Honors Logic Class

PHIL 2020H

This site will serve in support of Dr. Barnette's Honors Logic course at Valdosta State University, as the spring, 2000 voyage unfolds. All assignments and course materials will be listed or linked on this class website for your convenience. Enjoy the voyage through mental space...Dr. Ron Barnette

Here is a special audio and text chat room set up just for you!!

The Valdosta State Philosophy Website will serve as your main portal to course resources which are listed in our department's Virtual Library. Two sites, in particular, will enable us to access tons of information for the course. These are Tom Stone's Episteme Links logic section, and B. Janz's The Reasoning Page.

We begin the course by familiarizing ourselves with some so-called 'informal fallacies' which we need to look for in the arguments we will discuss and encounter. Brian Yoder's Fallacy Zoo houses a nice collection of these beasts!

A challenge: go to this website and check out the experiment. I have been told that this has been used to make some $$$. Can you figure out what's going on? Go for it, critical thinkers!! Thanks... http://www.smartbot.net/zchip/

Assignment (due Friday, Jan 28): Develop a written response to my challenge, "Omniscience and Freedom: a Case for the Opposition," which is on the web. Critically evaluate the argument I present, and try to refute it if you wish. Make your case, pro or con, in reaction to my challenge. Your critique should be 3-5 pages in length, and given to me in class on the 28th or sent to me electronically. Good luck, logicians!!

We next turn to the problem of skepticism and the challenge to knowledge posed by the skeptic. An interesting resource for issues related to skepticism can be found at the World Wide Skeptical Web. Check it out...

Assignment (due Monday, Feb 28): You have just had a very vivid dream! In the dream were a host of themes from the following list: the philosophers Descartes and Hobbes, the topics of human nature, free will, virtual reality, dreams, God, mind and body, states of consciousness, the Evil Demon, Socrates, the youth being 'corrupted' by logic.......You are to select several of these themes and describe for me your vivid dream. Good luck!!!

Much discussion is related to Deductive and Inductive Reasoning, and to elements of logical argumentation..See the above Reasoning Page for this.

'Remote Viewing' is a challenging concept that we will explore in class. Is is credible? How do you decide? We will find out.

Word patterns and logical relationships with words can exercise the brain, as we explore patterns of discovery. Here's a fun Anagram Generator. Many others are available online..