Charles B. Cross - Professor of Philosophy - University of Georgia

Department of Philosophy


 Charles B. Cross

Professor of Philosophy and
Faculty Fellow of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence

University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D.) 
Office: Peabody 101A
Phone: (706) 542-2653
e-mail: ccross@uga.edu
mailing address:
Department of Philosophy
Peabody Hall
290 South Jackson Street
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1627, USA
Office Hours, Fall 2009: Mondays 3:30-4:30pm, Tuesdays 2-3pm, and by appointment.


My office is a Safe Space.

PHIL 2500 Symbolic Logic, Fall 2009
  • Please note that effective August 24, 2009, the MW lectures are moved to 115 Peabody Hall.
  • Syllabus.
  • An introduction to the mathematics of good reasoning.
  • This course or PHIL 2500H is required for philosophy majors and cognitive science majors, and either course is highly recommended for pre-law students. Indeed, Ken De Leon, a graduate of Boalt Hall and the creator of Top-Law-Schools.com, says, "An undergraduate logic course is like free LSAT prep." PHIL 2500 is an example of the kind of course De Leon is talking about.
  • Topics include translation of arguments into a symbolic notation and techniques for evaluating symbolized arguments.
  • No prerequisites.
  • Required text: Virginia Klenk. Understanding Symbolic Logic, 5th Edition (2008). Prentice-Hall.
  • PHIL(LING) 4510/6510 Deductive Systems, Fall 2009
  • An introduction to the formal syntax and semantics of propositional and first-order logic.
  • Prior knowledge of symbolic logic will be assumed.
  • For undergraduates, the prerequisite is PHIL 2500 or 2500H.
  • Course material will come largely from printed handouts, but in addition the following text is required: Merrie Bergmann, James Moor, Jack Nelson. The Logic Book, 5th Edition (2008). McGraw-Hill.

  • PHIL(LING) 4520/6520 Model Theory, Spring 2010
  • Meets Tuesdays 9:30am-12:15pm.
  • A course in the semantic metatheory of classical sentential and predicate logic. The course will be of interest to graduate and advanced undergraduate students in philosophy, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and math education.
  • We will prove soundness, completeness, and related results for classical sentential logic and predicate logic. We will prove these results for the Fitch-style natural deduction systems of sentential and predicate logic covered in PHIL(LING) 4510/6510.
  • Time permitting, we may cover an additional advanced topic in philosophical logic.
  • No text (handouts only).
  • For both graduates and undergraduates, the prerequisite is PHIL(LING) 4510/6510 or equivalent preparation. If you have not taken PHIL(LING)4510/6510, please check with me and I will be happy to talk with you about whether your background is sufficient.

  • Research Interests

    Work in Progress

    Selected Publications

    Each link provided below allows a paper to be downloaded from the website of the relevant publisher. If you use one of these links and the publisher's website does not recognize your institution's online subscription, it may be necessary for you to access the paper online via a different gateway. If you do not have access to an online subscription, you are welcome to ask me for a hardcopy of the paper.

    My Erdös Number is 4.


    Teaching Interests

    I regularly teach PHIL 2500 Symbolic Logic, PHIL(LING) 4510/6510 Deductive Systems, PHIL(LING) 4520/6520 Model Theory, and PHIL 8500 Seminar in Problems of Logic. I occasionally teach PHIL 3610 Theory of Knowledge and PHIL(LING) 8300 Seminar in the Philosophy of Language.

    I am interested in directing graduate student research in philosophical logic and related areas of metaphysics and epistemology. Possible topics include conditionals, modal logic, quantified modal logic, formal ontology, the metaphysics of modality, essentialism, the essentiality of origins, epistemic logic, belief revision, and logics for artificial intelligence. Prospective graduate students interested in working with me are invited to apply to the Ph.D. Program in Philosophy, the M.A. Program in Philosophy, or the M.S. Program in Artificial Intelligence. Joint enrollment for the M.S. in Artificial Intelligence and the M.A. or Ph.D. in Philosophy is possible and represents a unique opportunity for prospective graduate students interested in logic and its applications.


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    Revised: October 22, 2009.

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    Curriculum vitae (password available upon request)