Overview

Labyrynth™ is a computer application designed to complement studies in traditional (Aristotelian) logic. It was developed by Dr. Jean Rioux, professor and chair of the philosophy department at Benedictine College, a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. A student and teacher of logic for over twenty-five years, Dr. Rioux came to think that the excitement and variety computer gaming models could offer those studying logic may very well be worth tapping into. This application is the result.

Most simply put, Labyrynth™ is a computerized alternative to paper-and-pen assignments. It employs thousands of three-dimensional images, animations, sound effects, and over thirty minutes’ worth of original music toward the creation of a coherent logical world. While neither a tutorial nor a "stand-alone" adventure game (it assumes students will be receiving separate instruction in the relevant logical operations and relations), it is an engaging supplement to the problem sets which often accompany logic instruction.

As to its design, Labyrynth™ follows some of the popular first-person adventure games. Students become immersed in a three-dimensional world in which the solving of logic problems is key to advancing to new levels, new problem sets, and new arenas in which to perform. The back story begins with a visit to Professor Sternbaum’s Museum and secret access to the hidden chambers below. Students then begin to work their way through a number of chambers, maneuvering through their spaces, answering questions, solving problems, and so advancing to the next part of a chamber, or the next chamber itself. The current version supplies exercises covering nine logical operations or relations: propositional quality, quantity, and type; distribution; opposition; immediate inference; inference signs; argument types; conditionals; and the structure and validity of categorical syllogisms. (Future planned versions will address an expanded set of logical functions.)

There are two ways to use the program. The full version (the default) contains three-dimensional graphics, animations, sounds, and music. The “bare-bones” version, in which the graphics and sound effects have been omitted, is a user-selectable option. Sternbaum’s Museum cannot be completed in bare-bones mode.

As to pedagogy, Labyrynth™ is set up to require nine correct answers in-a-row. Further, most of the nine chambers contain three separate devices, each testing for a different level of understanding. The first device tests students’ understanding of logical theory through true/false and multiple choice questions. The second tests how well they can apply that theory to more simple, abstract examples. The third tests how well they can apply the same logical theory to real-language, concrete, examples. The real-language problems have chiefly been taken from the writings of Epictetus and Aristotle.

Among the resources included on the dvd is an at-a-glance guide to the logical functions and notions dealt with in the program. While one should not take this as a substitute for formal instruction in logic (it is far too limited, both in depth and scope,) it does provide a quick, helpful review for those needing one. Game play is intuitive and linear; the interface is point-and-click.