Following are the main learning objectives from the chapter. To help you coordinate your studies, these objectives are organized into sub-sections (9-1, 9-2, etc.) and listed with the relevant page numbers from the textbook.
Objective 9-1
(See page(s) 306-307)
Understand what truth-functional logic is.
Objective 9-2
(See page(s) 307-314)
Achieve familiarity with the basic elements of truth-functional logic.
Know what claim variables are and how they are symbolized.
Learn the precise (truth-table) definitions of negation, conjunction, disjunction, and the conditional.
Know the basic rules for constructing a truth table.
Understand how to represent all possible combinations of truth values for the individual sentences in a complex claim.
Objective 9-3
(See page(s) 314-320)
Be able to use truth-functional logic to represent and work with more complex sentences.
Keep the distinction between "if" and "only if" clear and in mind.
Understand what necessary and sufficient conditions are.
Feel comfortable translating such natural-language expressions as "unless" and "either" into exact logical symbols.
Objective 9-4
(See page(s) 322-329)
Understand how to represent and work with truth-functional arguments.
Know how a truth table can demonstrate when two claims are logically equivalent to one another.
Understand how a truth table displays an argument's validity or invalidity.
Attain mastery at using truth tables to evaluate an argument's validity.
Learn the short table method for checking validity.
Objective 9-5
(See page(s) 331-336)
Understand the method of deduction and be able to use it to determine an argument's validity.
Understand what a deduction is and how it proves its conclusion.
Learn when and under what conditions to use the Group I rules for elementary valid argument patterns.
Memorize all those Group I rules, including: modus ponens, modus tollens, the chain argument, disjunctive arguments, simplification, conjunction, addition, constructive dilemma, destructive dilemma.
Objective 9-6
(See page(s) 337-342)
Understand how to identify and work with truth-functional equivalences in the context of argument deductions.
Memorize all Group II rules for truth-functional equivalence, including: double negation, commutation, implication, contraposition, DeMorgan's law, exportations, distribution, and tautology.
Learn what a truth-functional equivalence is and how Group II rules are applied differently from Group I rules.
Objective 9-7
(See page(s) 344-348)
Understand what the method of conditional proof is and how it can be used to show the truth of conditional claims.
Learn the basic strategy by which a conditional proof constructs an if-then sentence.
