modal logic
This is the website for PHIL 452. Modal Logic (Fall 2026).
start here
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Read the syllabus.
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Bookmark the electronic textbook Modal Logic. Each topic listed in the schedule below links to the relevant section.
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Bookmark the google form you will use to sign up for a problem presentation.
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Skim the guidelines for the final project. Your proposal is due on Monday, November 16, and you will submit your final project by Friday, December 12.
help
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Open office hours: Mon 1 - 2pm at STO 221.
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Online one-on-one office hours: Wed 12pm-1:30pm, by appointment.
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Solutions to selected problems will be posted and linked from the schedule. Read them even if you solved the problem, as they may take a different route.
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Grading, late work, academic integrity, and accommodations are covered in the syllabus.
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e-mail: uzquiano@usc.edu
further resources
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Blackburn, de Rijke, and Venema. Modal Logic, Cambridge University Press, 2022.
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Cresswell and Hughes. A New Introduction to Modal Logic. Taylor & Francis, 1996.
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Open Logic Project. Boxes and Diamonds.
schedule
Each topic links to the corresponding section of the textbook. Problem sets and written solutions are linked as they become available. The schedule is subject to change; check back for updates.
Assignments are due at 11:59pm Pacific on the date listed. Email is fine.
| date | topic | activities |
|---|---|---|
| BACKGROUND | ||
| Mon 8/24 | Introduction | Slides |
| Wed 8/26 | Relations | Slides |
| PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC | ||
| Mon 8/31 | Basic Language | Slides |
| Wed 9/2 | Problem Session 1 | Presentation |
| Mon 9/7 | University Holiday: Labor Day | |
| Wed 9/9 | Axiomatic Derivations: The Deduction Theorem |
Slides Written Solutions |
| Mon 9/14 | Maximal Consistency | Slides |
| Wed 9/16 | Problem Session 2 | Presentation |
| Mon 9/21 | Completeness | Slides |
| MODAL PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC | ||
| Wed 9/23 | Basic Language | Slides Written Solutions |
| Mon 9/28 | Frames | Slides |
| Wed 9/30 | Problem Session 3 | Presentation |
| Mon 10/5 | Frame Definability | Slides |
| Wed 10/7 | Bisimulations | Slides Written Solutions |
| Mon 10/12 | Axiomatic Derivations | Slides |
| Wed 10/14 | Problem Session 4 | Presentation |
| Mon 10/19 | Normal Modal Logics | Slides |
| Wed 10/21 | Canonical Models | Slides Written Solutions |
| Mon 10/26 | Completeness | Slides |
| Wed 10/28 | Problem Session 5 | Presentation |
| SELECTED APPLICATIONS | ||
| Mon 11/2 | Epistemic Logic: Knowledge and Epistemic Alternatives | Slides |
| Wed 11/4 | Information Flow and Knowledge | Written Solutions |
| Mon 11/9 | Group, Distributed, and Common Knowledge |
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| Wed 11/11 | University Holiday: Veterans Day | |
| Mon 11/16 | Conditionals | Project Proposal |
| Wed 11/18 | Problem Session 6 | Presentation |
| Mon 11/23 | Sphere Models | |
| Wed 11/25 | Thanksgiving Break | |
| Mon 11/30 | Quantificational Modal Logic | Written Solutions |
| Wed 12/2 | Free Quantificational Modal Logic | |
| Fri 12/11 | Final Project Due 4 pm |