much as you can and then email it to me at Dan.Howard-Snyder@wwu.edu.
Academic honesty
In this course I will uphold all aspects of Western’s Academic Honesty Policy and Procedure, and Student
Rights and Responsibilities Code. These are published in the Western catalog in Appendix C, University
Academic Policies. If you have any questions about Western’s policy, you may see these sources:
 Plagiarism Policies & Guidelines: libguides.wwu.edu/plagiarism
 The Student’s Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism: www. wwu.edu/soc/guides.shtml
Note: You are allowed to think through exercises together. However, you are not allowed simply to copy
completed exercises from another student or any other source; nor are you allowed simply to give
completed exercises to another student.
Reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodation for persons with documented disabilities should be established within the first
week of class and arranged through Disability Resources for Students:
650-3083; drs@wwu.edu; http://www.wwu.edu/depts/drs/.
Student services
Western encourages students to seek assistance and support at the onset of an illness, difficulty, or crisis.
 In the case of a medical concern or question, please contact the Health Center: 650-3400 or
wwu.edu/ chw/student_health/
 In the case of an emotional or psychological concern or question, please contact the Counseling
Center: 650-3400 or wwu.edu/chw/
 In the case of a health and safety concern, please contact the University Police: 650-3555 or
ps.wwu.edu/default.aspx
 In the case of a family or personal crisis or emergency, please contact the Dean of Students: 6503775 or wwu.edu/dos/contact_us.shtml
Flexibility statement
The syllabus and schedule for this course are subject to change. Changes, if any, will be announced in
class. Students will be held responsible for all changes.
3