meaning and argument book coverMeaning and Argument is an introductory logic textbook that places a particular emphasis on the relationship between logic and language. The book covers four logics: Propositional Logic, Property Predicate Logic, Relational Predicate Logic, and Relational Predicate Logic with Identity. At each stage, the transitions between logics are clearly motivated by needs for greater expressive power.

Students learn to symbolize a wide range of natural language arguments into logic, then evaluate them using semantic tableau, or truth trees. (For a free download of a truth tree practice program, please see the software page.) Meaning and Argument also offers very helpful strategies for symbolizing some of the most logically difficult sentences in English. These strategies are illustrated in Logic in Action, and also in Slide the Symbols.

 

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