Phil. 4: Critical
Thinking Syllabus[1]
Spring 2008
Instructor: Dr. Gale Justin
Contact Information: justin@csus.edu or 278-6547
Office: Mendocino 3024
Office Hours: Tuesday and
Thursdays 1:30 – 2:30 and by appointment
Time & Place of
Course: Wednesday, 5:30 – 8:20 in
Douglas Hall, Room 208
Catalogue Description: This course provides an introduction to and training in the art of Critical Thinking, including “the study of the basic skills of good reasoning needed for the intelligent and responsible conduct of life. Topics include: argument structure and identification, validity and strength of arguments, common fallacies of reasoning, use and abuse of language in reasoning, principles of fair play in argument.
Textbook: Essentials of Logic I. Copi, C. Cohen, D. Flage, 2nd edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Disability Accommodations: If you have a documented disability (visible or invisible) and require accommodation or assistance with attendance, assignments, tests, note taking, etc. please see the instructor by the end of the second week of the semester so that arrangements can be made.
Satisfaction of Requirements: This course satisfies the General Education Program Requirements, Area A3, Critical Thinking, providing 3 of the 9 units required.
Learning Objectives:
● Identifying the issues and main issue in a section of text.
● Identifying arguments and their component parts (premises, conclusion)
● Distinguishing between matters of pure fact and opinion
● Detecting and removing vagueness, ambiguity, and inconsistencies
● Abstracting arguments from their narrative context
● Identifying common fallacies
● Evaluating evidence and arguments, assessing strength
● Making appropriate inferences
● Identifying and diagramming the structure of deductive arguments
● Detecting whether an argument’s conclusion follows from its premises with certainty (deductive inference) or merely with probability (inductive inference).
● Evaluating deductive arguments using truth tables and Venn Diagrams
● Identifying and evaluating inductive arguments
● Identifying and evaluating different types of causal reasoning
● Understanding how to infer an explanation from empirical data
Assignments and Grading (for a
total of 100%):
Homework Assignments: 25% (best 6 out of 10) Attendance and Class Participation: 10%
Groupwork: 15% Two in class tests: 25% each, totaling 50%
The marking scale upon which letter grades are assigned is as follows:
A 93-100 (14) C 70-74 (8)
A- 89-92 (13) C- 65-69 (7)
B+ 85-88 (12) D+ 60-64 (6)
B 80-84 (11) D 55-59 (5)
B- 78-79 (10) D- 50-54 (4)
C+ 75-77 (9) F below 50% (3)
Attendance: Critical Thinking requires hands-on skills. So I expect you to attend class regularly and on time and recommend that you get notes from a classmate if you miss a session. For an absence to be excused (i.e. for illness, family reasons, etc.) you must inform me of it in advance. DON’T BE LATE! Being late disrupts the class and I cover important material at the beginning of the class. Too many tardies or absences (more than 3) will cost you half of your class participation grade. ALL CELL PHONES MUST BE OFF.
Participation: Participation includes doing the assigned reading, contributing to group work, asking questions, answering questions, taking notes, discussing issues. Your final grade will reflect your contribution to the activities of the class. Talking during the lecture or otherwise disrupting the class will cause you to lose participation points.
Homework: Homework assignments are designed to give you practice with the skills covered in class. They are also a good way to get an A on one element of your grade. Homework assignments are listed on the syllabus, sometimes assignment sheets will be handed out in class. If this is the case, I will leave extra copies of the assignment on the bulletin board outside my office (Mendocino 3024). Homework should be handed in at the beginning of the class for which it is due. Homework assignments may be emailed prior to or on the day they are due. Late homework must be handed in by the end of the week for which the homework is assigned. No homework later than that will be accepted. I will take the average of your best 6 homework assignments to compute your homework assignment grade. Note well: occasionally the homework on the syllabus will be changed to accommodate the pace of the class or some other factor. So always check the on-line syllabus to confirm what the homework is for the upcoming week.
Academic Honesty: It is ok to work with other students on homework, but each student must turn in their own results. If you cite a source, you need to document the source appropriately. Any cheating on a test or homework assignment will result in an F on that assignment. I also reserve the right to flunk the student on the spot. Here is the university policy on academic honesty:
The attempt by a student to cheat on an exam or other academic assignment or to engage in plagiarism is a violation of a fundamental principle of academic honesty and integrity and will not be tolerated in the University. Formal procedures exist for dealing with these cases and penalties will be imposed on students who are found guilty of academic dishonesty. In the event of expulsion, suspension or probation, a notation is made on the student’s transcript. Suspension and probation notations remain on the transcript for the life of the suspension/probation. For information, contact the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
Weekly Schedule (subject to minor changes, depending on the pace of the
class):
Jan. 30 Arguments: Premisses and Conclusion
Feb. 6 Distinguishing Arguments from Explanations
DUE: Read Ch. 1, pp. 1-5, 12-13. Complete exercises p. 6 #2-15. Make a copy of the page, and distinguish the premises and the conclusion of
each argument. Do this by bracketing separately the premises(es) and the conclusion. Put a “C” next to the opening bracket of the conclusion
and a “P” next to the opening bracket of the premises. Bracket each premises separately.
Feb. 13 Diagramming, Paraphrasing, Simplifying Arguments
DUE: Read Ch. 1, pp. 6-9. Complete Homework #1 (Handout) Also, make a copy of p. 9 of your textbook. Do the exercises 1-6 on that page.
If the passage is an argument, put “A” next to the number of the passage. If the passage is an explanation, put “E” next to the number of the
passage.
Feb. 20 Inductive vs. Deductive Arguments
DUE: Read Ch. 1, pp. 16-20, 31-35. Complete Homework #2 (Handout).
Feb. 27 Evaluating Arguments
DUE: Read Ch. 1, pp. 24-31. Complete Homework #3 and #4 (Handout: Copy of the handout is available from the bulletin board outside of my
office.)
March 5 Test 1 Review sheet for test, which is homework #5, is due prior to test. Copies of this are available from the bulletin board outside of my
Office.
March 12 Fallacies
March 19 NO CLASS
March 26 Categorical Logic
DUE: Fallacy Exercise Handout and Evaluating Argument Handout (posted outside of office). Also do in text pp. 63 -64 #s 1,2,3,5,8; and on on pg. 87 #s 1,3,4 and 9..
April 2 spring break
April 9 Symbolic Logic: Symbols and Translation
DUE: Read Ch. 3, pp. 101-109. Do the following exercises, following the instructions that the text gives for these exercises. P. 105,
#5-10 and #13-15; p. 109 #5-10; P. 121 Part I 1-8; Part II # 12a-d, 13a-d, 14a-d.
April 16 Symbolic Logic: Truth Tables
DUE: Read pp. 191-200. Complete exercises p. 203 I # 6,7,11, 12, 13, 14, 21; p. 204 II # 26-32; p. 205 III # 51 – 55, 57, 58, 63; p. 206 IV #76,77,89,94. A handout on Symbolic Logic is posted on the bulletin board outside of my office.
April 23 Induction and Analogy Due: Exercises p. 232 III #s 325, 36, 37 and exercises on class handout, which is posted on the bulletin board outside of my office.
April 30 Causal Arguments
Due: Complete Homework #9 & 10. Copies of the assignment are tacked to the bulletin board outside of my office.
May 7 Review
Due: Homework #11. Copies of the assignment on causal arguments are tacked to the bulletin board outside of my office.
May 14 Test 2 and Assessment Test Due. Note: No make-up tests will be given on Test 2. If a student misses this test, they will get a zero on the test. Copies of a practice test are available outside my office, Mendocino 3024. The Assessment Test is optional. It can be accessed from a link on this course syllabus. See above for the link.
[1] The format and much of the wording of the information on this syllabus, with the exception of the statement of the tentative schedule of assignments, is adapted from the Logic Syllabus of Professor Patti Nogales.