Critical Thinking
Phil. 4
Summer 2023, Section 1
Online
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. All readings for the course are online or in Canvas. The readings for each week are listed and linked on the schedule 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 an online 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. You will also need to create a Google Doc and access Google Docs to take this course.
Link to Course Schedule
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, 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 that 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 the worst failures to think critically. Emotions and ideological commitments have 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 Canvas assessments, homework assignments, in class midterm and final exams, and journal entries.
Grading: There will be 11 Canvas quizzes (two attempts each) given throughout the semester. There will be an Argument Strength homework assignment (10%) and an Argument Reconstruction Homework assignment (10%). There will be a midterm and a final exam.
How the class is conducted: In a typical week, this will be the structure, although in some weeks there are multiple quizzes, and homework assignments also due: