PHIL 40: Logic: Intro to Critical Thinking

This page is designated for my students in Critical Thinking, or as I like to call it, "Logic Lite." Here you will find the necessary documents such as the syllabus, readings, handouts, assignments etc.

Reading and Homework Assignments due 1/29/2018

Hello, everybody,

Even though we went through it in class, read Ch. 1.

For HW1, do the exercises 1-1 #1-25 and 1-3 #1-10. You can type these out or write them on a sheet of paper to be turned in next Monday. Since we did not get around to Ch. 2 in class, read Ch. 2 on your own.

For HW 2 I would like for you to do exercise 2-4 #1-10 and exercise 2-5 #1-10. These exercises deal with identification of arguments and the parts of arguments.

There will be a total of 20 homework exercises throughout the semester at 20 points each, for a total of 400.

Reading and HW 3 and HW 4 due 2/5/2018

Hello, everybody!

First, I'd like to apologize for the tardiness of this post. I will not allow that to happen again.

We began to dive headlong into Ch. 3 last time. For Monday continue reading chapter 3, but also read chapter 4, as we will have a lengthy discussion about the topic of credibility.

For HW 3, analyze these two arguments below made by some famous people. I would like for you to answer the following questions about each:

• Is the argument deductive or inductive?
• Is there only one argument being made?
• If so, what is or are the theses given
• List the premises for the argument(s) presented.
• What weaknesses do you see in their arguments, if any?

Here are the two arguments, you may copy them into your document (that is, these assignments should be typed).

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." -Theodore Roosevelt

In fall 2008, before Barack Obama was elected US president, he was far ahead in the polls. But some thought he'd be defeated by the 'Bradley effect,' whereby many whites say they'll vote for a black candidate but in fact don't. Barack's wife Michelle, in a CNN interview with Larry King (October 8), argued that there wouldn't be a Bradley effect:

Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.

If there was going to be a Bradley effect, Barack wouldn't be the nominee [because the effect would have shown up in the primary elections]

[Therefore] There isn't going to be a Bradley effect.

For HW 4, do all of Exercise 4-12 from the text. We will go over both assignments in class.

Reading for 2/12/2018 and HW 5

For Next week please read chapters 5 & 6. We will continue our discussion of Ch. 4 and then dive into a discussion on the topics within chapters 5 & 6. A part of our discussion will center on web sources that we rely on for information. To that end, HW 5 will be guided by that theme. See the graph below (save it for your own personal use). There are four categories under which most news sources fall, the green box at the top signifies sources that have little to no bias, and the rest just get worse and worse with the red box being the most biased. For HW 5, follow these instructions: First, do a Google search on "Nunes FISA warrant." Then, you must select two articles on the topic from a source from each category in the graph. Choose three articles from the top middle, one that skews left, one right, and one in the middle. Here is the crux of HW 5: List the article title, date, and source along with a two-page comparative analysis explaining the differences of coverage by each source. Email me with your questions about the assignment.

Reading for 2/26/2018 and Homework assignments 6 and 7.

Hello, everyone!

Since 2/19/2018 is a holiday, there will be no class and we will reconvene on 2/26/2018. That being said, Please read Chapters 5, 6, and 7 carefully. The main topic on discussion will be rhetorical devices and fallacies. It is important that you master these concepts because the biggest part of knowing how to argue is knowing how not to argue. That is, when you know what types of errors to avoid, you will know how to spot deficiencies in your own arguments and those of others. In the former, your own arguments can then be made better, stronger. In the latter, you will have grounds to establish critiques of arguments.

The homework assignments are as follows. For HW 6, do all of exercises 6-6 and 6-7. For HW 7, do exercises 7-9 and 7-10. We will go over these assignments in class, and what we do not finish will continue in the next session. Of course, before we discuss the homework, there will be a lecture on rhetorical devices and fallacies.

Below is an attachment on fallacies. There is great overlap with the definitions provided in the text, but where they differ will only increase your knowledge.

Reading for next time and HW 8

Hello, everybody!

As discussed in class, we are going to finish up Fallacies with HW 8 (see below), and then we will jump into Categorical Logic. This means that you are to read Chapter 8 of the textbook. We will be spending the next two weeks on Categorical Logic right up to the midterm exam. Doing so will free up some time later in the semester to dive into some other concepts crucial to critical thinking, and if we are doing really well, we will most likely read a paper or two in philosophy so that we can apply what we've learned all semester. Have fun with HW 8, as it contains fallacies by some of the most brilliant minds in human history...

Reading For Next Time and HW 9 and HW 10

Hello, everybody!

We have now taken the dive headfirst into categorical logic. Keep reading Ch. 8 in the Moore and Parker text. In particular pay attention to the special ways to translate regular sentences into categorical claims regarding sentences that make use of the terms "the only" and "only." In short, the rule of thumb is that "the only" indicates the subject of a categorical proposition and "only" indicates the predicate. As I mentioned in class, I hope to be done with categorical logic by the end of the coming week.Also, I promised an opportunity for extra credit, so the extra credit assignments will follow the regular homework assignments. For HW 9, do Exercise 8-1 #1-20. For extra credit, do Exercise 8-2 #1-20. For HW 10, do Exercise 8-4 #1-10. For extra credit do Exercise 8-5 #1-10. Due in class first thing next Monday. We will go over a few of the problems if you so desire.

Reading for next time and HW 11

Hello, everybody!

For next week please read p. 297-312 of Ch. 9 of the Critical Thinking text. The content of this chapter may seem confusing to some at first, but it will all become clear in class. Do not fret if you feel a bit lost at first. We will spend about three weeks on this material. Welcome to Sentential Logic! It's my favorite. Our first foray into Sentential Logic will include the basic logical functions (aka connectives) and how to use them in symbolization from English into Logic and vice versa. Do your best with the homework and do it completely. I will make it all clear with lecture. Good luck!

For HW 11, please do exercise 9-2 #1-20

HW 12 and HW 13, Plus the Reading for Next Time

Hello, my fledgling logicians!

We have now jumped headlong into Sentential Logic, and I hope you understand some of the reasons for why we symbolize sentences and why we use the logical connectives that we do. Moreover, I hope you are also now more capable at identifying the various turns of phrase that we use in English and their logical import, e.g. "neither...nor..." statements. To help you to this end--just in case you are uncertain about how to symbolize certain turns of phrase--please refer to the Writing tab here on my website. Download and print the document titled "Summary of Logical Connectives."

HW 12 will consist of doing Exercise 9-3 #1-10.

Then you will read p. 314-321 and do Exercise 9-4 #1-10. Do the best that you can, and I will help you understand truth tables next lecture. Good luck!

Reading, Symbolization and Truth Tables, and HW 14, 15, and 16 for 4/23/2018

For next time read the next part of Chapter 9 in the text concerning deductions and proofs. Your homework will not consist of working out proofs, as I prefer to show you how proofs are constructed, but it will continue on what we have been working on as of late: symbolization and truth tables. I know that this is a quite a bit of homework, but this is the time of the semester I had hinted at previously. Namely, this is where things get harder but more intuitive and interesting. My hope is that it will teach you to pay more careful attention to the way you use language on the level of sentences and how you apply those sentences to arguments. To help you achieve these goals are HW's 14, 15, and 16.

Homeworks 17 & 18

Hello, everybody!

We are in the thick of doing proofs in sentential logic. It's fun, ain't it??? Well, we are going to do some more symbolization and proofs. At first blush, these assignments may seem tedious, but they are absolutely vital to your growth as academic writers. When all is said and done you will have a more nuanced understanding of the logic of language such that your thinking AND your writing will transform into one of your most powerful tools in your intellectual arsenal. So, do HW 17 & 18. We will go over HW 18 next time.

Homework 19

For next week, we will continue to work on deductive proofs in Sentential Logic. Homework 19 will continue to help you develop your skill understanding how deductively valid arguments reach their conclusions when they are not in standard form, i.e. not in the form of one of the rules of inference. That is, non-standard deductive arguments always rely on the standard rules of inference implicitly, i.e. between the lines. We will go over these problems in class as we did the last time. Everyone will get a turn. Have fun!!! Be sure to do these problems on a separate sheet of paper and in pencil. These may seem a bit more tricky than the last assignment. Also, remember to employ different strategies to help you navigate the arguments. Some proofs require that you look at the conclusion to determine what the next to last move will be before you reach the conclusion. Other times, when that option is not obvious, it helps to just take what the premises give you and work from there. Remember: move slowly, carefully by not skipping any steps.

Homework 20

Hello, everyone,

Homework 20 will serve as a great precursor to the Final Exam. Just like the final, you will have demonstrate knowledge of building truth tables, symbolization of sentences of English into sentential logic and vice versa, and finally, demonstrate that you know how derive the conclusions in proofs of arguments. We will go over the homework together in class as preparation for the final exam.