Scribd
Upload
89 views5 pages

Phil25SyllabusFall13-3ed 114760 PDF

This document provides information about a course titled "Methods of Reasoning" taught in Fall 2013. The course will investigate principles and methods of good reasoning, argumentation, and well-founded belief. It will cover identifying arguments and structures, evaluating deductive and inductive reasoning, and common fallacies. Students must complete reading assignments, homework, exams, and a final paper to receive a grade. The course will be taught on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11-11:50, 1-1:50, or 2-2:50 in Speech Arts 163.

Uploaded by

Joshfu70
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
89 views5 pages

Phil25SyllabusFall13-3ed 114760 PDF

This document provides information about a course titled "Methods of Reasoning" taught in Fall 2013. The course will investigate principles and methods of good reasoning, argumentation, and well-founded belief. It will cover identifying arguments and structures, evaluating deductive and inductive reasoning, and common fallacies. Students must complete reading assignments, homework, exams, and a final paper to receive a grade. The course will be taught on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11-11:50, 1-1:50, or 2-2:50 in Speech Arts 163.

Uploaded by

Joshfu70
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

PHIL 25: Methods of Reasoning Instructor: Ian Nance

Fall 2013 [email protected]


Speech Arts 163 Office: MUSIC 109
MWF 11-11:50, 1-1:50, 2-2:50 Office Hours: MWF 10-10:50

Course Description: This course is an investigation of principles and methods behind good
reasoning, effective argumentation, and well-founded belief. The topics covered include the
identification of arguments and argument structures, the evaluation of basic deductive and
inductive reasoning, and common fallacies.

Required Texts: Lewis Vaughn, The Power of Critical Thinking, 4th ed. Oxford UP, 2013. ISBN:
9780199856671 or 3rd ed. Oxford UP, 2010. ISBN: 9780195377927.

Blackboard: In addition to the texts above, some of the required course readings will be made
available on Blackboard. Students are responsible for downloading and printing these materials.

E-mail: Students are required to have access to a csufresno.edu e-mail address. Class
announcements will be made over e-mail and it is the student’s responsibility to keep up.

Course Requirements: Course grades will be calculated as follows:

3 Exams: 30%
Final Exam: 10%
Homework: 20%
Participation, in-class work: 5%
Paper, First Draft: 10%
Paper, Final Draft: 25%

Exams: There will three exams over the course of the semester. See dates below.

Final: All students must take the final exam.

Homework: One of the best ways to learn more about reasoning and argumentation is by
engaging in reasoning and argumentation. Class participation is strongly encouraged.
Homework assignments are designed to promote informed participation. Some of these
assignments are exercises from the textbook, others consist of short written responses to
reading assignments. There are 25 possible assignments. You must complete 15 to receive
full credit this portion of the course (so you can safely skip up to 10).

Paper: You will write a 6-8 page argumentative paper demonstrating a grasp of some of
the tools developed in the course. This will be done in two stages. After the paper is
assigned, you will produce a partial draft on which you will receive feedback. This need
not be a draft of your whole paper, but should demonstrate serious initial work on some
aspect of the assignment. After receiving feedback on your draft, you will produce a final
version of your paper. Late papers will be penalized 1/3 letter grade per day.

Disabilities Act Statement:


If you have a verified need for an academic accommodation or material in alternate media (i.e.,
Braille, large print, electronic text, etc.) per the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act, please contact your instructor as soon as possible.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty: Students are responsible for knowing the university
policy on plagiarism. The consequences for cheating and/or plagiarism will be severe.

Tentative Schedule of Topics and Readings


This schedule is subject to revision. Revisions will be announced in lecture. It is each student’s
responsibility to keep informed about where we are in the course. You should bring each days
reading to class (if it is a reading from Blackboard, this will require printing it out), having read it
carefully and critically. PAGE NUMBERS BELOW REFER TO 3rd ed.

Topic 0: Introduction

August 23 – Course Introduction

Topic 1: Identifying Arguments and Their Parts

August 26 – Philosophy and Critical Thinking

August 28 – Basic features of arguments


Reading: Vaughn, pp. 3-9

August 30 – Identifying Statements and Arguments


Reading: Vaughn, pp. 9-22

September 2 – Labor Day Holiday. No class.

September 4 – Statements and Arguments, cont.


HW1: Vaughn pp. 23-24 ex. 1.2 and 1.3

September 6 – Argument in the Wild


Reading: Peter Singer “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”
HW2: argument summary

Topic 2: Obstacles to Critical Thinking

September 9 – Obstacles to Critical Thinking


Reading: Vaughn pp. 35-54
HW3: Vaughn pp. 26-28 ex. 1.6 and 1.7

September 11 – Argument in the Wild


Reading: Douglas Husak “Vehicles and Crashes”
HW4: argument summary

September 13 – Husak, cont.

September 16 – Obstacles to Critical Thinking, cont.


HW5: Vaughn pp. 54-55 ex. 2.1 and 2.2

September 18 - Review Chapters 1 and 2


HW6: Vaughn p. 56 ex. 2.3

September 20 – Exam I
Topic 3: Classifying and Evaluating Arguments

September 23 – Deductive and Inductive Arguments


Reading: Vaughn pp. 67-87
HW7: p. 81 ex. 3.3

September 25 – Argument in the Wild


Reading: Jeff McMahan: “The Meat Eaters”
HW8: argument summary

September 27 – McMahan, cont.

September 30 – Common Argument Patterns


Reading: Vaughn pp. 88-93
HW9: Vaughn pp. 94-95 ex. 3.5

October 2 – Argument in the Wild


Readings: Harry Truman “Why I Dropped the Bomb”
Elizabeth Anscombe “Mr. Truman’s Degree”
HW10: argument summary

October 4 – Truman/Anscombe, cont.

October 7 – Evidence and Authority


Reading: Vaughn pp.123-139
HW11: Vaughn pp. 164-165 ex 4.2

October 9 – Argument in the Wild


Reading: Christopher Glazek “Raise the Crime Rate”
HW12: argument summary

October 11 – Glazek, cont.

October 14 – Evidence and Experience


Reading: Vaughn pp. 139-162
HW13: Vaughn pp. 165 ex 4.3

October 16 – Informal Fallacies


Reading: Vaughn pp. 176-201
HW14: Vaughn pp. 202-204 ex 5.2

October 18 – Informal Fallacies, cont.

October 21 – Informal Fallacies, cont.


HW15: Vaughn pp. 204-205 ex 5.3

October 23 – Review Chapters 3, 4 and 5

October 25 – Exam II
Topic 4: Inductive Arguments in Depth

October 28 – Enumerative Induction


Reading: Vaughn pp. 285-297
HW16: Vaughn p. 297 ex. 8.1

October 30 – Analogical Induction


Reading: Vaughn pp. 302-308
HW17: Vaughn p. 308 ex. 8.6

November 1 – Analogical Induction, cont.

November 4 – Causal Arguments


Reading: Vaughn pp. 311-327
HW18: Vaughn, p. 327 Ex 8.8 #1-10

November 6 – Causal Arguments, cont.


HW19: Vaughn, p. 327 Ex 8.8 #11-20

November 8 – Causal Arguments, cont.


PAPER FIRST DRAFT DUE

November 11 – Argument in the Wild


Jeffery Gerber and Paul Offit “Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting
Hypotheses”
HW20: argument summary

November 13 – Inference to the Best Explanation


Reading: Vaughn pp. 342-349

November 15 – Theories and Explanations


Reading: Vaughn pp. 353-370
HW21: Vaughn p. 371 ex. 9.6

November 18 – Evaluating Theories


Reading: Vaughn pp. 372-380
HW22: Vaughn p. 380 ex. 9.9

November 20 – Theories, cont.

November 22 – Exam III

Topic: Deductive Arguments in Depth

November 25 – Connectives and Truth Functions


Reading: Vaughn pp. 217-228
HW23: p. 230-231 ex. 6.6

November 27 & 29– Thanksgiving Recess. No class.

December 2 – Deductive Validity


Reading: Vaughn pp. 231-241

December 4 – More Deductive Reasoning


HW24: p. 244 ex. 6.9 #1-5

December 6 – Deductive Reasoning, cont.


PAPER FINAL DRAFT DUE

December 9 – Deductive Reasoning, cont.


HW25: p. 244 ex. 6.9 #6-11

December 11 – Final Review

You might also like