PHIL 210 A Logic and Critical Thinking

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Columbia College Online Campus P a g e | 1

PHIL 210 A

Logic and Critical Thinking

Late Fall Session 15/52

October 26 – December 19, 2015

Course Description

Overview of the principles and methods of critical thinking, inductive reasoning and deductive logic. Emphasis on the formulation and evaluation of ordinary language arguments.

Prerequisite: None

Proctored Exams: Mid-term and final

Textbooks

Hurley, Patrick J. A Concise Introduction to Logic. 12th_{ed. Boston, Wadsworth-Cengage, 2015.} ISBN: 978-1285-992273

With this ISBN, in addition to the hardcover book, you are purchasing six-month access to Aplia and a full-text interactive eBook. More information about Aplia can be found in the Technical Requirements section of this syllabus and in the Content area of the course.

Textbooks for the course may be ordered from MBS Direct. You can order

 online at http://direct.mbsbooks.com/columbia.htm (be sure to select Online Education rather than your home campus before selecting your class)

 by phone at 800-325-3252

For additional information about the bookstore, visit http://www.mbsbooks.com. Note that Aplia access is not automatically included with used or alternate versions of this text.

Course Overview

Logic is one of the core areas of philosophy. Unlike some of the other core areas, it tends to be more skills-oriented, or applied, rather than purely idea-oriented— precisely because it concerns the rules for formulating, expressing and evaluating our ideas. In particular, logic is concerned with how we arrive at certain ideas, or conclusions, based on available evidence, and evaluating whether we do so well or badly. It is the discipline concerned with how we demonstrate the truth of our claims, and what we ought to require in such demonstrations.

This course is designed to introduce you to several key concepts and skills, as well as some

theoretical puzzles, which fall within the domain of good reasoning. We will first consider the nature of knowledge, what we mean by “truth,” and the value of inquiry. We will discuss types of language, especially rhetoric or persuasive language, as well as the concept of relevance in demonstration. After this general introduction to critical thinking, we will discuss the nature of observational or

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Columbia College Online Campus P a g e | 2 inductive reasoning. We will talk about arguments based upon generalization and comparison, as well as arguments concerned with causal reasoning. We will examine some techniques for strengthening our inductive arguments, as well as some logical fallacies to avoid. During this first four-week period, we will read and discuss short articles placing some of our course concepts in the context of popular culture (e.g., the Jon Stewart model of critical thinking, and the trouble with reasoning inductively in Alice’s Wonderland.)

During the next three weeks, we will experience a distinct shift in tone as we turn our attention to methods in mathematical, or deductive reasoning. Because this is an introductory course, we will only delve so far into the formulaic aspects of this kind of thinking. Our emphasis will be on basic techniques for abstracting and symbolizing argument forms from ordinary English language

examples, for determining possible truth values of even very complex sentences, and demonstrating the validity or invalidity of deductive arguments. This will include a brief and simplified overview of categorical arguments.

We will spend our last week delving back into some of the puzzles of logic, discussing basic elements of decision theory (such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma), and exploring classic problems such as the Liar’s Paradox.

In addition to providing you with a new skill set and helping you more finely tune your critical thinking radar, it is hoped that this course will provide you with a glimpse into logic as an ongoing theoretical and applied philosophical activity that will engage and intrigue you.

Technology Requirements

Participation in this course will require the basic technology for all online classes at Columbia College:

 A computer with reliable Internet access,

 a web browser,

 Acrobat Reader,

 Microsoft Office or another word processor such as Open Office.

You can find more details about standard technical requirements for our courses on our site.

You will need to use the PowerPoint program in Microsoft Office or Open Office in order to access the course lectures.

Aplia Access

In order to complete some of your homework assignments and optional practice exercises, you will need access to the web application Aplia. The ISBN provided above comes with a code that grants six months’ worth of access to Aplia. It is recommended that you not log into Aplia until the start of the class. Details about access and use of Aplia will be provided in the Content area.

Aplia is flash-based, so you will need to have an up-to-date shockwave flash plugin installed in your browser.

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Course Objectives

 To develop a broad familiarity with three areas of logical thought: critical thinking (informal logic), inductive reasoning (including the analysis of causal arguments), and deductive logic (including symbolized argument analysis)

 To develop the ability to recognize, reconstruct, and evaluate ordinary language arguments, and to apply standard methods of symbolizing and analyzing formal arguments

 To gain exposure to selected theoretical topics in logic and epistemology Course Objectives from Master Syllabus

Measurable Learning Outcomes

 Critically evaluate argumentative discourse for clarity, evidential support and coherence; identify occurrences of rhetorical distortion and fallacious reasoning in same.

 Standardize ordinary language arguments in order to evaluate all stated and any implicit or missing assumptions, as well as their logical relationship to the conclusion.

 Evaluate the relative strength of inductive arguments using established basic criteria for statistical syllogisms, analogical arguments, and causal arguments.

 Apply Mill's methods for establishing the truth of causal claims to complex problems.

 Provide symbolic transcriptions of formalized propositions; identify complex individual propositions as necessarily or contingently true or false; determine any logical equivalence relationships between two or more such propositions.

 Construct truth tables for symbolic deductive arguments and use them to evaluate the validity of same.

 Identify basic deductive argument forms and fallacies in both symbolic and ordinary language.

 Use Venn diagrams to test the validity of categorical propositions and arguments.

 Express basic theoretical components of selected topics in logic and epistemology, including classical theories of truth and their challenges, logical paradoxes, and the application and limits of logical languages.

Grading

Grading Scale

GRADE POINTS PERCENT

A 900 – 1000 90 – 100 B 800 – 899 80 – 89 C 700 – 799 70 – 79 D 600 – 699 60 – 69 F 0 – 599 0 – 59

Grade Weights

ASSIGNMENT

POINTS PERCENT

Homework Assignments 300 30 Discussion Posts 300 30 Mid-Term Exam 200 20 Final Exam 200 20 TOTAL 1000 100

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Schedule of Due Dates

 All homework assignments (A) and discussion posts (D) are worth 15 points each.

 The Aplia website is accessed through your e-text site; all other locations are found in D2L.

Week Assignment Points Total Submission Area Due

1

A1 15 Dropbox Sunday

A2 – A3 30 Aplia Sunday

D1 – D3 45 Discussion Board Sunday

2

A4 – A 5 30 Aplia Sunday

3

A8 15 Aplia Sunday

4

A9 15 Aplia Sunday

Mid-Term Exam 200 Quizzes Sunday

5

A10 – A11 30 Aplia Sunday

A12 – A13 30 Dropbox Sunday

6 A14 – A16 45 Dropbox Sunday

7 A17 – A19 45 Quizzes Sunday

8

A20 15 Quizzes Saturday

D17 – D20 60 Discussion Board Saturday

Final Exam 200 Quizzes Saturday

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Assignment Overview

Homework Assignments (A1 – A20)

There are three kinds of homework assignments.

(Type 1) Most assignments will require completing selected exercises through Aplia to test your understanding of the material in the Hurley text. These exercises are graded online, using an average of three possible attempts to determine the final score.

(Type 2) Some assignments will require completing exercises provided in the Quiz area to test your understanding of lecture or secondary reading material not assigned from Hurley. These exercises are graded online.

(Type 3) Other assignments will require answering reading comprehension questions provided on this syllabus and in the Content area to test your understanding of selected articles on various topics in logic and critical thinking. You will submit your completed assignments to the Dropbox. I will provide comments on those assignments.

Discussion Posts (D1 – D20)

There are three kinds of discussion post assignments.

(Type 1) Most discussion posts will require responding to question prompts provided in this syllabus and in the Content area concerning selected articles on various topics in logic and critical thinking. The intention with these assignments, as opposed to the reading comprehension assignments that you submit directly to me, is to give you an opportunity to “be the philosopher” and reflect thoughtfully upon what you have read for an audience of your peers. Posting your reflections and questions on the discussion boards will open up opportunities for discussion with your classmates— potentially the best part of a philosophy course! As a rule, adequate answer length for this kind of post will be 2 or 3 well-developed paragraphs.

(Type 2) Some discussion posts will require responding thoughtfully to a reflection post from one of your classmates. A thoughtful response will very often begin with a question, such as “What more are you thinking when you say that X?” or “Have you considered what would happen to the argument if we supposed Y?” As a rule, adequate answer length for this kind of post will be one well-developed paragraph.

(Type 3) Other discussion posts- those in weeks 5 through 7- will require posting at least one question that you have on the course material. If you are confident enough in your understanding of the material such that you genuinely have no questions this week, you may instead post a hint to your peers for working with this week's techniques, understanding particular concepts, etc. The idea behind this assignment is to open up the floor for questions during the more technical portion of the course.

All discussion posts should be written formally, using the rules of proper English grammar, correct spelling, etc. While I am more concerned with the content of your posts— namely, that you are making a sincere and thoughtful effort to engage meaningfully with the material— it nevertheless hampers that effort if you write it poorly and do not edit your work before submitting it. As we will learn early in the course, how a thing is said has a significant impact on exactly what is said! Give this your very best.

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Exams

Exams must be taken under the supervision of a proctor. You must submit your proctor information by the end of the second week.

Your exams will be accessed through the Quiz area. Your proctor will be provided with the password. You will have two hours to complete the exam. You may not make use of any notes, books, the Internet, flash drives, or another person while taking this exam. You are allowed to use blank scratch paper on the final exam. The exams will consist of a combination of true/false and multiple choice questions.

Mid-Term Exam (E1)

 You will be provided with a review handout in the Content area to help you focus your study preparations. The exam will cover material from Weeks 1 – 4.

 Your mid-term exam will be available in the Quiz area beginning Monday of week 4 and will be due by midnight on Sunday of that week.

Final Exam (E2)

 You will be provided with a review handout in the Content area to help you focus your study preparations. The exam will cover material from Weeks 5 – 8.

 Your final exam will be available in the Quiz area beginning on Monday of week 8 and will be due by midnight on Saturday of that week. You are allowed to use blank scratch paper during this exam.

Course Schedule

Week 1 – Critical Thinking: Rational Discourse, Truth and Knowledge

Readings: R1 Pierlott, Matthew F. “Socratic Seuss: Intellectual Integrity and Truth Orientation” in Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (2011 Rowan and Littlefield), pp. 41-52. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

R2 Roben, Torosyan. “Public Discourse and the Stewart Model of Critical Thinking” in The Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen in the Art of Fake News (2007 Blackwell Publishing), pp. 107-120. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

R3 Hurley, Ch. 14.1 – 14.5, “Science and Superstition” (pp. 632-49) Aplia R4 Hurley, Ch. 1.1 “Arguments, Premises and Conclusions” (pp. 1-7) and

Ch. 1.2 “Recognizing Arguments” (pp. 14-25) Aplia Lectures: L1 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Overview: How Reason Matters” in the

Content Area. D2L

L2 View the Powerpoint lecture, “The Question of Objective Truth” in

the Content Area. D2L

L3 View the Powerpoint lecture, “The Language of Arguments” in the

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Assignments: A1 _{Read either R1 or R2.}

You should take some notes as you do so, as you will then need to (1) summarize the key points of this article and (2) thoughtfully assess it, considering any points of interest or questions that it raised for you. Upload this assignment to the Dropbox as a Word or Rich Text document.

Note: after next week, having received some feedback on your first submissions, you will submit article summaries/commentaries to discussion threads for peer review.

D2L

A2 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R3. Science and Superstition (Ch. 14)

Topics: Scientific v. anecdotal evidence; ad hoc modifications, Ockham’s Razor; “Objectivity, False Coherence and Mental Laziness”; perceptual distortions; scientific integrity

Aplia

A3 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R4. Recognizing Arguments (Ch. 1.1 – 1.2)

Topics; Premise and Conclusion Indicators; Arguments v. Non-arguments

Aplia

Discussions: D1 Introductions: Write a brief post telling us something about who you are and what your expectations are for this course.

Add a brief paragraph indicating how you would complete the sentence “Being rational means _______________________" and explain why you would describe rationality in this way.

D2L

D2 Do you think that we have any moral obligations to think clearly, or

to reason well, or to try to determine if our beliefs are actually true? This is a broad question, so try to think of a specific example which supports either a positive or negative answer.

Note that this question is not asking whether or not we have an obligation to be rational about moral judgments, in particular, but whether we have a particularly moral obligation to be rational in arriving at our judgments, in general.

You may find that this question makes a bit more sense to you after reading the article on intellectual integrity [R1].

Hint: adequate answer length will be 2 or 3 well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D3 _Respond_thoughtfully_{to someone else’s D2 post. A thoughtful}

response may include a question to prompt further discussion. Whether you agree or disagree with someone's position, or are too confused to make a judgment about it, try to give specific

reasons why you agree, disagree, or are confused.

Hint: adequate response length will be at least one well-developed

paragraph. In order for your response to be properly credited, it

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Week 2– Critical Thinking: Rhetoric and Relevance

must appear in this forum (D3, not D2). You may choose to respond in the original topic thread first, then copy/paste your work into this response forum for grading purposes.

Readings: R5 Hurley, Ch. 2.1, “Varieties of Meaning” (pp. 80-85), Ch. 2.2, “The Extension and Intension of Terms” (pp. 91-4), and Ch. 2.3, “Definitions and Their Purposes” (pp. 96-101)

Aplia

R6 Hurley, Ch. 3.2 “Fallacies of Relevance” (pp. 125-38) and Ch. 3.4 “Fallacies of Presumption, Ambiguity and Illicit Transference” (pp. 160-74)

[Note: we will cover Ch. 3.3 in the unit on inductive reasoning.]

Aplia

R7 Arp, Robert. “The Chewbacca Defense: A Southpark Logic Lesson” in South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today (Blackwell Publishing), pp. 40-53. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

Lectures: L4 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Meaning and Definition” in the

Content area. D2L

L5 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Informal Fallacies I” in the Content

area. D2L

Assignments: A4 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R5.

Part 1- Varieties of Meaning (Ch. 2.1)

Topics: Cognitive v. emotive meaning, vague and ambiguous expressions , verbal v. factual disagreements

Part 2- The Intension and Extension of Terms (Ch. 2.2), Definitions and Their Purposes (Ch. 2.3)

Topics: Intension v. extension, definition types

Aplia

A5 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R6.

Part 1- Fallacies of Relevance (Ch. 3.2)

Topics: Appeal to force, appeal to pity, appeal to the pity, argument against the person, accident, straw man, missing the point, red herring

Part 2- Fallacies of Presumption, Ambiguity and Illicit Transference (Ch. 3.4)

Topics: Begging the question, complex question, false dichotomy, suppressed evidence, equivocation, amphiboly, composition, division

Aplia

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Week 3– Inductive Reasoning

You should take some notes as you do so, as you will then need to (1) summarize the key points of this article and (2) thoughtfully assess it, considering any points of interest or questions that it raised for you. Upload this assignment to the Dropbox as a Word or Rich Text document.

Discussions: D4 If mere rhetoric works, why worry about presenting a rational argument? In other words, if emotionally charged and

incomprehensible language, techniques of distraction and other forms of pseudo-reasoning are persuasive, why not use them? The point is merely to come out on top in a debate, right? Or wrong? Explain your answer. Adequate answer length will be two or three well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D5 _Respond_thoughtfully_{to someone else’s D4 post. A thoughtful}

D2L

Readings: R8 Hurley, Ch. 1.3 “Deduction and Induction” (pp. 33-40, skim) and the

second half of Ch. 1.4 “Inductive Arguments” (pp. 48-52) Aplia R9 Salmon, Merrilee. Ch. 4, “Inductive Arguments” (Introduction, p.

110, Statistical Syllogisms, pp. 111-17) in Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, 5th_{ed. (2007 Thomson Wadsworth) PDF file}

available in the Content area.

D2L

R10 Hurley, Ch. 3.3 “Fallacies of Weak Induction” (pp. 143-8 152-4) Aplia R11 Hurley, Ch. 9.1: “Analogical Reasoning” (pp. 524-7) Aplia R12 Three analogies from classical philosophical texts—

 Plato: the soldier and the well-bred dog

 Al-Farabi: the statesman and the physician

 William Paley: God and the watch-maker PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

Lectures: L6 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Overview of Induction” in the

Content area. D2L

L7 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Statistical Syllogisms” in the Content

area. D2L

L8 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Analogical Reasoning” in the Content

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Week 4– Inductive Reasoning, cont’d.

Assignments: A7 After you have finished L7 and R9, download and complete the practice exercises provided in the Content area on statistical syllogisms (A7). Upload the completed Word document to the Drop Box. Note: Assignment will be graded manually.

D2L

A8 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R10 and R11.

Part 1- Fallacies of Weak Induction (Ch. 3.3)

Topics: Appeal to authority, appeal to ignorance, hasty generalization, weak analogy

Part 2- Analogical Reasoning (Ch. 9.1)

Aplia

Discussions: D6 First, analyze one (not all) of the philosophical analogies in R12 by stating precisely which two things are being compared and what similarities between those things are cited.

Next, evaluate the relative strength or weakness of the

argument: (a) Are the similarities cited relevant? Why or why not? (b) Have any relevant differences been ignored? If so, what are they? (c) What is your final assessment of the argument? Hint: adequate answer length will be 2 or 3 well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D7 Respond thoughtfully to someone else’s D6 post. A thoughtful

D2L

Readings: R13 Hurley, Ch. 3.3 “Fallacies of Weak Induction [Causal arguments]” (pp.

149-52) D2L

R14 Hurley, Ch. 10.1 “Necessary and Sufficient Conditions,” (pp. 544-6)

and Ch. 10.2 “Mill’s Five Methods” (pp. 546-55) D2L R15 Johnson, J. Solomon. “Is Holmes Really Just Lucky?” in Sherlock

Holmes and Philosophy: The Footprints of a Gigantic Mind (2011 Open Court), pp. 229-36. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

R16 Brendan, Shea. “Three Ways of Getting It Wrong: Induction in Wonderland” in Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser and Curiouser (2010 John Wiley and Sons), pp. 93-106. PDF file available in the Content area.

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R17 Russell, Bertrand. “On Induction” from The Problems of Philosophy

(Hackett Publishing) PDF file available in the Content area. D2L Lectures: L9 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Causality” in the Content area. D2L L10 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Mill’s Methods” in the Content area. D2L L11 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Informal Fallacies II” in the Content

area. D2L

L12 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Problems of Induction” in the Content

area. D2L

Assignments: A9 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R13 and R14.

Mill’s Methods for Establishing Causal Claims (Ch. 10.1 and 10.2) Topics: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions; Mill’s Methods of— Agreement, Difference, Agreement and Difference (Joint Method), Concomitant Variation, Residues

Aplia

Discussions: D8 Comment either upon the article in R15 (“Holmes”) or R16

(“Wonderland”). What point do you find of particular interest in this article, and why? Do you agree or disagree with the author’s thesis? Why? Does the article raise questions for you that you would like to pursue? If so, what are they? Adequate answer length will be two or three well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D9 Discuss Russell’s central claim in “On Induction.” What is his argument concerning “so-called natural laws”? Do you agree or disagree with his thesis? Why? Does the article raise questions for you that you would like to pursue? If so, what are they? Adequate answer length will be two or three well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D10 Respond thoughtfully to someone else’s D8 or D9 post. A thoughtful

paragraph. In order for your response to be properly credited, it

must appear in this forum (D10, not D8 or D9).You may choose to respond in the original topic thread first, then copy/paste your work into this response forum for grading purposes.

D2L

Exams E1 Mid-Term Exam:

 Your exam will be available in the Quiz area beginning on Monday and will be due by midnight on Sunday.

 The exam must be taken under the supervision of a proctor. Your proctor will be provided with the password for your exam. You will have two hours to complete the exam. You may not make use of any notes, books, the Internet, flash drives, or

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Week 5– Deductive Reasoning: Propositional Logic/Sentences

another person while taking this exam.

 The exam will consist of a combination of true/false, multiple choice and practical application questions. Some portions of the exam (e.g., analogy analysis, Mills Methods table) will be graded manually by your instructor.

Readings: R18 Hurley, Ch. 1.3 “Deduction and Induction” (pp. 33-40, review)

and the first half of Ch. 1.4 “Deductive Arguments” (pp. 44-8) Aplia R19 Hurley, Ch. 6.1 “Symbols and Translation” (pp. 316-25) Aplia R20 Hurley, Ch. 6.2 “Truth Functions” (pp. 330-39); 6.3 “Truth Tables

for Propositions” (pp. 342-8) Aplia

Lectures: L13 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Overview of Deduction” in the

Content area. D2L

L14 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Transcribing English Sentences

into the Sentential Language” in the Content area. D2L L15 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Determining the Truth Values of

Sentences” in the Content area. D2L

L16 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Logical Equivalence” in the

Content area. D2L

Assignments: A10 Answer the assigned questions in Aplia after you have completed R18.

Deductive Arguments, Validity & Soundness (Ch. 1.3 and 1.4)

Aplia

A11 Answer the following questions in Aplia after you have completed R19.

Symbols and Translation (Ch. 6.1)

Topics: Operators and connectives, main operators, using parentheses,; translation practice

Aplia

A12-A13 After you have finished L15 and L16, download the Word _{document “AHE-210_HW_A12-A13_Rev” (“Practice Ex. Truth} Tables for Sentences”) from the Content area.

Complete this assignment either by (1) typing values directly into the table and saving as a Word .doc, or (2) printing these pages, completing them LEGIBLY by hand, and scanning them to a PDF. Further instructions on how to complete the assignment appear at the top of the document. You will submit your completed worksheet to the Dropbox. Note that this assignment will be graded manually.

D2L

Discussions: D11 What does it mean for two sentences to be logically equivalent?

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Week 6– Deductive Reasoning: Propositional Logic/Arguments

knowing when two sentences are logically equivalent? Give an example to illustrate your thinking. Hint: adequate answer length will be 2 or 3 well-developed paragraphs.

D12 In weeks 5 – 7, the discussion board is open to any and all questions concerning the course material on deductive

reasoning. If you are confident enough in your understanding of the material such that you genuinely have no questions this week, you may instead post a hint to your peers for working with this week's techniques, understanding particular concepts, etc. You should at minimum post one question this week. (This post is expected to be much shorter than a regular discussion post.)

D2L

Readings: R21 Hurley, Ch. 6.4 “Truth Tables for Arguments” (pp. 351-4) Aplia R22 Hurley, Ch. 6.6 “Argument Forms and Fallacies” (pp. 367-79) Aplia R23 Hurley, Ch. 1.5, “Proving Invalidity” (pp. 59-64) Aplia Lectures: L17 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Determining In/Validity Using

Truth Tables” in the Content area. D2L

L18 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Standard In/Valid Argument

Forms” in the Content area. D2L

L19 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Counter-Examples and Dilemmas:

Strategies for Deductive Arguments” in the Content area. D2L Assignments:

A14-A15 After you have finished L17 and L18, download the Word _{document “AHE-210_HW_A14-A15_Rev” (“Practice Ex. Deductive} Argument Forms and Truth Tables”) from the Content area. Complete this assignment either by (1) typing values directly into the table and saving as a Word .doc, or (2) printing these pages, completing them LEGIBLY by hand, and scanning them to a PDF. Further instructions on how to complete the assignment appear at the top of the document. You will submit your completed worksheet to the Dropbox. Note that this assignment will be graded manually.

D2L

A16 After you have finished R23 and L19, complete the practice exercises provided in the Quiz area on using counter-examples to demonstrate invalidity, the reductio ad absurdum argument, and dilemmas. Exercises will be graded online.

D2L

Discussions: D13 Think of a specific instance—real or hypothetical— in your own profession or daily environment in which using either (a) the method of reductio ad absurdum or else (b) one of the techniques for escaping from a logical dilemma would be useful. Detail the instance and explain why the technique you selected would be useful. In addition, can you think of any challenges you might have in successfully convincing someone else that the technique you chose demonstrates what you now know that it

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Week 7– Deductive Reasoning: Overview of Categorical Arguments

demonstrates?

D14 In weeks 5 – 7, the discussion board is open to any and all questions concerning the course material on deductive

reasoning. If you are confident enough in your understanding of the material such that you genuinely have no questions this week, you may instead post a hint to your peers for working with this week's techniques, understanding particular concepts, etc. You should at minimum post one question this week. (This post is expected to be much shorter than a regular discussion post.)

D2L

Course

Evaluations --- You will have the opportunity to evaluate the course near the end of the session. A link will be sent to your CougarMail that will allow you to access the evaluation. Be assured that the evaluations are

anonymous and that your instructor will not be able to see them until after final grades are submitted.

Readings: R24 [This reading has been replaced by L20-L24.] D2L

Lectures: L20 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Categorical Propositions” in the

Content area. D2L

L21 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Venn Diagrams for Categorical

Propositions” in the Content area. D2L

L22 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Categorical Syllogisms” in the

Content area. D2L

L23 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Venn Diagrams for Categorical

Syllogisms” in the Content area. D2L

L24 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Overview of Predicate Notation for

Categorical Propositions” in the Content area. D2L Assignments: A17 Complete exercise set A17 covering L20-L21 provided in the Quiz

area. Exercises will be graded online. D2L

A18 Complete exercise set A18 covering L22-L23 provided in the Quiz

area. Exercises will be graded online. D2L

A19 Complete exercise set A19 covering L24 provided in the Quiz area.

Exercises will be graded online. D2L

Discussions: D15 _{By this time, you have probably developed a more}

informed perspective regarding the claim that "I reason in my own way, and no one can tell me that it's wrong." How should an intelligent and informed individual assess such a claim? Are all ways of arriving at conclusions equally valuable? Equally useful? Equally right? Explain your answer. Adequate answer length will be 2 or 3 well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D16 In weeks 5 – 7, the discussion board is open to any and all

questions concerning the course material on deductive reasoning. If you are confident enough in your understanding of the material

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Week 8– Topics in Logic

such that you genuinely have no questions this week, you may instead post a hint to your peers for working with this week's techniques, understanding particular concepts, etc. You should at minimum post one question this week. (This post is expected to be much shorter than a regular discussion post.)

Readings: R25 Salmon, Merrilee, Ch. 6.3 “Decision Theory” in Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, 5th_{ed. (2007 Thomson Wadsworth), pp.}

232-50. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

R26 Holt, Jason. “The Constanza Maneuver: Is It Rational for George to ‘Do the Opposite’?” in Seinfield and Philosophy: A Book About Everything and Nothing (2000 Carus Publishing/Open Court), pp. 121-38. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

R27 Kapus, Jerry. “Harry Mudd Always Lies” in Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008 Carus Publishing/Open Court), pp. 245-60. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

R28 Griffioen, Amber. “Truthiness, Self-Deception and Intuitive Knowledge” in The Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen in the Art of Fake News (2007 Blackwell Publishing), pp. 227-39. PDF file available in the Content area.

D2L

Lectures: L25 View the Powerpoint lecture, “Some Elements of Decision Theory”

in the Content area. D2L

Assignments: A20 After completing R25, answer the questions on decision theory provided in the Content area. Upload the completed Word document to the Drop Box.

D2L

Discussions: D17 Comment upon one of the three articles in R26 – R28 (Costanza, Mudd or Truthiness). Your comments should include two or more of the following items: a positive point (what does the author get right?), a critical point (what does the author get wrong?), and/or a question (is there something important that the author does not address)? Adequate answer length will be two or three well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D18 Comment upon a second of the three articles in R26 – R28 (Costanza, Mudd or Truthiness). Your comments should include two or more of the following items: a positive point (what does the author get right?), a critical point (what does the author get wrong?), and/or a question (is there something important that the author does not address)? Adequate answer length will be two or three well-developed paragraphs.

D2L

D19 Respond thoughtfully to someone else’s D17 or D18 post. A

thoughtful response may include a question to prompt further discussion. Whether you agree or disagree with someone's position, or are too confused to make a judgment about it, try to give specific reasons why you agree, disagree, or are confused.

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Course Policies

Proctor Policy

Students taking courses that require proctored exams must submit their completed proctor request forms to their instructors by the end of the second week of the session. Proctors located at Columbia College campuses are automatically approved. The use of Proctor U services is also automatically approved. The instructor of each course will consider any other choice of proctor for approval or denial. Additional proctor choices the instructor will consider include: public librarians, high school or college instructors, high school or college counseling services, commanding officers, education service officers, and other proctoring services. Personal friends, family members, athletic coaches and direct supervisors are not acceptable.

Student Conduct

All Columbia College students, whether enrolled in a land-based or online course, are responsible for behaving in a manner consistent with Columbia College's Student Conduct Code and Acceptable Use Policy. Students violating these policies will be referred to the office of Student Affairs and/or the office of Academic Affairs for possible disciplinary action. The Student Code of Conduct and the Computer Use Policy for students can be found in the Columbia College Student Handbook. The Handbook is available online; you can also obtain a copy by calling the Student Affairs office (Campus Life) at 573-875-7400. The teacher maintains the right to manage a positive learning environment, and all students must adhere to the conventions of online etiquette.

Plagiarism

Your grade will be based in large part on the originality of your ideas and your written presentation of these ideas. Presenting the words, ideas, or expression of another in any form as your own is

paragraph. In order for your response to be properly credited,

it must appear in this forum (D19, not D17 or D18).You may choose to respond in the original topic thread first, then copy/paste your work into this response forum for grading purposes.

D20 You get the last word: what was the most interesting thing that you learned during the course? What was the most practical thing? D2L

Exams E2 Final Exam

 Your exam will be available in the Quiz area beginning on Monday and will be due by midnight on Saturday.

 The exam must be taken under the supervision of a proctor. Your proctor will be provided with the password for your exam. You will have two hours to complete the exam. You may not make use of any notes, books, the Internet, flash drives, or another person while taking this exam. You may use blank scratch paper during this exam.

 The Exam will consist of a combination of true/false and multiple choice questions.

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Columbia College Online Campus P a g e | 17 plagiarism. Students who fail to properly give credit for information contained in their written work (papers, journals, exams, etc.) are violating the intellectual property rights of the original author. For proper citation of the original authors, you should reference the appropriate publication manual for your degree program or course (APA, MLA, etc.). Violations are taken seriously in higher education and may result in a failing grade on the assignment, a grade of "F" for the course, or dismissal from the College.

Collaboration conducted between students without prior permission from the instructor is

considered plagiarism and will be treated as such. Spouses and roommates taking the same course should be particularly careful.

All required papers may be submitted for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers may be included in the Turnitin.com reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. This service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site. A plagiarism tutorial is available course content area of D2L.

Non-Discrimination

There will be no discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, ideology, political affiliation, veteran status, age, physical handicap, or marital status.

Disability Services

Students with documented disabilities who may need academic services for this course are required to register with the Coordinator for Disability Services at (573) 875-7626. Until the student has been cleared through the disability services office, accommodations do not have to be granted. If you are a student who has a documented disability, it is important for you to read the entire syllabus before enrolling in the course. The structure or the content of the course may make an accommodation not feasible.

Online Participation

You are expected to read the assigned texts and participate in the discussions and other course activities each week. Assignments should be posted by the due dates stated on the grading schedule in your syllabus. If an emergency arises that prevents you from participating in class, please let your instructor know as soon as possible.

Attendance Policy

Attendance for a week will be counted as having submitted a course assignment for which points have been earned during that week of the session or if the proctoring information has been

submitted or the plagiarism quiz taken if there is no other assignment due that week. A class week is defined as the period of time between Monday and Sunday (except for Week 8, when the week and the course will end on Saturday at midnight). The course and system deadlines are all based on the Central Time Zone.

Cougar E-mail

All students are provided with a CougarMail account when they enroll in classes at Columbia College. You are responsible for monitoring e-mail from that account for important messages from the College and from your instructor. You may forward your Cougar e-mail account to another account; however, the College cannot be held responsible for breaches in security or service interruptions with other e-mail providers.

Students should use e-mail for private messages to the instructor and other students. The class discussions are for public messages so the class members can each see what others have to say about any given topic and respond.

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Late Assignment Policy

An online class requires regular participation and a commitment to your instructor and your

classmates to regularly engage in the reading, discussion and writing assignments. Although most of the online communication for this course is asynchronous, you must be able to commit to the schedule of work for the class for the next eight weeks. You must keep up with the schedule of reading and writing to successfully complete the class.

Late submissions are accepted only at the discretion of the course instructor. The course instructor may choose not to accept any assignment submitted after the posted deadline.

Course Evaluation

You will have the opportunity to evaluate the course near the end of the session. A link will be sent to your CougarMail that will allow you to access the evaluation. Be assured that the evaluations are anonymous and that your instructor will not be able to see them until after final grades are submitted.

Additional Resources

Orientation for New Students

This course is offered online, using course management software provided by Desire2Learn and Columbia College. The Student Manual provides details about taking an online course at Columbia College. You may also want to visit the course demonstration to view a sample course before this one opens.

Technical Support

If you have problems accessing the course or posting your assignments, contact your instructor, the Columbia College Helpdesk, or the D2L Helpdesk for assistance. Contact information is also available within the online course environment.

 Columbia College Helpdesk: [email protected] 800-231-2391 ex. 4357

 D2L Helpdesk: [email protected] 877-325-7778

Online Tutoring

Smarthinking is a free online tutoring service available to all Columbia College students.

Smarthinking provides real-time online tutoring and homework help for Math, English, and Writing. Smarthinking also provides access to live tutorials in writing and math, as well as a full range of study resources, including writing manuals, sample problems, and study skills manuals. You can access the service from wherever you have a connection to the Internet. I encourage you to take advantage of this free service provided by the college.

Access Smarthinking through CougarTrack under Students->Academics->Academic Resources.

Grading Criteria

Homework

Type 1- Aplia Exercises

These exercises are based directly on the Hurley text and are graded automatically by the Aplia software. They usually require choosing the correct response from the options provided (multiple choice or true/false); these exercises test your ability to recognize and apply technical terms, to

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Columbia College Online Campus P a g e | 19 identify parts of logical sentences and arguments, to identify logical fallacies, to apply some basic technical methods for evaluating logical arguments, etc.

Grading is very straightforward—if the answer is “B,” then you must choose “B.”

Type 2- D2L Exercises

These are usually technical exercises based on supplemental material provided to you outside of the Hurley text. For example, in week 7 of this course I will provide a more streamlined overview of categorical reasoning than that found in Hurley. The exercises that you will complete will give you practice in identifying and diagramming certain kinds of logical sentences.

Grading of this group is also pretty straightforward, if a sentence has the logical structure of a universal generalization, then this is what you should tell me.

Type 3- Reading Comprehension

These are exercises designed to test your understanding of what is being said in an article. For example, A6 asks, “With reference to R7, what exactly is the Chewbacca Fallacy? What other fallacies of relevance are mentioned in this article?” Having read article R7 (“The Chewbacca Defense,”) I would expect a sentence in which you explain, in your own words, what the Chewbacca Fallacy is. Then you would briefly describe other fallacies of relevance that appear in the article. Three is a magic number for these sorts of assignments—in this example, if you find, name and describe at least three other fallacies of relevance, this will be a sufficiently complete answer.

In addition to completeness (answering all parts of the question), I am looking for accuracy (correctly identifying the fallacies in the article), clarity (stating without ambiguity or confusion what the fallacy is), and use of correct grammar and spelling.

Discussion Posts

Type 1

Most discussion posts will require responding to question prompts provided in this syllabus and in the Content area concerning selected articles on various topics in logic and critical thinking. The intention with these assignments, as opposed to the reading comprehension assignments that you submit directly to me, is to give you an opportunity to “be the philosopher” and reflect thoughtfully upon what you have read for an audience of your peers. In most cases, adequate answer length will be 2 or 3 well-developed paragraphs.

Type 2

Some discussion posts will require responding thoughtfully to a reflection post from one of your classmates. A thoughtful response will very often begin with a question, such as “What more are you thinking when you say that X?” or “Have you considered what would happen to the argument if we supposed Y?” In most cases, adequate answer length will be a well-developed paragraph.

Type 3

Other discussion posts- those in weeks 5 through 7- will require posting at least one question that you have on the course material. The idea behind this assignment is to open up the floor for questions during the more technical portion of the course.

Grading of discussion posts will be based on completeness (answering all parts of the question, using complete thoughts and complete sentences), relevance (staying on topic), accuracy (for example, not misrepresenting what an author or your classmate has said), clarity (avoiding ambiguity and

vagueness, using grammar well enough to make yourself understood), and thoughtfulness/ originality (showing that you have thought about the question and are trying to express your own

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Columbia College Online Campus P a g e | 20 understanding of it).

Exams

Exams will consist of true/false, multiple choice and practical application questions.

Grading is quite straightforward for most questions, conducted along the same lines as the Type 1 and Type 2 homework assignments.