Social Ecology 2 (SE 2) 1304
 
 

Effective Processes

This is the continuation of a three quarter course. It will begin with an introduction to the formal theory of effective processes (including a discussion of Turing machines and recursive functions), and then present proofs of the Church undecidability theorem for first-order logic,  Tarski's theorem on the indefinability of first-order arithmetic truth, and the Gödel incompleteness theorems concerning formalizations of first-order number theory.

Instructor: David Malament, SST 757, 824-7374. I can be reached, most reliably, by e-mail:  dmalamen@uci.edu. Office hours:  Th, 12:30-2, and by appointment.

 
Course grader:  Gary Bell, SST 781, 824-6656 (gdbell@uci.edu). Office hours:  Tu 10-12.

Textbook:  Maddy, Penelope, Logic for Philosophers (Part III: Effective Processes). The book is available for purchase in the University Bookstore.

Course requirements:  Auditors are welcome. Students who want to take the course for a grade will be asked to submit seven short problem sets (one quarter of grade), take an in-class midterm examination (one quarter of grade), and take an in-class final examination (one half of grade). The midterm examination will cover material in chapters 1 and 2 of the text. The final examination will cover material in the entire text (chapters 1 to 5), but will emphasize the final three chapters.

Tentative Schedule for Problem Sets and Examinations