PHIL 431 Philosophical Topics in Logic

Announcements
Always under construction, newest annnouncements at the top.

Spring, 2010

Professor Stern
Phone: (818) 677-4853
Sierra Tower, Room 508
Office hours: M W 7:00 - 7:45 AM, M 2:00 - 2:30 PM, W 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Email: cindy.stern@csun.edu

Syllabus

Schedule

Adjusted assignments for January 27 - February 3 (Posted January 26, 2010)

For January 27:

As indicated in the email sent to the class on January 25, you should read two of the background files listed on the week of January 25 - 31 on moodle. The links there are labelled:

Background 3: Introduction to restricted quantifiers

Background 5: Set theoretic concepts

See the next announcement down this page regarding use of moodle. Bring these files to class so we can discuss your questions about them.
On January 27 we will continue translating sentences from English into a typical language for predicate logic. We will translate the sentences in a attached to the email sent to you on January 25, “N3 for Jan 27.pdf”. We will then look at translations of some of the same sentences using restricted quantifiers. The relevant files are

N3 for Jan 27.pdf (from email)

Background 4: Translate again with restricted quantifiers (from moodle)

For February 1:

Files to bring to class, from the moodle list for January 25 -31:

Background 6: Traditional Semantics

Background 7: Substitutional interpretation of quantifiers

Background 8: Semantics for restricted quantifiers

Before class, read “Background 6”. emphasizing the sections on the quantifiers. In class we will also talk about the quantifier sections in “Background 7”. Depending on how challenging the class finds these, we may also be ready to start talking about “Background 8”, again with an emphasis on the sections with the quantifiers.

For February 3:

If we have not covered “Background 8” adequately on February 1, we will discuss it on February 3. If time permits, we will begin discussing the Introduction and Chapter 1 of our main text, McKay's Plural Predication.

PHIL 431 now on moodle (Posted January 26, 2010)

Class materials will be posted on moodle. To get to them, go to
http://moodle.csun.edu/
Use your usual CSUN login and password. You should then be presented with a link for each of your courses that is on moodle.

Background files that I have already emailed to you are posted in the first week, even though we will need more than a week to cover them. In some cases we will probably go over only portions rather than the entire file. One more file is included. The names begin with ‘B1’ - ‘B8’ to make the order clear.

I will post screen notes from class when possible. These files will have names that begin ‘N1’, ‘N2’, etc.

Fuller schedule of reading assignments posted (Posted January 16, 2010)

A tentative schedule of reading assignments for the entire semester has been posted. This schedule is subject to revision. Furlough dates are pending approval, on which notification is due January 22. More importantly, there are likely to be adjustments taking into account the time needed for discussion of the readings.

Schedule under construction (Posted January 15, 2010)

Most reading assignments will be in the required text, but related journal articles will also be assigned. I am reviewing a few such articles to read early in the course. Since the schedule for subsequent assignments will depend on how many outside articles we read in the first couple of weeks, only the first couple of assignments are shown in the schedule as I write this (January 15, 2 PM). Additional assignments will be scheduled in the near future.

Return to COURSE INFORMATION LINKS at the top of this page.

Last modified January 26, 2010.