Skip to 0 minutes and 10 seconds We all have an interest in working out what to believe. We are often faced with people trying to make a case for a particular conclusion. They lay out some claims that are meant to support that conclusion; suggesting, in effect, that if you think those claims are true, then that gives you a reason to believe that their conclusion is true.
Skip to 0 minutes and 31 seconds And frequently you’ll want to do that aswell: make a case for something you think is true by making
Skip to 0 minutes and 38 seconds an argument: laying out starting claims – your premises – which are meant to support your conclusion. A quick survey of heated debates shows that there is disagreement not only on the truth of the premises, but also on whether they support the conclusion or not. It matters, then, whether the truth of some premises really is connected in a positive way with the truth of a conclusion. It matters in politics, the law, science, computing in probing deep fundamental questions, and in everyday life. Logic is the study of those connections, giving us the tools to find out where the connections really hold.
Skip to 1 minute and 23 seconds This course will introduce you to a special kind of language - a formal logical language - in which all the words and expressions are precisely defined. We’ll explore with you how this language can be used as a tool to clarify and evaluate arguments expressed in everyday languages. And we’ll encounter some deep and interesting questions about truth, reasoning, meaning, and language. Join us here at the University of York on the next step
Skip to 1 minute and 55 seconds in exploring Logic: the Language of Truth.