Critical Thinking Fall 2012 PHIL 119 MWF 2:20-3:20 Main 111 Professor Diane Michelfelder Office: Main 110 Office hours: Wed, 3:30-5:30 other times by appointment Phone: 696-6197 E-mail: michelfelder@macalester.edu What this course is about Everyday life displays a rich dynamics within which we try to think things through to logical conclusions; distinguish between solid arguments on the one hand and stupid ones on the other; determine the value of claims, often for competing goods, that others are presenting and make efforts to figure out what to believe or not to believe based on the evidence that is given; gauge the probability of whether something might or might not occur; and thoughtfully construct arguments to present to others in a variety of conversational situations. The purpose of this course is to make you more skilled in these kinds of everyday reasoning. Part of the course will be focused on understanding the logical structures of the different types of arguments for instance, arguments that involve statistical generalizations or ones where we reason to the best
explanation-- that we frequently employ in the course of everyday life. We will cover common missteps that people often make in everyday reasoning, including missteps that people make in making judgments based on probability, so that you will be able to better recognize these when you see them and to avoid making them yourselves. We will look at some principles of probability and how these might be used in making good judgments in situations of uncertainty where risks need to be calculated as best as possible. The course will also involve in class group work that will help develop your skills in evaluating and making arguments. Toward the end of the course, we will take a step back and take a critical look at some aspects of critical thinking itself. Because thinking about politics is part of everyday thinking and this is a presidential election year in the US, you can expect the course to contain a fair number of political-related examples and exercises. To put the overall purpose of this course as succinctly as possible: the purpose is to narrow the gap in your own life between thinking and critical thinking so that the more thinking you do, the more critical your processes of reflection become. Course learning goals Because the aim of critical thinking is to deepen your skills at everyday kinds of reasoning, the primary learning goals for this course are focused on expanding your capabilities for: Understanding the logical structures of the primary kinds of arguments used in the everyday contexts of life; Analyzing arguments within these classes for their strengths and weaknesses; Evaluating sources and quality of data; Recognizing common fallacies in reasoning, including reasoning involving determining probabilities and the presence of causation; Understanding and being able to engage in good critical thinking in contexts of risk and uncertainty; Constructing good arguments using principles of informal reasoning; Reflecting on your own critical thinking practices; and Listening to the arguments of others without prejudging these arguments in advance. What you ll be reading Walter Sinnott Armstrong and Robert Fogelin, Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic. 8 th Ed. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Ian Hacking, An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic. Cambridge University Press
What you ll be doing Homework: There will be a total of 10 homework assignments for this course. In general, homework will be assigned in class on Friday and due on the following Monday. Assignments must be turned in on time to count toward your course grade. Each assignment will be worth 10 points. While you will be expected to turn in all assignments, you may choose to drop one of them. Quizzes: There will be quizzes approximately every three weeks: four in all. These will not be cumulative. We will try to set aside a little time in the class before to go over what will be covered on the quiz. Final exam: The final exam will give you an opportunity to pull together what you have learned throughout the semester and to show how you ve developed as a critical thinker, both in terms of your knowledge of basic principles as well as your ability in applying skills you have refined as a result of this course. Philosophy major Casey Rufener 12 will be the preceptor for this class. He will be available to assist you and will also be involved in grading assignments and quizzes. Casey can be reached at crufener@macalester.edu. Course and classroom integrity In this class, we will strive to have an environment geared as best as possible toward facilitating individual learning and one which models best scholarly practices. It is anticipated that what you will turn in for this course will be your own work and not that of others. Please know that in reviewing it, I will adhere to the College s Academic Integrity Policy as published in the Student Handbook. You might want to take a moment to familiarize yourself with this policy if you have not already done so. Through the gift of your attention, you also help support the integrity of the academic environment. For everyone s sake, when we are in class together please refrain from texting, tweeting, googling, and the like. You do not need to turn off your cell phones, but please set them so they do not ring and try to pretend you do not have them with you for the time we are together. If you are aware that you will need to take a call because of an emergency situation, please let me know before class begins. How your work will be evaluated : Your final grade for this class will be based on the following percentages: Homework assignments 15% Quizzes 60% (15% each) Final exam 15% Class participation 10%
Because this is a philosophy course, there will be ample opportunity for you to contribute to class discussions. Your class participation grade will be based primarily on the quality of your contributions to these discussions. Regular attendance will also be taken into account. I will expect that each of you will come to class having done the readings for that day, and be prepared to participate by raising questions, commenting on the readings, taking part in in-class exercises, responding to points brought up by others, and the like. Schedule of readings and assignments This schedule may change; any changes will be announced in class and also e-mailed. Reading assignments from the Sinnott-Armstrong & Fogelin text are indicated as SAF; assignments from the book by Ian Hacking are indicated as IH. Week One Wednesday, 5 September Friday, 7 September Welcome and orientation to the course Arguments and their purposes Reading: SAF, pp.1-13 Assignment #1 given Week Two Monday, 10 September Wednesday, 12 September Friday, 14 September Recognizing and evaluating arguments: some important terms Reading: SAF, pp.51-60; IH, 1-7 Assignment #1 due Strategies for constructing arguments; how to spot spin doctoring Reading: SAF, pp.57-73 Identifying hidden premises and fundamental principles Reading: SAF, pp.116-126 Assignment #2 given Week Three Monday, 17 September Wednesday, 19 September Propositional logic and truth-functional connectives Reading: SAF, pp.141-156 Assignment #2 due Testing for validity by means of truth tables Reading: SAF, pp.156-162 Friday, 21 September QUIZ #1
Week Four Monday, 24 September Wednesday, 26 September Friday, 28 September Conditionals Reading: SAF, pp.162-169 Inductive reasoning An overview of the basic forms of inductive arguments Reading: SAF, pp.215-218; IH, 11-18 What are we looking for in a good statistical argument? The variety of sampling techniques Reading: SAF, pp.219-222 and class handout Assignment #3 given Week Five Monday, 1 October Bias in statistical arguments Practice in evaluating statistical arguments Reading: SAF, pp.222-224 Assignment #3 due Wednesday, 3 October The nature of causal reasoning Putting causal arguments into standard form Reading: SAF, pp.231-234 Friday, 5 October Techniques for evaluating causal arguments Reading: SAF, pp.236-243 Assignment #4 given Week Six Monday, 8 October Wednesday, 10 October Practice in evaluating causal arguments Reading: SAF, pp.245-253 Assignment #4 due Abductive reasoning and inference to the best explanation Reading: SAF, pp.257-263 Friday, 12 October QUIZ #2 Week Seven Monday, 15 October Wednesday, 17 October Arguments from analogy Reading: SAF, pp.267-271 Constructing and evaluating analogical arguments
Reading: Class handout Friday, 19 October Simple probability and the Gambler s Fallacy Reading: SAF, pp.277-283; IH, pp.23-33 Homework #5 assigned Week Eight Monday, 22 October Wednesday, 24 October The Monty Hall problem No reading for today Homework #5 due Conditional probability Reading: SAF, pp.285-289; IH, pp.47-56 Homework #6 assigned Friday, 26 October Fall Break no class meeting Week Nine Monday, 29 October Wednesday, 31 October Friday, 2 November Bayes rule Reading: SAF, pp.285-297 Homework #6 due Personal probabilities Reading: IH, pp. 151-160 Using Bayes rule to calculate personal probabilities Reading: IH, pp.171-188 Homework #7 assigned Week Ten Monday, 5 November Separating good bets from bad Reading: SAF, pp.303-308. IH, pp.79-90 Homework #7 due Wednesday, 7 November Friday, 9 November Maximizing expected value Reading: IH, pp.98-113 Decisions under ignorance or uncertainty Reading: SAF, pp.308-311 Homework #8 assigned Week Eleven Monday, 12 November More on the rule of dominance; Pascal s wager Reading: SAF, pp.312-313; IH, pp.114-126 Homework #8 due
Wednesday, 14 November More on other decision rules; review for quiz No reading for today Friday, 16 November QUIZ #3 Week Twelve Monday, 19 November Wednesday, 21 November Friday, 23 November Fallacies of vagueness Reading: SAF, pp.317-332 Practice in recognizing slippery slope and other fallacies of vagueness Homework #9 assigned Thanksgiving Holiday no class meeting Week Thirteen Monday, 28 November Wednesday, 30 November Friday, 2 December Fallacies of ambiguity Practice in recognizing fallacies of ambiguity Reading: SAF, 333-351 Homework #9 due Fallacies of relevance; circular reasoning Practice in separating legitimate from illegitimate appeals to authority Reading: SAF, pp.353-380 The nature of refutation Practice in evaluating reduction ad absurdum arguments Reading: SAF, pp.381-288 Homework #10 assigned Week Fourteen Monday, 3 December Do new communication technologies create new informal fallacies? Homework #10 due Wednesday, 5 December Informal fallacies and culture Reading: Luciano Floridi, Logical Fallacies as Informational Shortcuts, to be distributed in class Friday, 7 December QUIZ #4 Week Fifteen Monday, 10 December Course wrap-up and review for the final
Thursday, 13 December FINAL EXAM, 10:30 am-12:30 pm