This is the second course in the department's two semester sequence in logic. In the second course, a fair amount of attention is also devoted to logical metatheory. The main text for both courses is Benson Mates's Elementary Logic, 2nd ed.
Course work consists of regular homework, occasional unannounced quizzes, two midterms, and a final.
This course focuses on the thought, particularly with regard to metaphysics and epistemology, of some of the key figures in the history of Western philosophy from Descartes through Kant. In particular, we will study representative works by Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Student performance will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, two examinations, and a term paper. This course will resemble a law school course taught by means of the use of the Socratic method. Students will be expected to present briefs orally on their assigned cases each day in class and to discuss the public policy issues raised by the cases.