To introduce students to the concepts and methods of informal logic and to enable students to use these concepts and methods in assessing arguments both within and outside philosophy. To help students to think more logically themselves, and to locate and remove inconsistencies in their own thoughts. To introduce students to methods of causal, statistical and probabilistic reasoning and to enable students to identify and avoid causal, statistical and probabilistic fallacies. To enable students to think creatively about problems and to come up with rational solutions to them, and to make logical decisions in the light of available evidence.

(LO1) Students will be able to explain and apply the basic concepts of logic.

(LO2) Students will be able to identify conclusions and premises in arguments, including hidden premises.

(LO3) Students will be able to reconstruct and evaluate arguments.

(LO4) Students will be able to distinguish between reasoning and rhetoric and to identify fallacies and rhetorical ploys in arguments.

(LO5) Students will be able to distinguish between deductive and inductive inference, including distinguishing between different types of inductive inference, enumerative, statistical, causal, analogical.

(LO6) Students will be able to tell when a given set of statements is logically consistent and when it is not.

(LO7) Students will be able to explain some of the problems with relativism about truth.

(LO8) Students will be able to explain and apply some of the basic principles of statistics and of probability theory.

(LO9) Students will be able to demonstrate creative thinking by spotting possibilities missed by less creative thinkers.

(S1) Students will enhance their abilities in reading and understanding texts and in comprehending abstract material.

(S2) Students will develop their skills in thinking critically, analysing problems and analysing and assessing arguments.

(S3) Students will enhance their ability to identify the issues that underlie debates.

(S4) Students will develop confidence in considering previously unfamiliar ideas and approaches, and their ability to identify presuppositions and to reflect critically upon them.

(S5) Students will enhance their ability to marshal arguments and present them orally and in writing.

(S6) Students will develop their ability to work independently.

(S7) Students will develop their ability to sift through information, assessing the relevance and importance of the information to what is at issue.

(S8) Students will develop their problem-solving skills.

(S9) Students will enhance their capacity to participate, in a dispassionate and respectful manner, in debates about controversial and profound matters.

(S10) Students will develop their willingness critically to evaluate and reflect upon arguments, beliefs, proposals and values, both their own and those of others.

(S11) Students will enhance their skills in oral, written and visual communication, influencing and argumentation.

(S12) Students will enhance their skills in critical thinking, problem solving and critical analysis.

(S13) Students will enhance their skills in critical thinking, problem solving and creative thinking.

(S14) Students will enhance their skills in IT and critical reading.

(S15) Students will enhance their skills in IT and evaluation.

(S16) Students will enhance their skills in numeracy, computation and reason with numbers and mathematical concepts.

(S17) Students will enhance their skills in numeracy, computation and problem solving.

What is Critical Thinking?

Finding Arguments & Standard Form

What Makes a Good Argument?

Fallacies and Relevance

Premises and Conclusions

Definitions

Language and Clarity

Rhetoric and Emotion

Identifying Propositional Statements

Evaluating Propositional Arguments

Generalizations and Quantifiers

Venn Diagrams, Contradiction & Contrariety

Reasoning with Generalizations

Analogical Arguments and Refutation by Counter
example

Descriptive Statistics

Statistical Arguments

Causal Arguments

Reason and Normative Ethics

Reason and Meta Ethics

Probability

Reasoning with Probability

Creative Thinking

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: Lectures offer a map of the syllabus and a framework for independent inquiry-led research. Students are encouraged to engage actively with lectures through reflecting on and responding to questions posed to them in the lecture.
Attendance Recorded: Yes