Philosophy 210 Online: Reasoning in the Sciences           Spring  2010  CSUN

 

SYLLABUS

 

 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

 

                    Instructor:               Weimin Sun

                    Office:                    Sierra Tower 505

Email:                     weimin.sun@csun.edu

Telephone:              818- 677- 6461 (answering machine available--leave a message if I am not available)

Office Hours:          MW: 11:30AM-1:00 p.m.;

                    Dept. Office:           Sierra Tower 522

 

CATALOG  DESCRIPTION:

The concepts, methods, and limitations involved in the systematic procedures of empirical inquiry in the sciences and in ordinary thought, e.g., probability, measurement, causal relations, statistical inference, the concepts of "law" and "theory."

 

Prerequisites:   Completion of GE Section A.1 (Analytical Reasoning/Expository Writing);

Either GE Section A.3 (Mathematics) or MATH 210

 

INSTRUCTOR  DESCRIPTION:

 

This course satisfies the “Critical Thinking” component of the “Basic Skills” section of the General Education Program, which recognizes critical reasoning as a fundamental competence. Courses in this part of General Education take reasoning itself as their focus. This course introduces crucial components of critical thinking, especially the essential elements in scientific reasoning, including basic logic skills, the concept of possibility, probability, truth, knowledge and reality, and the scientific method. We aim to develop a skeptical attitude and an inquisitive mind to the large amount of information available today, and to learn fundamental principles of statement/theory evaluation. These goals will be accomplished by a careful and in-depth examination of extraordinary claims about weird things (such as ESP - Extra-sensory Perception, UFO- Unidentified Flying Objects, Miracle Cure, and etc.). In the end, students should be able to better evaluate such claims in general, which affects our life greatly, and be able to tell science from its pretenders.

 

GOAL:

 

Students will analyze information and ideas carefully and logically from multiple perspectives and develop reasoned solutions to problems.

 

STUDENT  LEARNING  OUTCOMES:

 

Students will:

1.         Explain and apply the basic concepts essential to a critical examination and evaluation of argumentative discourse;

2.         Use investigative and analytical thinking skills to examine alternatives, explore complex questions and solve challenging problems;

3.         Synthesize information in order to arrive at reasoned conclusions;

4.         Evaluate the logic and validity of arguments, and the relevance of data and information;

5.         Recognize and avoid common logical and rhetorical fallacies.

 

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

 

Students will:

1.      understand and be able to apply the basic concepts essential to a critical examination and evaluation of argumentative discourses: e.g. argument/premise/conclusion, logical possibility/physical possibility/reality, probability, truth/knowledge/relativism, deductive validity, the scientific method;

2.      develop skills to evaluate the logical structure of arguments and to tell good arguments from bad arguments;

3.      recognize and avoid common logical and rhetorical fallacies;

4.      recognize and be able to evaluate typically pseudo-scientific claims about things such as ESP, UFOs, Miracle Cure, and etc., and tell scientific claims from their pretenders;

5.      understand and develop analytical skills to evaluate empirical/scientific statements based on available information and data;

6.      develop skills to apply scientific reasoning/scientific method and to solve challenging empirical/scientific problems faced in daily life;

 

 

The Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) are targeted by the corresponding Objectives as follows:

 

SLOs

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Course Objectives

1-6

1, 4-6

1, 4-6

1,2, 4-6

1-3

 

 

TOPICS COVERED:

 

Argument, deductive validity, formal fallacy, informal fallacy, inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning; logical possibility, physical possibility, subjective validation, availability error, confirmation bias, probability judgment; solipsism, subjectivism, social constructivism, cultural relativism, knowledge, truth, justification, reality; scientific method, theory evaluation, simplicity, testability, fruitfulness, empirical support, conservativeness; causality, theory, hypothesis; UFO, miracle cure, ESP, creationism, astrology, prophecy. 

 

TEXT (required; note its edition)

[S & V] How to think about Weird Things, 4th edition or 5th edition by Schick & Vaughn. McGraw-Hill.

 

 Both editions will work fine (I actually like the 4th edition better). Content wise, there are no significant changes form the 4th to the 5th edition, though the latter comes with a high price marker.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1.  You are expected to study carefully the assigned text passages and attempt the problems you encounter there.

 

2. You are expected to work on your quizzes, exams, and project on your own.

 

WebCT: The Online Learning Platform

WebCT is our online learning platform. All courses materials (except information on the textbook) will be posted on WebCT, and all assignments will be administered on it too. And your grades will be posted on WebCT immediately after they are available. Each student can only access his/her own grade. Course Calendar, email, discussion form, chat room are also available on WebCT. Go to webteach.csun.edu to logon WebCT. The logon ID and password are the same as your CSUN email address (as ID) and password.

 

Methods of Evaluation:

 

Ø      10 quizzes                                                    -- 25% (2.5% each)

Ø      Exam I                                                         -- 25%

Ø      Exam II                                                      -- 25%

Ø      Final Project                                              -- 25%

 

1.      All grades are posted on WebCT when available. The final grade is the weighted average of all grade components, and will be rounded to the first decimal. The plus/minus system will also be used. The scale is: 

 

A

A-

B+

B

B-

C+

C

C-

D+

D

D-

F

≥92.0

90-91.9

88-89.9

82-87.9

80-81.9

78-79.9

72-77.9

70-71.9

68-69.9

62-67.9

60-61.9

<60

 

For example, for 89.94 you get a B+; and for 89.95, it will be rounded to 90.0 and you get an A-.

 

  1. 10 quizzes are currently scheduled. Each quiz should be finished by Friday night of the week.
  2. Two exams (of multiple choice and short essay questions) are required.
  3. The final project will ask you to choose a topic of your own interest (from a list of topics), apply the scientific method to examine it, and write a report on your discovery.
  4. Sample project topics: UFO – the Roswell Incident, Spontaneous human combustion (SHC), Haunted House – The Amityville Horror, The Case of Bio-Fuel, Global Warming, Feng Shui, La Llorona Myth, and etc.
  5. All the assignments will be administered online. Let me know if you need special arrangement.

 

  Course Schedule and Reading Assignments 

 

Themes

Date

Topics

Reading Assignment

(referring to the Textbook)

Introduction;

 

Basic Logic;

Week 1:

1/19-22

Introduction to the course;

Close Encounters with the Strange

(Online) Lecture 1: Introduction

Read: S&V: Chapter 1;

Recommended Video: Talking to the Dead (Penn & Teller Showtime)

Week 2:

1/25-29

Arguments, Logical Forms, and Validity

Quiz 1;

Lecture 2;

Read S&V:  (4th edition:) pp. 154-165;

(5th edition): pp. 35-50;

Week 3:

2/1-5

 

Informal Fallacies; Possibilities; Fallacies involving possibilities

Quiz 2;

Lecture 3;

Read  pp. 165-171 (4th edition); pp. 50-57 (5th edition)

Also, Read pp. 15-30 (4th edition); pp. 14-31(5th edition)

Experience,

 

Relativism,

&

Knowledge

Week 4:

2/8-2/12

 

Perception and Illusion; Perceptual and Memory Construction

Quiz 3;

Lecture 4;

Read pp. 35-60 (4th ed.);  pp. 101-126 (5th)

Week 5:

2/15-19

Traps in Judgment 

Judging about Odds

Quiz 4;

Lecture 5;

Read pp. 60-81 (4th);  pp. 126-146 (5th)

 

Week 6:

2/22-26

Solipsism, Subjectivism, and Social Constructivism

& Critique of Relativism

Quiz 5;

Lecture 6;

Read pp. 88-101 (4th);  pp. 308-320 5th)

Week 7:

3/1-5

Knowledge and Justification

Case study: Astrology

Quiz 6;

Lecture 7;

Read pp. 114-149 (4th); pp. 62-95 (5th)

 

Exam I

Week 8

3/8-12

Review and Exam

Exam I;

Lecture 8;

Science,

 

Pseudo-Science,

 

&

 

Scientific Method.

Week 9

3/15-19

What is Science?

The Scientific Method

  • Inductive Method
  • the Method of Hypothesis

Quiz 7;

Lecture 9;

Read pp. 175-187 (4th); pp. 164-179 5th)

 

Week 10:

3/22-26

The Scientific Method:

  • Inference to the best explanation;
  • Criteria of Adequacy

Quiz 8;

Lecture 10;

Read pp. 187-197 ((5th edition: pp. 179-190))

Week 11:

3/29-4/2

Furlough; No Class

 

4/5-9

Spring Break; No Class.

 

Week 12

4/12-16

Applying the scientific method (IBE).

  • Case studies (I) – Creation vs. Evolution
  • Case studies (II) – Parapsychology

Quiz 9;

Lecture 11;

Read pp. 198-225 (4th);  pp. 190-220 (5th)

 

Week 13

4/19-23

What works? Miracle Cure:

  • Personal experience,
  • Doctor’s evidence
  • Cultural Traditions
  • Statistical Reasoning

Quiz 10.

Lecture 12;

Read pp. 232-266 (4th); pp. 147-156 (5th).

Exam II

Week 14:

4/26-30

Review & Exam

Exam II;

Lecture 13;

Final Project

Week

Week 15:

5/3-7

No Lectures.

Students work on the Final Project.

Recommended reading: Chapter 9 (4th), Chapter 7 (5th)

Case Studies in the Extraordinary

 

5/7

Final Project Due;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: This schedule is tentative and is up to revision. Such revisions (if any) will be announced in class and posted online.

 

Cheating and plagiarism:

Academic dishonesty is a very serious issue.

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 more details on what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it, see http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/plagiarism.html.

 

 

 

Information Regarding the Furlough

 

1)      For the past 10 years the CSU system has suffered chronic under-funding.  This year, because of the state economic crisis, the budget cuts are draconian, $584 million, the worst ever in decades.  The CSU administration is attempting to manage these cuts by dramatically increasing student fees and by furloughing almost all University employees, including faculty, staff, and administrators.   A furlough means mandatory un-paid days off for employees; there are 18 of these this year for the faculty, nine per semester.

 

2)      For students this means that on some days the campus will be closed.  The library will have shorter hours and many campus support services will be decreased or eliminated. It will, for example, be more difficult to get signatures to meet deadlines. Additionally, many classes you need have been cut from the class schedule or are full.  These cuts have consequences, especially for you. 

 

3)      As a professor, the days when I’m forced to cancel class because of the furloughs are marked on your syllabus above.  These days off are not holidays; they are a very concrete example of how budget cuts have consequences for education.