You are advised to speak to me about Independent Studies courses and/or an undergraduate thesis as early as possible.

This course introduces the concepts and techniques of deductive symbolic logic. We cover propositional translations, natural deduction, semantic techniques (such as truth tables and trees), and an introduction to first order predicate logic. The text is my own, available on-line to registered students in the course, and a revised version should be ready by the end of the summer.

Requirements: problem sets, quizzes, and a final exam.

The great Greek thinker Aristotle once defined humans as "the rational animals," in order to distinguish us from all other species in nature. Sadly, so much of our behavior is deeply irrational; if you doubt this, just take a look at current events or the pages of history. And yet, our ability to reason creatively and accurately (on a good day, at least) is probably our most powerful survival trait, and the one that (if anything) will pull our species through tough times.

In this course we learn the basic techniques of critical thinking, which is the art and science of thinking in such a way that our beliefs are based on correct principles and methods of reasoning, applied to the best evidence we can muster. Much of critical thinking is just common sense, set out in a careful and systematic way. We will also cover some useful techniques of deductive logic (basic propositional and categorical logic) at a very elementary level, as well as inductive reasoning and reasoning in the sciences. Warning! Logic, like peanuts and video games, can be addictive!

Logic 1000 counts as a Science course for General Liberal Education purposes at the University of Lethbridge.

Text: TBA
   
Requirements: problem sets, quizzes, and a final exam.

This course is an introduction to philosophy, through discussions, philosophical readings, and writing exercises.

What is philosophy? And why do we bother studying it? It would be hard to find answers to these questions that everyone would agree with. The word "philosophy" is Greek, and literally means "love of wisdom." But what is wisdom, and what does it mean to love it? Wisdom is partially a kind of knowledge---although it is not merely knowledge of matters of fact (such as the structure of benzene or who won WWII) or of skill (such as how to bake a cake or play the piano), but knowledge of basic priorities and values in human life. Wisdom is also an attitude---an attitude of open-mindedness, inquisitiveness, an unwillingness to draw conclusions for which one has no evidence, a strong willingness to pursue an inquiry as far as it can be pursued, and recognition of the incompleteness and uncertainty of human knowledge. If philosophy can teach us any practical skills (apart from writing clearly and basic techniques of reasoning and argumentation), it is to live with uncertainty, by which I mean coming to accept that most or all of our knowledge is uncertain, but at the same time not being paralysed or demoralized by this awareness. A philosopher sees the uncertainty of our knowledge not as a depressing limitation, but as an exciting challenge, beckoning us beyond the limits of the known and accepted.

I'm afraid I can't promise anyone any definite answers about the "meaning of life" in this course, but we will learn a lot about how others have attempted to define that elusive goal, and gain some skill in formulating our own answers, as tentative as they must be.

Text: TBA

Requirements: quizzes, writing assignments, and a final exam.