Introduction to Formal Logic: Catholic Homeschooling

Formal logic and philosophy are crucial to a core curriculum. We believe that it's not just an optional course, but a vital course.  Information on our spring course is below, but first we'd like to introduce you to Mr. Campbell who will be teaching Introduction to Formal Logic:


 

Introductionto Formal Logic: Thinking with Excellence

(click on course title for registration information)

Class dates:  Tuesdays, January 21 to May 6, 2014. No class March 5 nor April 2.

Total classes: 14

Starting time: 4:30 PM Eastern (3:30 Central)

Duration: 1hr

Prerequisite: None

Suggested grade level: 7^th to 9^th grade, but anyone who has never had any formal logic training is welcome

Suggested high school credit: 1 full semester Logic

Fee:  $180 for all 14 classes if you register on or before November 1, 2013. $200 after Nov. 1st.

Course description: This intensive 14-week course will introduce students to the principles of formal logic as presented in the book Traditional Logic: Introduction to Formal Logic by Memoria Press. The aim of formal logic is to teach students how to think properly, focusing on the consistency and process of argumentation (the content of argumentation will be covered in material logic).

Course outline:

Week 1: The Concept of a Concept: Simple Apprehension and the act of forming a concept in the mind

Week 2: Properties of Simple Apprehension: Comprehension and extension, two properties of simple apprehension, demonstrated using the Greek Porphyrian Tree

Week 3: Words and How we Use Them: Signification, supposition and the different ways we can use words to mean things

Week 4: The Act of Judgment: Moving beyond simple ideas, we look at what it means to make a judgment and put a statement into logical form

Week 5: The Four Statements of Logic: The four logical statements, A, I, E, and O and the difference between the quality and quantity of statements.

Week 6: Relations of Opposition: Contradictory and contrary statements

Week 7: The Subs: Subcontrary and subaltern statements and the essence of their relations to one another

Week 8: Distribution: The status of a particular term in regard to its extension

Week 9: Logical Equivalence: Converting statements through obversion, conversion and contraposition

Week 10: Deductive Inference: Introduction to reasoning through the use of the syllogism

Week 11: Rules! Rules! Rules! Terminological rules when dealing with categorical syllogisms

Week 12: More Rules: Overview of the quantitative rules for categorical syllogisms

Week 13: Finally...Rules: The qualitative rules for categorical syllogisms.

Week 14: Review: Review and prep for final to see if you really got any of this!

Course materials: Traditional Logic: Introduction to Formal Logic by Memoria Press and Traditional Logic Answer Key, also by Memoria Press

Homework: 5-6 pages of reading per week coupled with completing exercises provided in the text (parents can grade using the answer key); periodic quizzes available online through Moodle with a Final Exam also provided via Moodle. Anticipated workload is 3-4 hours per week.