PHIL 106: Critical Thinking
LARKIN: Fall 2002
Syllabus
I. Vital Information
A. Course
1. Number: PHIL 106.001
2. Room: PH 0302
3. Time: MWF 8:00-8:50 AM
B.
Instructor
1. Name: William S. Larkin
2. Office: PH 2207
3. Office Hours: MWF 12:00-1:00 PM
4. Office Phone: 650-2643
5. E-mail: wlarkin@siue.edu
II. Course Description:
The
main objective of this course is to provide students with the means to
self-consciously distinguish good reasoning from bad reasoning and thereby gain
autonomous control over their own rational cognitive processes. We will foster habits of thought that
promote an optimum blend of open-mindedness and skepticism. We will develop a conceptual repertoire
sufficient to distinguish such things as an argument’s structure from its
content, validity from truth, factual claims from value judgments, and
necessary truths from contingent truths.
And we will learn various techniques for analyzing and evaluating both
deductive and inductive argument structures.
In the end students should be well equipped to efficiently critique the
arguments of others as well as effectively produce arguments of their own.
III. Text:
Rental: An Introduction to Logic, Copi and Cohen
IV. Course Requirements:
A. Reading Questions: There will be eight reading assignments for which I
will provide a set of questions.
Answers to these questions must be typed and handed in at the beginning
of class on the day that we discuss that reading. Each set of reading questions will be graded for effort on a
4-point scale as follows:
3 = complete
and on time
2 = either
incomplete or late (not more than one class period)
1 = both
incomplete and late
0 = not
handed in within one class period of due date.
The combined
score on the reading questions will constitute 20% of the semester grade.
B. Tests:
There will be three in-class,
problems-oriented tests. The test
problems will be of the same type as those given for homework and worked on in lecture. One test will be on evaluating deductive
arguments and one on evaluating inductive arguments. Each test will be
worth 15% of the semester grade.
C.
Argument Analysis: There will be a project involving the analysis and evaluation of
an argumentative essay. The final
product will be in the form of an outline that clearly lays out and evaluates
the essay’s topic, thesis, and argument structure. There will also be a rough draft required that will be
peer-reviewed. This project will be
worth 15% of the semester grade.
D.
Final Exam: There will be a final exam
given in class on Thursday, December 12th;
8:00-9:40 AM. The final will cover material from the three
tests as well as some new material. The
final exam will be worth 20% of the semester grade.
V. Expectations and Policies
A. In Class: In class students are
expected to actively participate in the appropriate
manner by listening, taking notes, discussing,
participating in groups, etc. Perhaps
most importantly students need to ask questions when they are not sure whether
they understand some material. Because
an open atmosphere where people feel comfortable expressing their own views is
essential in this course, it is above all else expected that students show
respect for others in the classroom. No
behavior that is distracting to other students or the instructor can be
tolerated. Repeated requests to refrain
from such behavior will negatively affect a student’s grade for the semester.
B. Outside Class: Outside class students are expected to
prepare for class by reading,
preparing reading questions, practicing homework
problems, and reviewing notes from previous lectures to see if they need to ask
for clarification. Students are also
encouraged to go over materials with others in the class and to visit the
instructor during office hours.
VI. Course Schedule
Week |
Monday |
Wednesday |
Friday |
One |
Syllabus |
Value
of Critical Thinking |
Plato’s “Euthyphro” |
Two |
Arguments:
Structure and Content |
Arguments:
Structural Analysis |
Descartes’ “Meditation
One” |
Three |
OFF |
Fallacies
of Relevance |
Deductive
Concepts |
Four |
Truth
and Validity |
Rowe’s “Cosmological
Argument” |
Categorical
Logic |
Five |
Categorical
Syllogisms |
Practice
|
Review |
Six |
TEST #1 |
Truth-Functional
Logic |
Translations |
Seven |
Practice |
Truth
Tables |
Practice |
Eight |
Argument Forms |
Practice |
Review
|
Nine |
TEST #2
|
Inductive
Concepts |
Inductive Generalization |
Ten |
Argument
by Analogy |
Argument
to the Best Explanation |
Refutation by Logical Analogy |
Eleven |
Fallacies
of Presumption |
Practice
|
Review
|
Twelve |
TEST #3
|
Content
Distinctions |
Conceptual
Analysis |
Thirteen |
Moral
Truth and Moral Reasoning |
Rachels, “Cultural
Relativism”
|
Relativism
cont. |
Fourteen |
Argument
Analysis Peer Review |
Singer, “Animals and the
Value of Life” |
Animals
cont. |
Fifteen |
Argument
Analysis DUE |
Final
Exam Review |
Final
Exam Review |
|
|
|
|
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 12th;
8:00-9:40 AM
VII. Outline of Course Content
A. Readings
1.
Plato,
“Euthyphro”
2.
Descartes,
“Meditation One”
B. Objectives of Critical
Thinking
1.
Maximize
true/useful beliefs
2.
Minimize
false/harmful beliefs
C. Path to Autonomous Control
1.
Virtues
a.
Open-Mindedness
b.
Skepticism
2.
Evaluating
Reasons
a.
Concepts
for Analyzing Arguments
b.
Concepts
for Evaluating Arguments
D. Fallacies of Relevance
A. Readings
1.
Rowe,
“Cosmological Argument”
2.
Anselm,
“Ontological Argument”
B. Concepts for Analyzing
Deductive Arguments
C. Categorical Logic
1.
Square
of Opposition
2.
Venn
Diagrams
D. Truth-Functional Logic
1.
Translations
2.
Truth-Tables
3.
Basic
Argument Forms
E.
Refutation
by Logical Analogy
F.
Formal
Fallacies
A. Readings
1.
Steele,
“I’m Black, You’re White, Whose Inocent?”
2.
Lycan,
“Robots and Minds”
B. Concepts for Analyzing
Inductive Arguments
C. Inductive Argument Forms
D. Fallacies of Presumption
A. Readings
1.
Ayer,
“The Elimination of Metaphysics”
B. Distinctions
1.
A
priori/A posteriori
2.
Analytic/Synthetic
3.
Necessary/Contingent
4.
Logical
Necessity/Physical Necessity
C. Logical Truth
D. Conceptual Analysis
E.
Fallacies
of Ambiguity
A. Readings
1.
Singer,
“Famine, Affluence, and Morality”
2.
Rachels,
“Cultural Relativism”
B. Moral Truth
1.
Grades
of Moral Truth
2.
Cultural
Relativism
C. Practical Reasoning
1.
Varieties
of “goods”
2.
Means/End
Reasoning
D. Fundamental Moral Principles
1.
Divine
Command Ethics
2.
Sanctity
of Human Life
3.
Principle
of Utility
4.
Categorical
Imperative