Today's professionals need to construct good arguments and understand that using logic is important to their success. With excellent examples from real-life sources-including film, news media, pop culture, court cases, letters to editors, philosophical, and scientific works-A First Course in Logic helps readers see how logic relates to real life and makes the material more accessible and engaging. Over 1,000 exercises are included and questions similar to those on the LSAT show readers how what they are learning is relevant to pre-professional exams.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"?Carter's book is superior, hands down... I look forward to using it [in my course]."
-Stephen C. Leach, Minnesota State University, Mankato
"I am particularly impressed by how well integrated the whole text is. Professor Carter does a splendid job of preparing students for what will come later in the text, and reminding them of what came before. I believe that Professor Carter has made a real contribution to logic texts..."
-Brian Domino, Miami University, Ohio
"The frequent use of the same examples is one of the more striking things about the Carter text."
-Richard Lee, University of Arkansas
"I think that writing a good introductory logic text is a daunting task, but Carter has managed it very well. I would seriously consider using his text."
-Robert J. Delete, Seattle University
"The author proposes a worthy set of goals for the introductory logic book and succeeds admirably in achieving them? the book covers the right subjects in the right order with the right amount of detail and in the right ways...Carter's use of the same proofs in more than one context is an ingenious way to achieve his goal of demonstrating the unity of logic as a discipline... A First Course in Logic is extremely well written. Each topic is clearly explained in direct, engaging language? This is an excellent textbook for the introductory logic course. Its central strengths are the clarity and accessibility of the writing style, the consistency of its development of deductive proofs in different levels of logical discourse, and the helpful descriptions of the historical contexts in which each of the elements of logic were developed?K. Codell Carter is to be congratulated for a job well done."
-Garth Kemerling, Newberry College, SC
"The sections on the history of logic are excellent! The text is successful in presenting logic as a unified discipline. This is something that is missing from all of the major texts, and I commend the author for it. Another unique element is the focus on LSAT questions. These exercises are invaluable?The repetition of proofs is an excellent idea! Seeing the different approaches to the same argument is an excellent pedagogical tool."
-William T. Myers, Birmingham Southern College
"The inclusion of LSAT-style questions throughout the text is a bit of genius... Not only do they allow for some variety, but many of my students take Logic purely as LSAT preparation. Integrating these problems into the main flow of a course is a great strength of the author's approach."
-Peter Bradley, Washington University in St. Louis
"His examples and exercises are one of the book?s main strengths... I find Carter's [writing] style immensely appealing. He gives an example for almost every claim he makes, and the examples are easy to follow and compelling. His writing is clear, straight-forward, and flows easily? He's chosen [the examples] cleverly with a mix from both "everyday" and philosophical sources. I especially like those from literature, especially novels... The LSAT material is highly desirable. A fair number of students do take Introductory Logic as an aid on the LSAT, and the material aimed directly at that will not only be helpful to them, but a 'pull' for more students to the course."
-Houston Craighead, Winthrop University, South Carolina
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Zielgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 235 mm
Breite: 191 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-321-10882-1 (9780321108821)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
K. Codell Carter believes that teaching should be a conversation between friends, and he wrote A First Course in Logic to reflect this ideal. He has taught more than four thousand beginning logic students throughout his teaching career.
Carter is currently a professor at Brigham Young University where, in addition to logic courses, he teaches courses on the history of philosophy (especially Kant and Marx) along with freshman and junior level writing courses. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and his Masters of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Utah and holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University.
His publications include works on 19th and 20th Century medicine, and when not thinking about ways to make the study of logic more relevant to students' lives, he enjoys backpacking, gardening, fly fishing, old books, and mountain lakes above the timberline.
Each chapter contains: exercises, LSAT questions, "What Will I Learn in this Chapter?;" "What Have I Learned in This Chapter?;" "How Can I Apply What I Have Learned in This Chapter?;" and "Where Do I Go From Here?"
1. Basic Concepts of Logic.
Arguments.
The Historical Roots of Logic.
Induction and Deduction.
Validity and Soundness.
Logical Strength and Cogency.
Refutation.
Proof.
2. Logic and Language.
Use and Mention.
The Uses of Language.
Kinds of Definitions.
Ways of Defining.
Rules for Lexical Definitions.
Arguments in Context.
Fallacies.
3. Syllogistic Logic.
Aristotelian Logic.
Diagramming and Symbolizing Categorical Statements.
Categorical Equivalences.
Syllogisms.
Using Venn Diagrams to Refute Invalid Syllogisms.
Using Canons to Test Syllogisms for Invalidity.
Syllogistic Fallacies.
Enthymemes and Sorites.
Proofs of Valid Syllogisms.
The Limits of Syllogistic Logic.
4. Truth-functional Logic: Symbolization and Refutation.
Stoic Logic.
Symbolizing Truth-functional Arguments.
Truth Tables.
Classifying and Comparing Statements.
Implication and Equivalence.
Refuting Invalid Truth-functional Arguments.
Truth-functional Fallacies.
The Sheffer Arrow.
5. Truth-functional Logic: Proofs
Statement-Forms and Their Instances.
Modus Ponens and Rules for Conjunctions, Disjunctions and Biconditionals.
Conditional Proof.
Indirect Proof.
Shortcut Rules.
Shortcut Rules, Continued.
Strategies and Tactics.
Other Uses for Truth-functional Proofs.
The Nature of Truth-functional Proofs.
6. Quantificational Logic.
Frege's Project.
Quantificational Notation: Monadic Predicates.
Quantificational Notation: Polyadic Predicates.
Quantificational Proofs.
The Nature of Quantificational Logic.
Properties of Relations and Second-Order Logic.
The Outcome of Frege's Project.
7. Inductive Logic.
Inductive Arguments.
Appeal to Authority.
Argument by Analogy.
The Strength of Inductive Arguments.
Hypothesis and Confirmation.
Causal Reasoning.
Argument by Generalization.
Samples.
Probabilistic Reasoning.
Solutions to Starred Exercises.
Glossary/Index.
