Adapted from image Piotr Gryko under Creative Commons attribution/share alike Philosophy 130: Introduction to Critical Thinking Fall 2010 Syllabus Professor Colleen Boyle devushka99@gmail.com 510.235.7800 x4289 Office hours 8:40 9:30 a.m. T/Th 12:40 1:30 p.m. T/Th Office: PS-117 Section # 494 Course website: http://philosophy130criticalthinking.blogspot.com/ Introduction Throughout our lives, we re faced with enormously difficult questions, issues, and decisions. These are often profoundly important questions that affect us, our communities, and our loved ones, and affect us for years, if not for the whole path of our lives. What to do about school, what career path to take, whether to give up some of your own goals to care-take for others, how to vote in an election, how to interpret what others are doing, or what to make of information your doctor or your boss gives you, how to make end of life decisions for yourself and for the people you love. Because these questions, issues, and decisions are so important in our lives, it s important that we think them through in the most careful way, of course that we give them the attention and thoughtfulness they deserve. But that thoughtfulness is extremely difficult, because it requires us to execute and synthesize vastly different mental tasks requiring a wide range of skills. It also requires discipline. Critical Thinking is the study of how to acquire those skills, how to bring them all together in order to make sense of the whole problem you re presented with, and how to develop the self discipline to actually put those skills to use when you re faced with a challenging issue. Think of how many foolish, wasteful, heartbreaking choices get made in this world. Critical Thinking tries to help you make thoughtful, efficient, choices, to come to sound conclusions, and to have a strong grasp on important issues in all aspects of your life.
Course Description This course helps students develop the means for evaluating the conflicting claims to truth by identifying common fallacies and characteristics of reliable thinking, practicing analysis of arguments, and clarifying arguments on both sides of some current issues. This course meets the CSU General Education Requirement for Areas A3-Critical Thinking and C2-Humanities (Literature, Philosophy, Foreign Language). Student Learning Outcomes 1. Students will be able to identify common fallacies in written arguments. 2. Students will be able to find errors in their own opinions. 3. Students will show increased appreciation for opinions other than their own. Course Expectations By the end of this course, you should be able to 1. Identify and implement the components of effective argumentation, including: researching a question, identifying issues, evaluating claims and evidence, evaluating the reliability and relevance of presented facts, looking for alternative explanations, evaluating underlying assumptions, using concrete, specific, consistent terms, and exploring all sides of the issue, 2. Critically evaluate and respond in detail to arguments about contemporary issues, 3. Develop their own effective, logically consistent arguments about contemporary issues, 4. Brainstorm and develop a detailed 6-page argument in 3 parts, in which you gather relevant research, present a clear thesis, analyze an issue, respond critically to arguments and questions raised by the issue, and present your own logically consistent conclusions, spelling out your reasoning in detail, and 5. Work together in groups to develop and clearly present an extended argument that incorporates the sub-topics you developed in your individual papers on an important contemporary topic. Required Books Madeleine Picciotto, Critical Thinking: A Campus Life Casebook. 2d edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. Handouts, to be given in class. You are responsible for acquiring any handouts you miss due to absence. Course Requirements
1. You should come to every class unless you are really sick or you have a genuine emergency. All of the lectures, exercises, projects, and discussions are designed to help you learn, engage with the material, and deepen your understanding. 2. You should come to every class on time. If you re late, you ll miss important announcements and introductory material at the beginning of class, distract your classmates, and indicate a lack of respect for the class. When students come late it delays projects and discussions and undermines the class. Leave plenty of time to park, and assume that you ll hit traffic on your way to school; make a genuine, good faith effort to arrive on time to every class. 3. Come prepared. Being prepared means that you ve done the assigned reading carefully and completed any written homework assignments; that you re mentally ready to engage the material, to raise questions and issues for discussion, and to respond respectfully to your colleagues. It also means making sure that you have the correct book with you, and that you have notebook paper, a working pen or pencil, and any required handouts. Get your book, notebook, and writing implement out at the beginning of class: assume that you ll be taking notes and using the assigned text unless I tell you otherwise. 4. Turn all assignments in on time. If you re having trouble completing an assignment, contact me in advance of the due date so I can answer questions, help you organize thoughts, develop a plan, and give you an extension if you need it. Everyone has trouble with an assignment, sometimes, so ask for help if you need it! 5. Make a sincere effort to engage with the material. Some of the ideas and writing we ll be covering is complex and challenging; some of it is written in a style that s challenging to read. I will break things down into smaller pieces, and try to connect more abstract ideas to concrete questions so that it s easier to follow and more immediately accessible. But there will be times when you ll need to concentrate on difficult material for sustained periods. 6. Treat everyone else in the class with consideration and respect. This means not just listening quietly while others are speaking and responding to others politely, but also actively working to engage with their comments, along with the material we study in the class. Assignments and Grading We ll complete the following assignments: 1. 3 Term papers of 4-8 pages each 250 points each = 750 2. 1 initial evaluation 200 3. 5 Forum posts (see below) 75 points each = 375 4. 6 Homework assignments 50 points each = 300 5. Group project 650 6. Participation 400 7. Total = 2675 A = 2394-2675 points B = 2127-2393 points C = 1859-2126 points D = 1594-1858 points F = fewer than 1594 points Course Standards
It is very important that your answers on the tests, and your statements in your essays, are as concise, to the point, and lucid as possible. You must regularly and accurately refer to the issues and authors you are evaluating both in your recapitulation of the argument, and in your own evaluation of that argument. You may use examples from real life to clarify or underscore your point, but you must make it clear what point you are defending with your example. It does not matter what position you choose to defend in your writing. It does matter that you give a clear and in-depth argument for your position, take account of opposing arguments and the arguments we have covered in class, and show evidence in your writing that you have carefully reflected upon all the available arguments and let the arguments lead your thinking on the issue. The following are general grading standards (I ll give you more specific standards for individual assignments): A an excellent, detailed account of the question assigned, making use of careful and original reflection and illustrative examples B a good grasp of the material, with some evidence of original reflection and an attempt to critically engage the assignment C a basic grasp of the material, with no evidence of original reflection or attempt to critically engage the assignment D failure to grasp the material F non-attendance, or extremely sloppy writing (e.g., unfinished thoughts, excessive misspellings or grammatical errors, no attempt made to engage the assignment) Plagiarism and Academic Integrity The standard penalty for violations of academic integrity in this course will be an F grade for the course. Such violations include cheating on an exam, helping someone else to cheat, resubmitting a paper written for another class, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is the representation of someone else s words or ideas as one s own. The most egregious cases of plagiarism are easy to avoid because they are so obviously dishonest: turning in someone else s paper as your own allowing someone else to turn in a copy of your paper as his or her own downloading a paper from the internet and altering it a little to fit the class employing a research service Be warned: instructors are quite adept at recognizing cases of plagiarism. Other cases of plagiarism are more subtle. Sometimes students plagiarize unwittingly, out of carelessness or ignorance of the standards for attributing ideas to their sources. However, ignorance is no excuse. You are responsible for knowing the standards and taking care to follow them. Whenever you make use of another s words or ideas in a paper, you must give proper credit. Usually this means inserting a footnote or a parenthetical reference that refers to a Works Cited page. If you re not sure how to give a proper reference, consult a style guide or your instructor. Your instructor can also answer questions about when you must give a reference. If in doubt, play it safe.
You must provide a reference not only when you use the exact words of another, but also when you paraphrase her words, summarize her ideas, or borrow her metaphors. When you do use someone s exact words, be sure to mark them as such, either by putting them in quotation marks or by setting them off from the main text and indenting them on both sides. Be careful not to change the wording at all in a direct quotation; if you must change it, use square brackets to indicate your changes. When you paraphrase, state the author s ideas in your own words. Don t just rearrange the words in the sentence and replace some of the words with synonyms. Note: even though you re using your own words, you still need to give a reference, since the idea is not yours. You may not work with anyone else on any of the assignments unless I specifically instruct you to do so. All of your written work must be original and unique. Etiquette During the class period, please turn off all non-medical electronic devices. Yes, your laptop is a non-medical electronic device. If you must use a laptop for note taking because of a disability, please provide the correct form from the DSPS office. For emergency contact, please instruct your contact to call police services. We will be discussing a variety of controversial issues in this course. You may hold passionate beliefs about some or all or those issues. Please remember always to treat the opinions and beliefs of your classmates with dignity and respect at all times, even when you strongly disagree with those opinions. You may be asked to leave the class if you fail to treat any of your colleagues with civility. Be respectful of the class and of your colleagues. You are not forced to attend class; therefore, if you would prefer to engage in other activities such as checking email, texting your friends, chatting with your friends, or surfing the web, do so elsewhere. Private conversations in class, and even quietly texting, are very distracting to your fellow students. Many students make enormous personal sacrifices to attend college: please don t disrupt their class. You may be asked to leave if you re disrupting class. While you are in the classroom, you are expected to make a genuine attempt to engage with the classroom activities. Disabled Students Programs and Services The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, requires Contra Costa College to make all programs accessible to qualified individuals with learning, physical, or psychological disabilities. Students who would like to receive accommodations for their learning, physical, or psychological disabilities should contact the Disabled Students Programs & Services (DSPS) office and schedule an appointment. (510) 235-7800 ext. 7220. Please feel free to come see me during office hours, or email me at devushka99@gmail.com, if you have a disability you think I should know about, or if there s anything else I should know about.
Participation in the Forums I want to be sure that everyone s questions are being answered, and that we re all reflecting on what we ve covered during each class period. So, whenever we cover a new topic in class, I m asking everyone to think about that topic later in the day, review your notes, and then post a question about the topic to the appropriate forum. That will help me to see what needs to be further clarified or explained, help keep the topic fresh in everyone s mind for the next class meeting, and help you get things cleared up before we move on. After each new topic, I ll open up a comment section for that topic on the course blog. You ll need a Google account to comment (there s a short video on the course blog, showing you how to sign up for a Google account if you don t have one). Once you ve got your account, adding your comment is simple: just click on comments immediately under the topic. Please contact me right away if you ll have a problem with regular internet access. Below is a general guideline to what makes a good contribution to a forum. There may be specific rules about particular forum questions. Your question can be about anything from ack! I really don t understand that part about identifying underlying assumptions! to I don t agree that tu quoque is really a fallacy, but they should be as specific as possible, so we can get as clear as possible. Spend some time going over your notes, and, if you felt lost, figure out where exactly you got lost. An excellent contribution: is responsive to the class session; you have made a serious attempt to reflect on the topic shows that you were paying attention, and have been trying to understand the material is as specific as possible is polite and respectful of colleagues, regardless of disagreements Group Projects Your final project for the class, and a major portion of your grade, will be a group project. Your group project grade will have 2 parts: the overall quality of the completed project, and your own contribution to the group. The individual portion of your grade will consider: whether you arrived on time to begin the project whether you participated for the entire project, both for in class meetings, and for online portions of the project whether your personal assignments in preparation for the group project were completed on time the thoughtfulness and completeness of your individual assignments whether you continually engaged with your fellow group members, asked questions to drive the assignment forward, and participated regularly in the group discussion whether you collaborated helpfully with the group: discussing disagreements respectfully, putting forward ideas, raising helpful questions or criticisms, and behaving collegially.
Adapted from image Piotr Gryko under Creative Commons attribution/share alike Philosophy 110: Introduction to Ethics Spring 2010 Schedule This schedule is provisional and subject to change. You are responsible for keeping abreast of changes to the schedule, which will be announced in class and posted on the course website. Assignments should be completed for the day on which they re listed. All work done outside of class should be typed. Preparation 1.26 What is Ethics? Introduction, learning styles survey, cases. 1.28 Critical Thinking: case study. Post your response to the course website by midnight on Friday, January 28! (150 points) 2.02 Critical Thinking continued. Homework: read chapters 1-4 Rulebook for Arguments. 2.04 Critical Thinking continued. Homework: read chapters 5, 7-9 Rulebook for Arguments. Plato 2.09 Group work in class: case study. 2.11 Group work in class continued. (150 points) 2.16 Please post your response to the course website by midnight on Friday, Feb. 14! (150 points) Homework: read Euthyphro (in Five Dialogues) pp. 1 11 (up to 9c) 2.18 Homework: read Euthyphro pp. 11 14 (up to 11c). Assessments! 2.23 Review for Midterm 1; take-home midterm given out. 2.25 Midterm 1 due (150 points); in class: discussion. Aristotle 3.02 Movie: The Mission. 3.04 Movie continued.
3.09 Please post your response to the course website by Sunday, March 7! (150 points) Discussion in class and intro to Aristotle. 3.11 Homework: read Book I, Ch. 1-4, 7 & 8 from Nicomachean Ethics. In class: Aristotle. 3.16 Homework: read Book II from Nicomachean Ethics. In class: Aristotle. 3.18 In class group assignment: case study. Term Paper 1 assignment given out. Assessments! 3.23 Midterm 2 review. Take-home midterm given out. 3.25 Midterm 2 due. (150 points) Kant 3.30 Movie: The Laramie Project. Term Paper 1 due. (200 points) 4.01 Movie continued. Please post your response to the course website by midnight on Friday, April 2! (150 points) 4.06 Spring Break 4.08 Spring Break 4.13 In class: discussion and introduction to Kant. 4.15 Homework: read 393-395 & 400-404 from Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. In class: Kant part 1. 4.20 Homework: read 422-425 from Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. In class: Kant part 2. 4.22 In class: Kant part 3. Take-home Midterm 3 handed out. 4.27 In class group assignment: case studies; class discussion (What counts as treating someone as an end-in-themselves?) Assessments 4.29 Grade updates. Group work continued (150 points). Midterm 3 due. (150 points) 4.30 Last day to withdraw. Mill 5.04 Homework: Read pages 9-28 from On Liberty. Utilitarianism. 5.06 Homework: read pages 53-67 from On Liberty. Rule Utilitarianism. Term Paper 2 assignment given out. 5.11 Movie: Salaam Bombay!
5.13 Movie continued. Term Paper 2 due. (200 points) 5.18 Homework: read A Theory of Justice pp. TBA. In class: Rawls part 1. 5.20 Homework: read A Theory of Justice pp. TBA. In class: Rawls part 2. Take-home final handed out. Final Assessments 5.27 Final due no later than 1 p.m. in my office, PS-117. (150 points)