Understanding Logic

Samuel H. LiPuma holds both Bachelors (1984) and Masters (1986) degrees in philosophy from the University of Dayton.  He is currently enrolled as a Ph.D. student at Bowling Green State University.  Mr. LiPuma holds the rank of Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cuyahoga Community in Cleveland, Ohio where he has taught logic since 1991.  In 2005 Mr. LiPuma received the Ralph M. Besse Award for Teaching Excellence, the highest honor for teaching at the College.  Besides his work in college pedagogy, Mr. LiPuma also engages in scholarly work in the field of bioethics specializing the morality of end of life care and brain death.  He has published several articles in leading bioethics journals including The American Journal of Bioethics, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, and The Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, among others.  He also is the lead author of The Dying Experience, published by Rowman and Littlefield International and is co-author of a forthcoming book on medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to be published by SUNY press. 

Mr. LiPuma’s career as a community college instructor resulted from his passion for pursuing excellence in college pedagogy.  He authored Understanding Logic in an attempt to provide students with a chance to fully understand logical concepts by providing more detailed and amplified explanations than are traditionally utilized in college level texts in this area.  He also wanted to utilize a platform that allowed for seamless access to supplemental material such as self-assessment quizzes and videos that further reinforce and enhance mastery of the material.

Mark Thorsby holds a Bachelors (2002) degree in Philosophy and English Literature, a Master of Arts in philosophy (2006), a Master of Philosophy (2017), and a Ph.D. in Philosophy (2017) from The New School for Social Research.  Dr. Thorsby is currently a Professor of Philosophy at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas where he has taught since 2009.  He has additionally taught philosophy and logic courses for the City University of New York, New Jersey City University, and Plymouth State University.  Mark has published in the areas of Environmental Ethics, Phenomenology, and media theory.  His dissertation examined the moral failure of climate change from the vantage of Husserlian ethics and social ontology. His work includes “The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design” (2018), “Nature and Experience: Phenomenology and the Environment” (2016), “Environmental Philosophy, Politics, and Policy” (2021), and the “Guided Readings in Philosophy” series (2022) among others.  He has given many presentations on topics that include logic, the philosophy of language, and pedagogy. Dr. Thorsby has extensive experience teaching logic outside of the classroom as well.  His YouTube channel Philosophical Techne has over 40,000 subscribers, many of whom are seeking help in understanding logic.  As a co-author of Understanding Logic, Mark has worked to make logic more accessible and easier to understand on a platform that can help students gain mastery and give instructors the flexibility they need to teach logic easily and accessibly.