§A   Some practical information

        Teacher:            Nuel Belnap   ( belnap@pitt.edu)

        Time:                MWF  1:00--1:50

        Place:                321 Cathedral of Learning

        Office:              1028-A Cathedral of Learning.  As you face the Philosophy Department office,
                                1028-A is in the wing to your left.
 

        Office Hours:   Special office hours for 1500:  These hours are to work on problems.  They will
                                be right after class (MWF).  Place:  at a convenient table near our classroom in the
                                Commons.  For about 1/2 hour.

                               Regular office hours:  MW 12:00 -- 1:00 p.m in 1028-A CL.

        I expect to work quite a lot with whomever.  Please feel free to come to me with questions as often
        as you like.  Experience teaches that it is MUCH better to come often with small problems, than
        infrequently with a long list.  I NEVER object to being interrupted by your requests for help.  Just
        knock, or telephone.  At the office or home.

        Telephone:    Office:  624-5777            Home:  521-3897

        Secretary:  Connie   connieh@pitt.edu  Office:  1001-C CL    Telephone:  624-5794

§B   Names

        Please let me have your names, addresses (including e-mail), telephone number and department--if
        you are planning to take this course.

§C   Books

        The text for this course will be Notes on the art of logic.  It is available from Copy Cat, nearby on
        Forbes Avenue.  You can get one today.  You SHOULD get one today.  The book is cheap.

        I am not going to give you a song and dance about the scope of this course.  You can figure it out
        by looking at the text.

        If the course goes well and there is student interest, we may be able to look into some topics in
        "philosophical logic" not treated in the text.  I hope so.

        There are many books on reserve.  They are all optional.

        Almost all of you will have already had a substantial exposure to symbolic logic at the level of
        Philosophy 500.  I will presuppose this.  If you have not taken the equivalent of Philosophy 500,
        you should immediately spend six hours working through a programmed text that I will loan you.
        See me today.  And you should also work though a large portion of the 500-level Klenk text,
        Understanding symbolic logic, in a hurry.  This text you need to find for yourself.  Connie can
        give you copies of old examinations, which you should use to test yourself on, not being satisfied
        with anything less than A+.

§D  Schedule

        With respect to which topics will be discussed on which days, we shall be moving steadily through
        the text, except when I announce that certain material may be skipped.  We shall move rapidly
        through the early material--very rapidly, since you should already have a grasp on almost all of it.
        As for exact dates, I shall remain somewhat vague.  Partly that is in order to be responsive to the
        needs of the students in the class, and partly because I frequently tend to be a little vague about
        practical matters.  The former is a virtue, the latter is a fault.  There it is.

§E  Exercises

        Absolutely mandatory.  This is an "exercise course."  Exercises are "due" to be handed in
        immediately after the relevant material is covered in class.  So just do it.  (Please drop the
        course if your are tempted to try it without working through all the exercises.

        §E.1   Turn-in procedure

            i.  All (not "some" but "all" numbered exercises are to be turned in to me. [ Well,
            I will specifically mention a few that you do not need to do.]  You cannot receive
           any credit for this course without exercises.

            ii.  Although you must hand in some work on each numbered exercise, you do not have
            to do all of each exercise.  Some are too long to make that sensible.  A few are badly
            constructed or can otherwise be seen to be a waste of time.  Use your judgement as to
            how much of a particular exercise to do.  Sometimes I will provide you with clues to good
            judgement.

            iii.  You will be handing in a great many pages of exercises.  Please give a distinct "page number"
            to each page you hand in.  Number them more or less consecutively over the entire term.  That
            way I can locate your work on a particular exercise without wasting time.

            iv.  It will also save me "look up" time if, at the beginning of each numbered exercise, you
            indicate the page number of NAL on which it occurs.

            v.  You can hand in exercises to me any time.  Just put them in my box.  (You do not have
            to wait for a class meeting.)  I will try to provide the speediest possible feedback.

            vi.  You will maintain an "Exercise Record" on the form handed out to you.  Please keep
            this up to date, and hand it in to me whenever you hand in an exercise.  (I will hand it back
            when I return your exercise.)  I want to know if you are up-to-date with your exercises.

            vii.  SAVE your exercises.  At the end of the term, I will ask you to give me a package
            containing all of your exercises for the entire term.  (At this point, your more-or-less
            consecutive page numbering will be especially convenient for me.)

        §E.2  Study groups

        Everyone should join a study group.  The great ideal provided by the Vienna Circle should live:
        Although a lonely genius can be a marvelous sloppy thinker, rigorous thinking is done best in
        public.  I will be happy to have a list of the study groups that you organize and will help if there is
        difficulty.

        §E.3  Instructor's help

        I urge you to come to me with your smallest questions, as often as you like.  That is the best way
        to learn this stuff.  Never struggle for six hours!  It's a waste of your intellectual power.
        Slogan:  There are no dumb questions in a foundational topic (such as logic).  That includes
        questions that may occur to you in class.  (Sometimes I talk too fast, and although I try to be
        clear, sometimes I am not.  Feel free to interrupt me with "How's that again?".)
 

 §F.  Examinations and quizzes

        There will be three or four one-hour examinations and a series of short quizzes.  These will be
        announced in advance.  There will be no surprises.  There will be very short quizzes at the second
        and third meetings of this course.  Those unwilling to prepare for these quizzes should drop the
        course now.  Also if you are "unable" to prepare (e.g. no money for book, lines too long,
        brother-in-law getting married), drop the course now.  Although there is no promise, I do not
        expect to give a cumulative final examination.  The last examination, I expect, will cover only
        the last material.  It will, however, be given during the final examination period.
 

§G.  Grades

        Your grade will depend largely on your examinations and quizzes.  Exercises will loom in
        the background.  I do not grade "on the curve."
 

§H.  Web

        There is a page for this course:         PHIL 1500 PAGE

        That page lists available documents, including this one.