Join this college-preparatory course for an in-depth treatment of syllogistic logic. In this course you will acquire indispensable tools for analyzing arguments, honing your verbal reasoning abilities, and learning how to express your ideas with clarity and precision. This course is of general interest to anyone pursuing studies in the sciences or the humanities.

How to get the most out of Classical Syllogistic Logic with Sam Nicholson:

• First, read the course details below.

• Prepare a notebook for note taking and homework.

• Students begin the course by clicking on the "Recording" and watching the instructor's lecture for Class One.

• Complete the Week One Activities.

• If you need review, go back and watch the recording again and/or go over the Powerpoint.

• Repeat until all classes are complete.

• Once the course is completed to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records. Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping.

Total classes: 12

Duration: 55 minutes per class

Prerequisite: None. It is beneficial for you to have taken “Reasoning and Rhetoric” with Dr. Nicholson (available as a recorded course through Unlimited Access) but this is not necessary to understand the material presented here.

Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grade

Suggested credit: One full semester Formal Logic or Philosophy

Instructor: Sam Nicholson, PhD

Course description: This course will acquaint students with the classical theory of the syllogism, as initially discovered by Aristotle and developed up to the present day. We will learn about the rules of inference, the square of opposition, immediate inferences, the valid forms of reasoning, and the construction of extended chains of reasoning or "sorites”.

Course outline:

Week 1 – Topic: Introduction, Classes and Terms; Read: Chapter 5, section 5.1.

Week 2 – Topic: Categorical Propositions; Read: Chapter 5, sections 5.2 – 5.3

Week 3 – Topic: Quantity and Quality; Read: Chapter 5, sections 5.4 – 5.5; First quiz

Week 4 – Topic: The Square of Opposition; Read: Chapter 5, section 5.6

Week 5 – Topic: Existential Fallacies and Boolean Modifications; Read: Chapter 5, section 5.7

Week 6 – Topic: Categorical Syllogisms; Read: Chapter 6, sections 6.1 – 6.2; Second quiz

Week 7 – Topic: Venn Diagrams; Read: Chapter 6, sections 6.3 – 6.4

Week 8 – Topic: Valid Inferences and Syllogistic Fallacies; Read: Chapter 6, section 6.5

Week 9 – Topic: Syllogistic Arguments; Read: Chapter 7, section 7.1

Week 10 – Topic: Terms and Conversion to Standard Form; Read: Chapter 7, sections 7.3 – 7.5; Midterm

Week 11 – Topic: Sorites; Read: Chapter 7, section 7.6

Week 12 – Topic: Sorites (continued); Read: Chapter 7, sections 7.6 -7.7; Third Quiz; Final Exam

Course materials: Our course text is Copi and Cohen's famous Introduction to Logic, 14th edition. ISBN-10: 0205820379, ISBN-13 978-0205820375 (https://amzn.to/3lh9nL8) or BookFinder.com). It is permissible to use other versions of this textbook, but please be aware that there may be minor differences in pagination and material. For this reason, assignments are indicated by chapter and section numbers rather than page numbers.

Homework: There will be three quizzes, a mid-term examination, and a cumulative final exam. These will make up 45%, 25%, and 25% of your grade, respectively. The remaining 5% of your grade will be assigned on the basis of attendance and participation.

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2022 Homeschool Connections and  Sam Nicholson, Ph.D.. All rights reserved.

This course is designed by  Sam Nicholson, Ph.D.

• This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws. 

• You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.