Philosophy 309: Logic, Language, and Thought
Spring 2004
Class time: 1:50 -2:45 p.m.
Professor: Craig DeLancey
Email: delancey@oswego.edu
Office: Piez 225
Office Hours: MWF 10:10 -- 11:00 a.m., W 3:00 -- 4:00 and by appointment


Introduction
This class is an introduction to the relationship between issues in the philosophy of logic, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind, focussing upon the historical quest for a logically perfect language that would formalize reasoning. The course does not teach logic, but rather reviews in a general way important insights on a number of issues. These include: the dream of a logically perfect language, the nature of paradox, the nature and limits of computers, the nature and limits of mathematical and algorithmic reason, and the difference between determinism and predictability. The course should be of interest to majors in philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, or to anyone interested in questions about mind and meaning. Although some previous logic or math courses are very helpful they are not required; however, some comfort with learning and reasoning about general mathematics is necessary.


Text
There will be extensive notes available on-line, via the course web site. There will also be a packet of readings on reserve at the library and made available at the book store. In addition, we will use the following software program that comes packaged as a book:

Turing's World, Jon Barwise. Stanford: CSLI Press.

Assignments and exams
Your grade will be based upon performance on two exams and several projects (approximately 2 small projects and 2 more extensive ones). The exams will cover the material discussed in class. The projects will ask you to apply the material we learn in class.


Grading
The grade will be determined in the following way:

Projects: 60% (10%, 10%, 20%, 20%)
Exams: 40% (20% each)

Projects will often be reviewed in the class period where they are due. For this reason, late homeworks will not be accepted for credit.

If you miss an exam and have an excused absence for the day you miss the exam, you may make it up, by special appointment with me, when you are able to come back to class. It is your responsibility to arrange any make-up exams as soon as you know you are going to miss the exam. Otherwise you may lose the opportunity to take the test, since I cannot give make-up exams after the class has gone over the answers.

Here is how you secure an excused absence: Only prior notification with credibly documented or easily verifiable reasons (e.g., medical visits to Mary Walker, documented participation in official sporting events, etc.) will result in excused absences. You must notify in writing, call, or email me prior to your absence from class. Or you must notify the Philosophy Dept. secretary, Jane Santore, before you are going to be absent, via email at santore@oswego.edu, or by phone at x2249. However, you must make sure she knows your name, the number of the course, the date, and your easily verifiable reason, along with a request to forward the information to me. It is better to give your information to me, except when you are unable to communicate with my phone or email for some reason.

Please hold onto all of your assignments and exams. Sometime before the end of the semester I will ask you to review the grades that I have recorded to make sure that I have not made any mistakes.

Any cheating will receive a zero grade, and will be reported to the Dean.


Office Hours
In addition to the listed office hours, I encourage you to make appointments. I will be available quite a bit. Please try to come to office hours with specific questions in mind. You can of course come with a general request for help, but it is always helpful if you spend a little time thinking about how I can best help you out.


Schedule
I will frequently update an online schedule of readings and assignments. It is your responsibility to check the www pages for the class at least every other day!