First Steps in Formal Logic

As Tweedledee says, "If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be: but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic" (Lewis Carroll, 'Through the Looking Glass'). Like Tweedledee, we all like to think we reason logically, that is, in coherent and valid patterns. Indeed, according to a famous 17th-century textbook, logic is the 'art of thinking'. Logic is 'formal' insofar as it focuses on the structure (rather than the content) of arguments, and insofar as it employs symbols to lay it bare. The course is for those who would like to learn how to formalise or codify arguments, test them for validity, and hence explore the nature of good reasoning. No prior knowledge is required: being curious about the formal structure of reasoning, and being excited about the meaning and use of symbols such as the 'horseshoe', the 'turnstile', and the 'inverted A', is enough.