IFL1: the first edition

An Introduction to Formal Logic was originally published by Cambridge University Press in November 2003.

The headline news is that this is an initially very gentle-paced introduction to logic by trees, though it does get as far as a completeness proof for quantificational logic (included for enthusiasts).  Until I retired, it was the text book for the compulsory first-year logic course for Cambridge philosophers.

The book is now superseded by a — much better! —  second edition, which is free to download. (I haven’t decided how long I will leave up this page relating to the first edition. I am minded to remove the answers to the first-edition exercises when the second edition has been out for a year, to encourage use of the improved version!)


The likely reason for (re)visiting this page is that you want to find

There are also additional exercises in the form of

For quick revision, the following might be helpful:


The publication history of IFL1 is a bit complicated. The book was first reprinted in April 2009, and I took the opportunity not only to correct known typos but to make many small improvements to the content too. Then in late 2013 I had the opportunity to make more corrections (this time just minor ones) for the seventh printing. So do note:

You can tell which printing you have in your hand by looking at the verso of the title page.

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