Critical Thinking
Phil. 4, Section 3
Mondays, 1:30-2:45 MND 1003
Department of Philosophy
College of Arts and Letters
Catalog: PHIL 4. Critical Thinking. 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 argumentation. Units: 3.0.
Text: There is no required text for this course. The readings for each week are listed and linked on the schedule for your section under the relevant weeks.
Course Description: This course is designed to improve one of the fundamental intellectual abilities, the capacity to think critically. A well-trained critical thinker has a number of skills that we will develop and practice.
This is a hybrid course. You must have a functioning, reliable computer and internet connection to be able to take this course. You will need to access course materials here and in Canvas daily.
No smart phone use, unless explicitly instructed by the professor, will be allowed in class.
Students may use a laptop in class for notes, but to minimize distractions for the rest of the class, please only have course materials on your screen.
Being late: Important class information and often quizzes are given in the first 10 minutes of every class. In addition, important, graded in-class points will be assessed in the first ten minutes of class. Don't be late.
How to contact your professor: Prof. McCormick can be reached at mccormick@csus.edu I also hold weekly office hours in MND 3020, and I hold Zoom office hours.
Fall 2026:
Mondays, 12:00-1:30, Wednesdays, 3-4:30, MND 3020,
See McCormick Philosophy for hours and times.
The knowledge and skills to be studied in this course include:
Logical analysis and the identification and construction of arguments.
Understanding logical relations, in particular the relations between premises and conclusions.
Recognizing the more common forms of formal and informal fallacies.
Evaluating the relevance, validity, and strength of arguments.
Understanding the logical structure of deductive and inductive arguments.
Awareness of the abuses of language, including connotation, ambiguity, and definition.
Recognizing arguments in a variety of contexts, including other disciplines as well as in public affairs.
Improve ‘information competence’: the ability to find out what one needs to know in order to have a responsible position on an issue.
Acquiring an immunity to propaganda.
Developing not only the capacity but the disposition to use good reasoning in a variety of contexts.
Developing a sense of fairness and respect for opposing positions.
Developing basic thinking skills that are applicable to a variety of academic subjects and students' lives as citizens, consumers, leaders, and moral agents.
Improving our ability to argue fairly, and to handle bias, emotion, and propaganda.
Student Outcome Goals: At the end of the course the student should have the ability to:
Locate the argument in a passage
Detect errors of reasoning and explain how the reasoning is in error.
Engage in cogent and respectful discussion.
Analyze specific arguments for consistency and credibility.
Apply good reasoning to issues in professional and personal contexts.
Evaluate evidence and make appropriate inferences from that evidence.
Determine what evidence is necessary and know how to find that evidence, if possible.
Construct and defend arguments in support of or in opposition to particular propositions.
Analyze and solve complicated strategic challenges.
Scientific Reasoning, Critical Thinking, and the Irrationality: We will be considering arguments from a variety of sources such as the television news media, newspapers, articles, TED talks, politicians, statistical studies, science, parapsychologists, pseudo-science and so on. We will see how scientific reasoning that addresses double blind controls, the placebo effect, confirmation bias, and other issues is the best method for finding truth and avoiding error. We will also consider a wide range of common biases, mistakes in reasoning, and heuristics that are apparent in people's problem solving and thinking.
Racism, Sexism, Gender, Politics, and Religion: Clear critical thinking and intellectual discourse require open debate, free inquiry, and a willingness to subject all ideas, however cherished or sensitive, to scrutiny and critique. Diverse opinions must be heard, acknowledged, considered, and thoughtfully critiqued for the healthy development of the mind. Considering those diverse opinions requires maturity, objectivity, and circumspection.
Racism, sexism, gender, politics, and religion are some of the most sensitive and controversial topics in American culture, and they are also the topics where thoughtful, respectful, and constructive discourse has become the most difficult. In the public discourse, in particular in social media, these topics reveal many of our most serious failures to think critically. Emotions and ideological commitments often derailed our ability to think clearly. They are topics where we make many of our most serious mistakes and they are topics where the ability to think clearly, rationally, and constructively are most needed. In the course of our considering a wide range of topics and arguments, examples of mistakes, biases, errors from these discussions will come up. Talking, thinking, and writing about these topics in ways that are 1) sensitive to the harms caused to victims but also 2) oriented toward the goals of being reasonable and acquiring knowledge is a difficult balance. We will talk about these topics and about controversial positions concerning them and we will strive to achieve that balance.
Student Assessment: Students' abilities to meet these outcome goals will be evaluated with in-class tests.
Grading:
Tests: 11 In-class tests, we will drop one low score and take the top ten. Each one is worth 10% each.
Qualifying Quizzes with AI Tutors: You will also have the opportunity to take Qualifying Quizzes with the AI tutor for chapters 2-11. If you qualify (70% or greater), you will get .5 bonus points toward the course grade for each chapter. Therefore, if you do all 10 Qualifying Quizzes, you will get 5 additional points for the course grade. Only one of the Qualifying Quizzes will count per chapter, and they must be done before the class when we start that chapter. Qualifying Quizzes taken after that due date will not be accepted.
At any point in the semester, you can calculate your grade by averaging your test scores so far.
Attendance/excused Absences Policy:
Attendance Policy: regular attendance to every class is expected. Students who miss class or who are late miss important course information and typically do worse in the course.
Missed Tests and Excused Absences: Tests must normally be taken at the scheduled date and time. Makeup tests are not offered for ordinary absences, scheduling conflicts, or failure to attend. Students who miss a test because of an absence protected or excused under Sacramento State policy or applicable law will be given a reasonable opportunity to complete an equivalent makeup assessment. When an absence is foreseeable, students should notify me as early as reasonably possible; emergencies and unexpected illnesses should be reported as soon as practicable. Students are responsible for contacting me promptly to arrange any authorized makeup work.
Grading Policy: Here, on a 100 point scale, is how work will be graded:
A 93-99
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 50-59
Here is a link to the Philosophy Department Grading Standards that gives details about what sort of work is considered A, B, C, D, or F work for Philosophy Papers, By extension, similar standards apply to tests, quizzes, journal entries, and homework assignments of the sort required in Inductive Logic.
A= Excellent, or very well done.
B= Superior, or well done.
C= Satisfactory or adequate.
D= Serious Weaknesses, or unsatisfactory.
F= Unacceptable
How the class is conducted: See the course schedule for your section for details about what is assigned for each week, topics, test dates, and class information. McCormick Philosophy