This class will be a combination of topics in logic and the philosophy of language. We will go over statements of logic, validity and invalidity, argumentation, and some logical rules. We'll explore the sort of thing Sherlock Holmes does to deduce solutions to mysteries! While we won't be solving mysteries, an introduction to logical reasoning will allow you to see why some things follow logically from others and some don't, and to learn how you can talk, write, and think carefully and logically! We will also look at logic through the lens of language, including topics like truth, meaning, speech-acts, and more!

A paradox is an inconsistent conclusion derived from rational progressions of thought, or in some instances an idea that seems both true and false at the same time. This is unsettling: it doesn't seem to make sense to say that something is both true and false! Rational thoughts can't be inconsistent, can they? We will explore various paradoxes and puzzles in philosophy, spanning topics in language, epistemology (theory of knowledge), metaphysics (theory of what the world consists of), mathematics, vagueness, and more. The class will serve as an introduction to philosophy, as well as the concept of paradoxes more generally.