PHIL : CRITICAL THINKING

Transcription

1 PHIL Critical Thinking Dr. R. England - Syllabus subject to revision at instructor s discretion 1 PHIL : CRITICAL THINKING Dr. Richard England Philosophy House, Room Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 3-4:20 pm, Tues. 1:30-3:30 pm. rkengland@salisbury.edu COURSE DESCRIPTION Critical Thinking involves evaluating arguments in order to decide which claims we should accept and which we should reject. It also allows us to determine whether we have all the information we require in order to make informed decisions. This course will introduce you to basic concepts of argumentation, informal logic, and the difference between logic and rhetoric. In addition we will discuss common logical fallacies. At times, the course will challenge you to think in abstract terms that will be difficult, but throughout, we will return to real world examples in order to ground your understanding, and to demonstrate how critical thinking can change your understanding of reality. This course satisfies the General Education requirement for group IIIA or IIIC. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this course is to develop your critical thinking skills. By the end of this course you should have a good idea of what it means to think rationally and you should be able to make good arguments as well as realize what makes an argument a bad argument. These skills are designed to make you better thinkers, writers and speakers. By the end of the class I hope you will recognize and appreciate the power of reason to evaluate arguments and opinions. ASSIGNMENTS 1) Five Tests (worth, in total, 24% of your grade): Your best 4 grades will be counted. These tests must be taken on the date indicated in the syllabus. If you miss a test, you can t make it up, although it will be dropped as your lowest grade. 2) Five Writing Assignments (worth 25% total of your grade). These brief ( word) assignments will be given out at least two classes before they are due. Generally, they will ask you to apply tools from the text in order to analyze or synthesize an argument. 3) A Final Paper (worth 15% of your grade). In this paper you will address a philosophical problem using the tools you have learned in this class. 4) Final Exam (worth 20% of your grade) This will be a comprehensive test of your knowledge of the course material, with particular attention on how to apply critical thinking tools to real world situations.

2 PHIL Critical Thinking Dr. R. England - Syllabus subject to revision at instructor s discretion 2 5) Attendance and participation (worth 16% of the final grade). In order to fully grasp the subject matter you must attend and participate in this class. For every class there will be reading and homework, and you must come to class prepared to discuss and explore the assigned readings and exercises for the day. There are no excused absences for this course but you have 5 absences you can use for emergencies and other important events, such as religious holidays, weddings, funerals, athletic commitments etc. Each absence beyond your fifth absence will reduce your final grade by 5%. Being late for class twice counts as one absence. This means that going beyond your free absences will influence your final grade by more than 15%. Participation includes sharing your work on exercises, working in groups, and contributing usefully to class discussion. I will also, at random, collect assigned homework exercises two or three times during the semester, particularly if there seems to be difficulty in understanding a concept. If you do not bring your legibly written responses to the assigned exercises to class, or if you do a careless job of your assigned exercises, this will lower your attendance and participation grade. POLICIES Help! Please ask about assignments, readings, philosophical issues or anything else related to the course. I am happy to meet with you during my office hours (MW 3-4:20, or Tues 1:30-3:30). I can also make appointments to meet with you outside of those times as needed. Do let me know if you have particular concerns or problems that arise through the semester. The sooner we talk, the more likely I can help you successfully complete the course. Writing: This course supports the writing across the curriculum goals of the university. All written work will be evaluated both on its content and the quality of writing. Writing assignments produced outside of class must be typed, double-spaced, in a readable font (about 250 words per page) and accompanied by all references in MLA format unless otherwise noted. Work that does not meet these standards will not be graded. Citation guidelines are given in your textbook: if in doubt consult me. Assignments submitted by are not acceptable; submit paper copies only. The Writing Center: At the University Writing Center (directly above the Fireside Lounge in the Guerrieri University Center), trained consultants are ready to help you at any stage of the writing process. It is often helpful for writers to share their work with an attentive reader, and consultations allow writers to test and refine their ideas before having to hand in papers. In addition to the important writing instruction that occurs in the classroom and during teachers office hours, the center offers another site for learning about writing. All students are encouraged to make use of this important service. For more information about the writing center s hours and policies, visit the writing center or its website at

3 PHIL Critical Thinking Dr. R. England - Syllabus subject to revision at instructor s discretion 3 Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: Academic integrity is central to education. Always give credit where it is due: cite your sources with great care. Where you do not cite, you imply that the words or ideas are your own - if they are not, the result is a violation of academic integrity. If you ever have questions about how to cite or what credit should be given where and for what, ASK! Difficulties can be ironed out before work is handed in, after the fact they become problems of plagiarism and subject to serious penalties. If you plagiarize even if it is only in a small section of a brief written assignment - the sanction I will impose is failure in the class. I do this because it emphasizes that plagiarism makes education meaningless to the perpetrator. Late Paper Policy: Homework exercises are not accepted after the class in which they are due. Other papers are accepted after the due date, but lose 10% for every day (including weekend days) that they are late. If you hand in a paper on Thursday that was originally due Monday, the paper's grade would be reduced by 30% (i.e. even a brilliant 96% grade would become a less than marvellous 66%). RESPECT is essential to keep polite conversation going. Class begins and ends promptly at the times assigned. We will have only one discussion at a time - listen to your peers. Please treat the opinions of others with respect, even if you privately think they are utterly mad. No food or drink is allowed in class, and, unless your headgear is prescribed by a branch of Jewish, Sikh, or Islamic orthodoxy to which you belong, please remove your hat. No electronic devices will be permitted. Please do not leave the classroom unless it is an emergency or I ask you to do so. Good classes depend on the conventions of polite conversation, and have always done so. Special Needs: If you have any special needs as a result of a documented learning disability, or for other reasons, please let me know, and I will try to accommodate you. TEXTBOOK: Vaughn, L., The Power of Critical Thinking, [PCT] (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), ISBN: Provisional Class Schedule Subject to Change All assignments and readings are due on the date they are next to. In addition to textbook readings indicated below (PCT), additional readings may be posted to the course MyClasses site. These readings will help you connect the textbook material to real world situations. Further information on additional readings will be given out in class as they arise. M Aug 29 Class cancelled due to Hurricane! W Aug 31 Introductions F Sept 2 What is Critical Thinking? PCT Chapter 1 M Sept 5 W Sept 7 F Sept 9 Labor Day Campus Closed, therefore Obstacles to Critical Thinking PCT Chapter 2 First Brief Writing Assignment Due continued

4 PHIL Critical Thinking Dr. R. England - Syllabus subject to revision at instructor s discretion 4 M Sept 12 Making Sense of Arguments, PCT Chapter 3, pp W Sept 14 continued PCT Chapter 3, pp F Sept 16 First test M Sept 19 Diagramming and Test Debriefing W Sept 21 Believing and Doubting, PCT Chapter 4, pp F Sept 23 continued PCT Chapter 4, pp M Sept 26 Faulty Reasoning PCT Chapter 5, pp W Sept 28 continued PCT Chapter 5, pp F Sept 30 continued Second Brief Writing Assignment Due M Oct 3 Second test W Oct 5 Review of Faulty Reasoning Exercises and Test Debriefing F Oct 7 Propositional Logic PCT Chapter 6, pp M Oct 10 Validity PCT Chapter 6, pp W Oct 12 continued Third Brief Writing Assignment Due F Oct 14 Review of Propositional Logic Exercises (to be assigned) M Oct 17 Categorical Logic PCT Chapter 7, pp W Oct 19 Venn Diagrams PCT Chapter 7, pp F Oct 21 No Class Dr. England at NCHC Conference M Oct 24 Review of Categorical Logic Exercises (to be assigned) W Oct 26 Third Test F Oct 28 Inductive Reasoning PCT Chapter 8, pp M Oct 31 Causation PCT Chapter 8, pp W Nov 2 continued Fourth Brief Writing Assignment Due F Nov 4 Inference to Best Explanation PCT Chapter 9, pp M Nov 7 continued PCT Chapter 9, pp W Nov 9 Fourth Test F Nov 11 Scientific Theories PCT Chapter 10, pp M Nov 14 continued... Fifth Brief Writing Assignment Due W Nov 16 Alternative Science? PCT Chapter 10, pp F Nov 18 continued... M Nov 21 Final Paper Review Session Thanksgiving Break...

5 PHIL Critical Thinking Dr. R. England - Syllabus subject to revision at instructor s discretion 5 M Nov 28 Moral Theories PCT, Chapter 11, pp W Nov 30 continued... PCT, Chapter 11, pp F Dec 2 Fifth Test M Dec 5 Applying Critical Thinking Case Study TBA Final Papers Due W Dec 7 continued... F Dec 9 Last Day of Classes - Review for Final Exam Sat Dec 10 Review continued (class added to make up for loss of first class to Hurricane!) M Dec 12, 1:30-4 pm Final Exam GRADES Grades: In this class the following percentile grade ranges correspond to the final letter grade that will appear on your transcript. A B C D E 0-59 An A grade indicates outstanding work which shows a thorough understanding or application of the concepts being studied, and a polished, clear expression of ideas with only minor flaws. A B grade indicates good work which shows a strong grasp or an appropriate application of the concepts being studied. Ideas are expressed clearly and without confusion, although B level work may have flaws that make it less polished than an A paper. A C grade indicates adequate work which shows a basic understanding or application of the concepts being studied, and a clear argument, although there may be some points of confusion. C level work may have more fundamental flaws than those that appear in a B paper. A D grade indicates work that fails to show basic understanding or application of the concepts being studied, or a confused argument. It does, however, reveal an honest effort to answer the question posed, although the answer itself falls short of an adequate, C level response. An F grade indicates work that is very inadequate. It may fail to respond to the prompt, or be the result of hasty composition, with problems such as many basic writing or reasoning errors, or being much too short. In this regard, it is less satisfactory than a D level response to a prompt.

6 PHIL Critical Thinking Dr. R. England - Syllabus subject to revision at instructor s discretion 6 A Note on Grading I give you grades in order to give you as accurate an idea of your performance as I can. The worst thing a professor can do in grading is to give you a higher grade than your work really deserves, because this gives you a false idea of your achievements, and may give you (and others) the impression that you are ready for further challenges that you are not in fact well prepared for. I am, in a sense, your intellectual coach, and I intend to push you to give me your best work. If you feel that I have made a mistake or been unfair in grading work that you have given me, I will reconsider grades. However, if you ask me to reconsider a grade you must accept that I have a range of options, which include not changing the grade, raising the grade, or lowering the grade. Grade Template You may find it helpful to track your grades through the semester using the template below. PHIL103 Grading Template Test 1 (6 marks max.) Test 2 (6 marks max.) Test 3 (6 marks max.) Test 4 (6 marks max.) % Grade Total marks Essay 1 (5 marks max.) Essay 2 (5 marks max.) Essay 3 (5 marks max.) Essay 4 (5 marks max.) Essay 5 (5 marks max.) Final Paper (15 marks max.) (multiply by 0.15) Final Exam (20 marks max.) (multiply by 0.20) Participation (16 marks max.) (multiply by 0.16) Total Grade for the Term (out of 100)