The notion of rational inquiry presupposes that there are appropriate methods for the pursuit of knowledge. In this course, we will take a historically informed approach and try to understand the means by which a successful argument justifies its conclusion, as well as various subtle ways in which other arguments fail. Topics include Aristotle's theory of the syllogism; the propositional logic of Leibniz and Boole; Frege's relational and quantificational reasoning; natural deduction; paradoxes and fallacies.
