Logic, broadly construed, is the study of reasoning. More speci_cally, it is the study of correct
reasoning. What might we mean when we classify an argument as a \good” one? What makes
one argument good and another poor? What do good arguments have in common? Formal logic
aims to study these questions from a content-free perspective|by abstracting away from the spe-
ci_c meanings of particular sentences and arguments, and focusing instead on their underlying
structures, one can obtain insights and characterizations far more general than those a_orded by
case-by-case scrutiny.
This course is an introduction to formal logic. In addition to obtaining a strong foundation
in the syntax and semantics of propositional and predicate logic (up to, and including, identity),
students will also be exposed to some basic metatheory, and those who successfully complete this
course should _nd themselves well-equipped to enrol in upper-level logic courses where the focus is
either philosophical or mathematical.