Introduction to Logic: Propositional Logic

by Howard Pospesel

For freshman/sophomore-level courses on Logic, Introduction to Logic, and Deductive Logic. Designed to make logic interesting and accessible― without sacrificing content or rigor ―this classic introduction to contemporary propositional logic explains the symbolization of English sentences and develops formal-proof, truth-table, and truth-tree techniques for evaluating arguments.

Genres: Philosophy, Logic, Nonfiction, Science

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1984

Reviews

[David E]

I believe Pospesel knows his material. Working through it in connection with an introductory logic class, I was frequently frustrated. If you try and rush through the book, you will find frustration. My "Introduction to Logic" instructor had his own "Course Packet" that he wrote to simplify the material. This "Course Packet" (a.k.a. 'CP') was great and worked well with this book to survive the course.
As I said, I was "rushing" through the book. Since I didn't sell the book back to the college, I figured that I might have another chance to read through it at another time - much slo-o-o-o-wer.
Once you get "the hang of" logic, it might be away to pass time. Using this book MIGHT help you understand "weightly" logic a little better.
Let me know what you think.

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Designed to make logic interesting and accessible-without sacrificing content or rigor- at least that was the intent. One gets the impression they tried to have their cake and eat it too. Had I not been constantly going to third parties to understand logic-trees, I would have had quite the time of it.

Still, a fascinating perspective.

[Gregory Dolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's logic.

[Josh Kellendonk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! Judging the book by its lack of girth, I couldn't have expected that it would be so exhaustive.

If I had glossed over the exercises, this book might have taken a weekend to read. But, if I did this, I would have missed the real value of this little red book!

The exercises are SO GOOD! The emphasis on natural language arguments kept me engaged throughout. The book exercises cover from Plato to the O.J. Simpson trial, human rights, and modern politics. I learned as much about philosophy as about the proof system itself.

Pospesel's symbolic proof language (based on E.J. Lemmon's system) is the heart of this book. Pospesel develops his proof language through the first nine chapters. Every chapter introduces a new logical tool and copious exercises to concrete understanding.

The exercises in this book cause the reader to prove increasingly complex arguments. This growth in complexity culminates in what Pospesel calls the "Gonzo Challenge." It amused me that the challenge was proof for a familiar situation in the game Minesweeper. It took me about 200 lines to prove when broken down into the stages of deduction I use while playing.

After symbolic logic, the rest of the book is less challenging. The author introduces Truth Tables and Truth Trees. Further, it discusses the nature of statements, logical relations, and natural arguments. The appendices cover the correctness of the system and the paradox of material implication - both were very interesting.

It took me two, maybe three, months of weekends to work through all the exercises. Some of the book exercises took quite a bit longer than others; the most challenging problems were the most interesting.

I suspect that the software on the CDROM is not optional for working through the exercises on your own. Not only does it help you with the symbolization of arguments, but it checks your proofs. The CD includes logic games too, but they're only so-so.

The book doesn't cover all notation systems. Thankfully, all the popular systems share similarities. From what I've learned in this book, it hasn't been hard to understand the logic in any other notations.

Pospesel's Predicate Logic book builds from the system established in this book. So, after completing everything in this book, there's more to look forward to in the little green book.

I loved this book!

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Information in this introduction book seems to dense for a first book on logic. It was hard for me to grasp the concepts with no prior information on logic. In addition, I couldn't follow along as I continuously got lost with all the new information and formulas. I would not recommend this for someone who has no background knowledge in logic or be prepared for a very long read.

- I didn't actually finish reading, I got frustrated around chapter 4.

[Ben W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great text. I used this in an Introductory Formal Logic course (along with Pospesel's text on Predicate Logic), housed in the Philosophy department. I came from a Mathematics background, so I found most of the exercises very simple and at times boring, yet for the most part they were fun to complete, and there are a number of genuinely difficult problems throughout. This text is especially helpful in that it has many "real-world", practical examples to think through, as opposed to being a purely formal treatment. Formal Logic is a necessary skill to have in nearly every discipline, and life in general. Though a formal education in Formal Logic is not necessary to "get by" or to think logically, it certainly will help, especially with the more subtle, less intuitive aspects. These two texts by Pospesel (Propositional Logic and Predicate Logic) are a great starting point (and for many, ending point) for anyone interested in Logic. It will especially be helpful for those interested in Philosophy, Mathematics, and Law, and also serves well as a logic primer for the LSAT.

I am considering working through these texts again and making an unofficial solutions guide to the text, though this may never come to fruition.

[Nancy Goldberg Wilks]

Interesting approach - but (so far) I think it's going to be a challenge teaching from this book.

[Shelby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to read it for my Symbolic Logic class. Not a fan.