Logic MIN

Program Purpose

Developing the skill of being able to think well is one of the central purposes of a university education, and since the advent of the university, the study of logic has been viewed as the premier method for attaining that skill. Studying logic formalizes the thinking processes that students already use, and this helps them avoid making ordinary mistakes of reasoning. It also helps students to clearly understand conceptual relations, which in turn enhances writing skills. Studying logic also advances understanding of symbolic systems generally and in particular those of mathematics and computer science. Logic, then, occupies the ground that is intermediate between literary and quantitative analysis.

 

The logic minor at BYU centers on a three course sequence. In the first course students learn how to avoid fallacious reasoning, how to formulate and evaluate the validity of syllogistic arguments, how to symbolize statements and connective relations among statements, and how to appraise the validity of arguments. The second course develops their understanding of first order logic and axiomatic systems. The third course takes them through the highest results of metalogic. Additional courses in philosophy allow students to apply argumentative methods to philosophical content and gain further insights into the historical development of logic.

Curricular Development

(15 Hours)

    1. Complete the following: PHIL 205 : Introduction to Formal Logic. (3:3:0) PHIL 305 : Intermediate Formal Logic. (3:3:0) PHIL 405 : Advanced Logic and Metalogic. (3:3:0)
    2. Complete two other approved courses.
    3. No more than nine hours may double-count for the philosophy major and the logic minor. 

*Hours include courses that may fulfill university core requirements.

 

Learning Outcomes

Logic and Metalogic

1. Construct, symbolize, and evaluate proofs in syllogistic logic, truth-functional logic, first-order (quantificational) logic, set-theory and Peano arithmetic.

2. Understand the development of logic, including metalogical results.

Assessed 2015

Courses that Contribute: None
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging

Evidence of Learning

Direct Measures

1. Final exams from Philosophy 205, 305 and 405

2. Department exit exam

Learning and Teaching Assessment and Improvement

At least annually the Committee on Teaching and Curriculum meets with the Committee on Assessment and Communication to review information from the various direct and indirect measures of the program. Recommendations are prepared for the department, which reviews the information and makes plans for improvements to curriculum and teaching based on the findings.