14 September 2015, AUC Logic Lectures, Johan van Benthem

Abstract:
A major reason why logic courses 'work' is that audiences worldwide feel an intuitive resonance with examples of correct and incorrect reasoning. Moreover, many people derive pleasure from exercising their logical skills: I will give a recent internet example that went viral, Cheryl's Birthday. But what is this logical talent, how far does it reach, and how did its academic study originate?

I will discuss a few issues by means of examples:
* Where logic occurs in human cognitive behavior (it is really a family of skills),
* How (or to what extent) reasoning is entangled with language,
* How logical theory arose, and what role it plays in the above.
This lecture is a light introduction to these topics.

For more information, see http://www.auc.nl/news-events/events-and-lectures/upcoming-events-and-lectures/.
Reference: "Fanning the Flames of Reason", Valedictory Lecture, https://staff.fnwi.uva.nl/j.vanbenthem/FanningFlames.pdf.