The Departmental Logic Exam

Students preparing for the qualifying exam without having taken the course should become familiar with the following formal logical theories:

1. The syntax and semantics of propositional logic
2. The syntax and semantics of polyadic predicate logic with identity (including the representation of numerals and the elimination of definite descriptions)

They should also be able to use the following logical techniques in analyzing and evaluating natural language arguments:

1. Natural deduction
2. Truth tables
3. Truth trees

Recommended textbooks for preparation are:

• A. Hausman, H. Kahane, and P. Tidman, Logic and Philosophy : A Modern Introduction (10th ed., Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007). ISBN (paper) 0495128449 (especially recommended for its treatment of natural deduction)
• Paul Teller, A Modern Formal Logic Primer, online at http://tellerprimer.ucdavis.edu/ (especially recommended for its treatment of truth trees)
• Benson Mates, Elementary Logic (2nd ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), chapters 1–7 and 9.