CORE079 Logic for Everyone

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. BcA. Jiří Raclavský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. BcA. Jiří Raclavský, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Philosophy – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
no special pre-requisites;
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 70 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/70, only registered: 0/70, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/70
Course objectives
In our society, logic plays an important role not only in e.g. computer software and hardware but also in our everyday reasoning and rational argumentation. It has been a routine part of education at universities since their very beginning as one of liberal arts. The course introduces the subject from (a) practical and (b) theoretical perspectives. (a) Practical exercises focus on (i) checking (deductive) arguments, while a nontrivial amount of exercises deploys (ii) Natural Deduction, a logical system that models reasoning. (b) The partial logical subjects are (iii) framed systematically, being accompanied by selected outlooks and connections. Among them, special attention is paid to (iv) logical paradoxes and nonclassical logics (esp. modal, epistemic and three-valued logics). A presentation of the phenomenal logical discoveries by Kurt Gödel, a native of Brno, provides a culmination of the course.
Learning outcomes
  • overview of selected methods of classical logic:
  • logical evaluation of (deductive) arguments
  • logical reasoning (natural deduction)
  • constructions and limits of logical frameworks of reasoning
  • overview of selected problems of classical logic: nonclassical logics, paradoxes, etc.
  • critical thinking
  • analytic and algoritmic thinking
    • Syllabus
    • (1) logic: main ideas
    • (2) logical paradoxes
    • (3) validity of arguments (deductive/inductive)
    • (4) truth, form and logical validity, logical consequence (truth-table method)
    • (5) natural deduction
    • (6) theory of argumentation and logical fallacies
    • (7) predication and quantification
    • (8) square of opposition (equivalences and contradictories)
    • (9) syllogisms (Venn's diagrams and natural deduction)
    • (10) nonclassical logics
    • (11) formal systems and their limits (Kurt Gödel)
    • (12) logics and computers
    Teaching methods
    Standard contact teaching:
  • each week there is 1 lesson (2 teaching hours)
  • each lesson explains a theory/technique and its application in practical examples
  • after each e-lesson a short e-test as homework (see below)
    • Interactive syllabus contains (for each lesson):
  • text/presentation PDF explaining each problem + method of its solution
  • links to exercises as e-tests in IS
  • links to recommended materials
  • links to supporting external textual or video materials
    • Homeworks:
  • each week an online exercise (a short e-test, i.e. ROPOT in IS) on the topics of the lecture
  • voluntary: self-study of recommended materials
  • voluntary: logical puzzle
    • Assessment methods
  • Accomplished regular short HOMEWORKS (as e-tests) (one gets several points)
  • PREPARATION before a lecture - a mini e-tests (one gets a point)
  • Participation in e-classes (one gets some point, too)
  • Final e-test (FT), only for those with insufficient work during the semester (i.e. if not having enough points; the exact number is in IS-Syllabus called "Welcome and Info")
  • - FT is similar to regular e-tests (i.e. homeworks)
  • - FT is made as a selection of the key topics/techniques of the course
    • Language of instruction
    Czech
    Teacher's information
    • All required materials for this course are in Interactive syllabi in IS.
    • Recommended additional materials (except books) are linked from IS.
    • Consultations possible, after an agreement.
    • For students of mathematically oriented subjects (e.g. computer science): the course doesn't replace math-like courses of logic, it rather supplements them.
    • The course may serve as an introduction to logic used in artificial intelligence (knowledge representation, reasoning, natural language processing).
    • The course may serve as an introduction to logic for linguists, librarians (information science), lawyers, psychologists etc.
    • Who is interested in logic may get some additional info (on other courses taught at MU etc.) at http://www.phil.muni.cz/~raclavsky/logika/
    The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
    • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
    • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/CORE079