Language, Proof, and Logic: Second Edition [With CDROM]

I had to buy this book for an introductory logic course. Good book, easy to follow and I really like the grading system. If you are only interested in book out of curiosity and not buying for a class, consider buying the book alone without the CD.

I used this book in a distance learning course, so my experience was halfway between classroom and self-learning. There were moments when the instructor's very helpful remarks made a big difference by placing the immediate subject in a larger context or by giving me a hint for an especially tough proof. But the book itself is so well-paced that I'm convinced one can work one's way through it alone and get most of the benefit. The software is the key, because (if you get the latest edition and buy it new!) you have unlimited access to the Grade Grinder servers. No one need know how many typos or missteps you make in your proofs! Every problem can be solved, sooner or later, if you interact with the automatic grader. The writing style, level of editing, and succinctness of explanations are superb. I found the book plus its software quite a painless way to learn first-order logic.

Stanford uses this book in its two introductory philosophy classes (philosophy 57 and phil 159). It is appropriate for students without much exposure to math or computer science, as it is very verbose--much more so than Enderton's _Mathematical Logic_ for example.Students found the software initially frustrating, and the instructor interface can also be harder to use than it should be, but in the end it is worth it. I handed out a survey at the end of one course and the students generally thought the software was helpful and shouldn't be omitted. Showing the students what to do can be helpful. I just took part of a class period and went through (using laptop+projector) installing the software, building a world, writing a sentence, submitting a few exercises, and getting feeback by email.Oh, and even if the software [was bad], instructors w/o TAs would probably still love it, as 2/3rds of the exercises can be graded automatically.

This text is written in a very clear (shall I say logical?) manner. It covers all a first order logic course can consider.The exercises are very well thought out and doing them gives the reader a thorough understanding of the subject matter in a chapter.I disagree with another reviewer (John Rocklin) who did not like the software. There are adequate help files (he said there were none). The software is understandable, especially with 1) using it, 2) help files and 3) manual. It is extraordinarily useful to construct a "world" in which to test the truth of logical statements, prove the truth of a series of statements and devive a truth table for a given statement. The opportunity to send exercise answer files over the net and have them graded in minutes is a great feedback mechanism. The student can send files for grading until they are correct and then also send them to the professor for credit.All in all, highly recommended.

I was recommended this recently book while visiting my old Philosophy Advisor while in Boston. I've been hooked ever since! While for me it has been a great review of logic, the problems and ability to have them anonymously graded on the net is great fun! At the end of chapter 3 one is already versed well enough in logic to use the more complicated search engines with boolean operators. (altavista advanced for example). Being able to use sophisticated search engines will prove to be more and more valuable and this book offers so much more. Along with a rich and entertaining text, you get a (WindowsXP friendly) CD including four software applications: (Tarski's world, Fitch, Boole and Submit) all with the goal of making logic more interactive. Tarksi's world offers a view of 3D geometric objects in which one is required to make true, then valid and eventually sound conclusions. Fitch is a tool that lets one build FOL (First Order Logic) Proofs. Boole is a truth table tool. All applications compliment each other and are suppoted by Submit on the client side and Grade Grinder on the Server Side. So that one is never left too long without some feedback on whether or not the section has been understood.The books website offers additional tips and hints.