PHIL3123 Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics
20 Credits Class Size: 40
Module manager: Dr Jack Woods
Email: j.woods@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running
2024/25
Pre-requisite qualifications
One of:
PHIL2122 Formal Logic;
PHIL2542 Introduction to Metaphysics
MATH2041 Logic
Mutually Exclusive
MATH3021 |
Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics |
MATH5021M |
Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Objectives
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Understand and discuss critically in detail the philosophical issues concerning the nature and application of logic or mathematics;
- Read, interpret and criticise historical and contemporary research work on the subject.
Syllabus
Students will study a selection from the following/relevantly similar topics:
- Philosophy of Mathematics Logicism (Frege, Russell, etc) Intuitionism (Kant and Kantians, Brouwer)
- Formalism (Hilbert) The metaphysics of mathematical objects: realism and nominalism The epistemology of mathematics The (unreasonable?) effectiveness of mathematics in the sciences.
- Philosophy of Logic What is logic?
- Logical constants; the scope of logic; higher order logic.
- Logical concepts: philosophical analysis of one or more of: the conditional, quantifiers, negation, definite descriptions etc.
- Alternative logics: free logic; many-valued and fuzzy logics; intuitionistic logic; relevance logics.
- Modern theories of truth from Russell to the present: correspondence, redundancy, Tarski, minimalism, truthmaker theory.
- Theories of vagueness: fuzzy logic, supervaluation, epistemic theories. Intensional logics, their uses and justifications.
- Paradoxes: types and avoidance strategies.
- Expanding logic: Generalised Quantifiers; Indexicals; Tense; Logic Diagrams.
- Approached to logic: formalist; semantic; logic in use.
- Logic and ontology.
- Logic, cognition and natural language; non-monotonic logics.
Teaching Methods
Delivery type |
Number |
Length hours |
Student hours |
Lecture |
11 |
1 |
11 |
Tutorial |
10 |
1 |
10 |
Private study hours |
179 |
Total Contact hours |
21 |
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) |
200 |
Private study
Lecture preparation: 59 hours
Tutorial preparation: 60 hours
Assessment preparation: 60 hours
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
Students will have the opportunity to submit a draft of their essay for feedback mid-module (maximum 2000 words).
Students will be invited to prepare and present material during seminars.
Methods of Assessment
Coursework
Assessment type |
Notes |
% of formal assessment |
Essay |
3000 words (end of module) |
100 |
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) |
100 |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading List
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 18/09/2024
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team