David Johnston, of the University of Victoria Philosophy Department, has just released three apps for the iPhone (and iPod Touch), which will be of interest to students (and teachers) of introductory logic courses:
Logic 100 These utilities for truth-functional logic allow you to check syntax, construct truth tables, and test for consistency and validity. Notation can be set to match any logic textbook.
Syllogism These utilities for categorical logic allow you to construct syllogisms, test them for validity, and display their Venn diagrams.
This app helps you construct derivations based on the system SD from The Logic Book. It checks the syntax of each line and automatically applies derivation rules. Completed derivations, including line justifications, can be emailed directly from the app.
I guess we’ll have to be more vigilant about students having cellphones on them when they take a logic exam! But, in the words of Hans von Ditmarsch, “anyone who gets people to do logic while waiting for their bus, wasting time otherwise, …, deserves praise!” Read more about these apps on hatzicware.com, try them out, and let us (and him) know what you think!
Incidentally, these apps are versions of David’s Logician’s Toolkit, which lets you do all these things inside a Java applet on his website. Useful especially if you use the Logic Book.
These look useful! But I can’t download them on my version of the touch… (I guess it’s the earliest hardware, though with up to date software)—it says it needs a microphone for some reason. Anyone know if that’s a fixable issue?