SECTION:
Ticket Number 18316
Tues & Thurs 9:30 – 11:10 AM, JH 1212
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Section A.1
(Composition) and either GE Section A.3 (Math) or MATH 210. A study of
deductive and inductive inferences. Attention to formal and informal
fallacies and the relations of logic and language. Emphasis on critical
thinking and the attainment of skill in it. Not open to students
who have completed Philosophy 200. (Available for General Education,
Basic Skills, Critical Thinking)
INSTRUCTOR'S DESCRIPTION:
This course satisfies the "Critical
Thinking" component of the Basic Skill section of the General
Education Program, which recognizes critical reasoning as a fundamental
competence. Courses in this section of General Education take reasoning
itself as their focus. Their goals are to provide students with
criteria and methods for distinguishing good reasoning from bad and to
help students develop basic reasoning skills that they can apply both
within a broad range of academic disciplines and outside the academic
environment. Students are expected to acquire skill in recognizing the
logical structure of statements and arguments, the ability to distinguish
rational from non-rational means of persuasion, skill in applying the
principles of sound reasoning in the construction and evaluation of
arguments, and an appreciation of the value of critical reasoning
skills in the pursuit of knowledge.
Students will use reasoning to
solve problems, to defend claims, and to analyse and evaluate
reasoning for and against claims.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will:
- Explain and apply the basic concepts essential to a critical
examination and evaluation of argumentative discourse;
- Use investigative and analytical thinking skills to examine
alternatives, explore complex questions and solve challenging problems;
- Synthesize information in order to arrive at reasoned conclusions;
- Evaluate the logic and validity of arguments, and the relevance
of data and information;
- Recognize and avoid common logical and rhetorical fallacies.
The Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are achieved through the Course
Objectives (COs). Each SLO is targeted by one or more COs, and each
CO targets one or more SLOs. The course activities are designed to meet
specific COs, and the student performance during these activities is
monitored and assessed. The activities include lectures, tests, quizzes,
and examinations. Additional activities such as recitations, critiques,
and other comparable occurrences may be included. They are effective means
of meeting the COs, hence achieving the SLOs through the COs.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
- Students will be able to determine whether or not written or oral
communication is argumentative.
- Students will identify the parts of arguments - premises and
conclusions (including subsidiary and main conclusions) - as they
occur in everyday reasoning.
- Students will recognize and produce definitions of the basic
concepts used to evaluate arguments: deductive validity, deductive
soundness, inductive strength, and inductive cogency.
- Students will translate English arguments into two basic
languages used in formal logic, namely, the language of categorical
logic and the language of truth-functional logic.
- Students will use Venn diagrams to test categorical syllogisms
for deductive validity.
- Students will recognize and use important logical operations,
namely, negation, conjunction, disjunction, and conditional.
- Students will use truth tables to test truth-functional
arguments for validity.
- Students will recognize some common valid truth-functional argument
forms forms (e.g., modus ponens,
modus tollens, disjunctive syllogism, hypothetical syllogism)
and their application in proofs within a system of natural deduction.
- Students will recognize some common invalid truth-functional argument
forms (such as affirming the consequent and denying the antecedent).
- Students will recognize some common informal fallacies (e.g.,
ad hominem, begging the question, fallacy of equivocation,
and appeals to ignorance).
- Students will evaluate uses of enumerative and analogical induction.
- Students will evaluate arguments that use the strategy of inference
to the best explanation.
The SLOs are targeted by the corresponding COs as follows:
SLO 1
COs 1 - 3, 5 - 12 |
SLO 2
COs 1, 2, 4, 6 - 12 |
SLO 3
COs 2, 4 - 12 |
SLO 4
COs 2 - 12 |
SLO 5
COs 9 - 12 |
TOPICS COVERED:
- Recognizing arguments, their premises and conclusions, and
the roles of premises in arguments
- Reasons for belief and doubt, and common fallacies
- Deductive reasoning (propositional logic and categorical logic)
- Inductive reasoning (enumerative induction, analogical
induction, and causal argumenents)
- Explanation (inference to the best explanation; evaluating theories)
A schedule showing topics to be
covered in greater detail along with
reading and exercise assignments, and tests is posted at
http://www.csun.edu/~hcphi003/PHIL100/schedule.html.
This schedule may be adjusted in response to learning outcomes as the
semester progresses. Any changes will be announced in class, and
written into the schedule at the URL above.
Vaughn, Lewis. The Power of Critical Thinking, 2nd edition.
Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-532041-1.
Written Assignments and Grading:
Three tests will be given. Regardless of average on graded work,
a student must fulfill two requirements to pass this course:
(1) take all three tests
(2) earn a score of at least 50%
on the last test.
For students who meet both of these requirements, plus/minus grades
will be used and will be assigned on the basis of tests scores,
homework, quizzes, and class participation and attendance, weighted
as follows:
| Test 1 |
20% |
| Test 2 |
20% |
| Test 3 |
35% |
| Quizzes (usually not announced) |
20% |
| Participation and attendance |
5% |
Make-up policies:
- No make-ups will be given for quizzes, but your 2 lowest quiz
grades will be dropped.
- If you must miss a scheduled test, you must notify me by the day
of that test. Call me directly, leave a message in the Philosophy
Department office, or send me a message by email. If you cannot
do any of these yourself, have someone contact me for you.
- Make-ups for scheduled tests well be given only in case of
legitimate excuses such as illness, death of a parent or sibling, or
involvement in a car accident. Documentation (such as a doctor's
bill or the police report from an accident) may be required.
- Once you begin taking a test, no make-up is possible. If you can
attend class the day of a test but believe you have a good reason for
being allowed to take a make-up at a later time or date instead,
discuss this with me before starting the test.
- Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, no make-ups will
be given for a test after that test has been graded and returned to the
class.
Academic integrity:
The University is a community with learning as its central purpose.
Both the unity of the community and the activity of learning depend upon
academic integrity. As a result, I take academic integrity and its
breaches seriously.
Students can expect discovery of a violation to result in the filing of a Student Misconduct
Complaint with the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
For information on what constitutes academic dishonesty and on
the possible repercussions of and penalties for acts of academic
dishonesty, consult the CSUN Student Conduct Code in the
University Catalog or at
http://www.csun.edu/a&r/soc/studentconduct.html.
For details on plagiarism and how to avoid it, see
http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/plagiarism.html.
SPECIAL NEEDS (such as
interpreters, note takers, or testing services):
|
Last modified August 17, 2008.
|
|