Office hours: Office: TLC 2249 Tues: 11.00a-12.20p, 3.25p-4.00p Office phone:

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1 Critical Thinking (Philosophy 2020) -- Fall 2015 Instructor: Dr. Riker Meeting Time/Place Contact: Section 6 (11135): T/Th , Pafford 305 Section 7 (11134): T/Th , Anthropology 7 Office hours: Office: TLC 2249 Tues: 11.00a-12.20p, 3.25p-4.00p Office phone: Wed: 10.00a-2.00p wriker@westga.edu Thurs: 11.00a-12.20p, 3.25p-4.00p All communication will be conducted through your official UWG account. Check your account on a regular basis and make sure that your mailbox does not become too full to accept messages. Course Description Should we regard non-human animals as persons? What does religion tell us about our relationship to animals? Do we have good reason to deny that some animals have natural rights? Is it moral to keep animals in zoos? In this class, you will learn to recognize and evaluate different kinds of arguments, and will then apply these skills to assessment of philosophical arguments for and against different uses of animals. This course satisfies the Oral Communication part of Core Area B, so you will discuss these issues both formally and informally. Course Learning Outcomes identify deductive and inductive argumentation; distinguish fact and informed opinion from mere opinion in a variety of argumentative contexts; organize evidence and compose persuasive arguments, both orally and in writing; identify and distinguish formal and informal fallacies of reasoning; identify, develop, and analyze reasons in support of a conclusion. These course-specific learning outcomes contribute to the departmental learning outcomes of the Philosophy Program by enabling students better to incorporate a philosophical position in oral and written communications; critically outline and analyze philosophical issues; exhibit critical thinking skills.

2 Required Texts Trudy Govier, A Practical Study of Argument, 7 th ed. Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth, Several readings available on Course Den. Course Requirements a) Two Tests (20%, 30%) b) Quizzes (20%) c) Speeches (20%) (you must complete at least one speech to receive a passing grade) d) Participation (10%) e) Attendance (+/-) a) Two In-Class Tests (50% of course grade) Each test will cover roughly one-half of our course material. Each test will consist of several types of problems and questions. Test 1 = 20% of course grade Test 2 = 30% of course grade b) Quizzes (20% of course grade) Several quizzes will be given this semester. Quizzes will be assigned randomly and will not be announced in advance. They will be given at the beginning of class. Each quiz will consist of several questions or problems. Sometimes the questions will be about previous readings, lectures, and discussions. Sometimes the questions will be about that day s reading. No make-ups for missed quizzes. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped. c) Speeches (20% of course grade) There are three speeches two small group speeches with peer evaluations and a persuasive speech. Since this course satisfies the oral communication part of Core, you cannot receive a passing grade in this class without giving at least one speech. Persuasive Speech: Give a speech to the class, in which you develop and present an argument on some issue related to the use of animals. Explain your argument to the class. Draw on the resources we read and discuss in class, and do outside research, if you find that helpful. Your speech should be about 4 minutes long. When you finish your speech, you will spend about 4 minutes answering questions posed by your audience (your instructor and classmates). There are two requirements for the speech: (1) the speech itself and (2) the final text of your speech. A detailed assignment sheet will be distributed through Course Den. A sign-up sheet will be passed around in a couple of weeks. These speeches will take place at the end of the semester. Two Small Group Speeches (required -- persuasive speech grade will be lowered by one full grade for each incomplete or missed small group speech): Give two short speeches (3-4 minutes) to small groups of classmates (4-5 students). There are four requirements: (1) the speech itself; (2) Speech

3 Evaluation Forms; (3) Self Evaluation Form; and (4) the text of your presentation. The evaluation forms will be available on Course Den with the assignment sheets. The purpose of these speeches is to practice public speaking, to work on technique (voice, posture, eye contact, etc.), and to build up to the final persuasive speech. I will distribute detailed assignment sheets through Course Den. Topics: My Future Career (informational speech) and An Animal Story (narrative speech). d) Participation (10%) There will be several opportunities for you to participate in this class this semester. Please read assigned material before class, show up ready to talk about issues raised in the readings, and then talk about those issues. You will sometimes work in groups. You may be asked to complete short writing assignments during class. Please do not: disrupt class; be rude to instructor or classmates; study or do homework for other classes during this class; let your laptop become a distraction to me or anyone else in class; let your cell phone or other electronic devices make distracting sounds when class is in session. e) Attendance (+/-) You are expected to come to all scheduled classes. You are required to come to class when other students are giving speeches. Otherwise, you are allowed to miss four days without penalty. Your fifth absence, and every absence after that, will lower your final course grade average by five percentage points (5%). NOTE: Attendance is mandatory on Persuasive Speech Days. Any absence during this period will lower your final course grade average by five percentage points (5%), even if you have fewer than four absences. Come to class on time and prepared to interact. Read assigned material before class. Work any assigned problem sets before class. Late arrivals are inconsiderate and disrupt class. Two late arrivals counts as one absence for the purpose of determining a student s attendance and final course grade. I will make exceptions to the attendance policy only in extraordinary situations. I will make exceptions for required UWG-sponsored events, provided that all absences can be accounted for in this way. Do not study material from other classes while this class is in session. While you are in this class, I expect your attention to be focused on it rather than on your other courses. Students may be dismissed from any class meeting at which they exhibit behavior that disrupts the learning environment of others. Such behavior includes but is not limited to arriving late for class, allowing cell phones to ring, speaking disrespectfully to the instructor and/or to other students, and using personal audio or visual devices. Each dismissal of this kind will count as an absence and will be applied toward the attendance policy above.

4 Exemplary attendance and participation can help you. Students who come to class prepared and regularly make contributions to class discussions may receive a slight boost to their final grade. Final Grade Scale A (90% or above); B (80 to 89%); C (70 to 79%); D (60 to 69%); F (59 or below) Honors Conversions Any student wishing to receive honors credit for this course must get the approval of the professor and complete all the necessary paperwork during the first week of class. No honors forms will be signed after this point. Possible honors conversion projects: presenting course paper to class; leading class through (part of) one day s reading assignment; submitting course paper to a conference; fieldwork (e.g., attend a professional meeting, interview a legal professional). Cheating and Plagiarism The Department of English and Philosophy defines plagiarism as taking personal credit for the words and ideas of others as they are expressed in electronic, print, and verbal sources. The Department expects that students will accurately credit sources in all assignments. It is equally dishonest to make up sources or facts. You may not turn in work for credit in this class that you have or will turn in for credit in another class. Cheating (including plagiarism) is grounds for failing an assignment and sometimes the course. Note about Computers Students may use computers during class to take notes. Computers should not be used for other purposes during class. I reserve the right see notes taken during any class session. If a student s use of their computer is distracting to me or other students, the student will be asked to close their computer. Note about Recording Students may not record (e.g., audio or video) any part of any class session without explicit permission from the Office of Disability Services and from instructor (Dr. Riker). Students, please carefully review the following information at this link: It contains important material pertaining to your rights and responsibilities in this class, including information about: Americans with Disabilities Act, UWG Policy, Credit Hour Policy, and the Honor Code for UWG. Because these statements are updated as federal, state, university, and accreditation standards change, you should review the information each semester.

5 Course Schedule This schedule is tentative and may be revised. Revisions will be announced via Course Den. Students are responsible for keeping up with any announced revisions to the syllabus. Abbreviations: PSA = Practical Study of Argument (Govier) CD = Course Den Jan 6: Introductions, What is an argument? Jan 8: What is an argument?: PSA Ch 1 (pp. 1-9, 12-17) Jan 13: Argument Structure: PSA Ch 2 (pp ) Jan 15: Argument Structure: PSA Ch 2 (pp , 51-52) Jan 20: Conductive Arguments: PSA Ch 12 (pp , ) Jan 22: Dawkins: Evidence that Animals Can Suffer (CD) Jan 27: Good Arguments: PSA Ch 4 (pp , , , 111) Jan 29: DeGrazia: Personhood (CD) Feb 3: Premises: PSA Ch 5 (pp ) Feb 5: Premises: PSA Ch 5 (pp ) Feb 10: Test 1 Feb 12: Rollin, Religion and Animals (CD) Feb 17: Relevance: PSA Ch 6 (pp , , ) Feb 19: Jamieson: Against Zoos (CD) Feb 24: Deductive Arguments Worksheet on CD Feb 26: Leahy: In Defense of Zoos (CD) (Deadline for withdrawal with W grade Feb 27) Mar 3: Inductive Arguments: PSA Ch 9 (pp ) Mar 5: Regan, Do Animals have Natural Rights? (CD) Mar 10: Inductive Arguments: PSA Ch 9 (pp ) Mar 12: Causal Inductive Arguments: PSA Ch 10 (pp ) Mar 17-19: Spring Break. Mar 24: Causal Inductive Arguments: PSA Ch 10 (pp ) and Small Group Speech 1 Mar 26: Analogies: PSA Ch 11 (pp ) and Worksheet on CD Mar 31: No class meeting Honors Convocation Apr 2: Analogies: PSA Ch 11 (pp ) and Small Group Speech 2

6 Apr 7: Analogies Apr 9: Test 2 Apr 14: Persuasive Speeches (attendance mandatory) Apr 16: Persuasive Speeches (attendance mandatory) Apr 21: 2.00p-4.30p. Final class for Section 7 (11134). Persuasive Speeches (attendance mandatory) Apr 23: 11.00a-1.30p. Final class for Section 6 (11135). Persuasive Speeches (attendance mandatory)