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Critical Thinking Revised Outline-2

It's about critical thinking

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20 views

Critical Thinking Revised Outline-2

It's about critical thinking

Uploaded by

chimbaleonard66
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PHI 1020: CRITICAL THINKING

The Background
Human are social animals endowed with linguistic resources unparalleled in the animal kingdom.
Language makes possible most of our interactions including advances in science and technology.
However, language use comes with many pitfalls including utterance of false claims and making of
fallacious arguments both intended and unintended. In Western thought, critical thinking emerged
with the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher-scientists around 4 B.C. to generate reliable knowledge
not based on falsehoods or logical errors. However, critical thinking as a discipline only appeared
in the last few decades. It has since spread and become mainstay in universities across the world.

Rationale for the course


Many disciplines impart invaluable knowledge about the natural world, society, and individuals as
well. What is distinct about this course is that it seeks to teach critical thinking principles and skills
explicitly and directly. It introduces students step by step to the skills required for clear thinking
and good reasoning. The principles and skills taught in the course are transferable to other fields in
the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The course offers critical and analytical
thinking knowledge, principles, and skills that are vital and valuable for academia, professional
life, and private life.

Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students should be able to
i. Identify and analyze reasoning
ii. Clarify vague, ambiguous, and opaque concepts
iii. Logically evaluate deductive arguments
iv. Logically evaluate inductive arguments
v. Identify and avoid fallacies
vi. Present sound arguments of their own

Cognitive
process
Knowledge Remember Understand Apply Analyse Evaluate Create
Dimension
Factual
Conceptual     
Procedural
Meta-cognitive   

Course content
1. Introduction
(a) Defining critical thinking.
(b) Thinking, reasoning, and arguing.
(c) Standards of critical thinking.
(d) Importance of critical thinking.
2. Language and Meaning
(a) Speech acts
(b) Varieties of meaning
(c) Verbal or written disputes and definitions
(d) Intension and extension of terms
(e) Types of definitions
(f) Definitional techniques
3. Arguments
(a) Recognising arguments
(b) Premises and conclusions
(c) Indicator phrases and inferential link
(d) Conditional statements and explanations
(e) Deductive and inductive arguments.
4. Deductive Arguments
(a) Types of deductive arguments
(b) Validity and soundness
(c) The counterexample method
(d) The truth-table method
5. Epistemic Evaluation of Statements
(a) Credibility of the person/source of the claim
(b) Circumstances/context under which the claim is made
(c) Justification offered or available to support the claim
(d) The nature of the claim
6. Writing Argumentative Passages
(a) Procedure for writing basic argumentative passages
(b) Understanding yourself and your audience
(c) Choosing and narrowing your topic
(d) Providing a satisfying conclusion
7. Inductive Arguments
(a) Strength and cogency of arguments
(b) Analogical arguments
(c) Statistical arguments
(d) Causal reasoning
8. Logical Fallacies
(a) Fallacies of Vagueness
(b) Fallacies of Ambiguity
(c) Fallacies of Relevance
(d) Fallacies of Vacuity
(e) Refutation

Assessment

Components of assessment Number Contribution to overall grading (%)


1. Continuous assessment
Tests 3 45
Tutorials 10 5
Subtotal of continuous assessment 50
2. Final Examination 1 50

PRESCRIBED READING
Bassham, G. et al. (2011). Critical Thinking: A Student’s Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hurley, P. J. (2006). A Concise Introduction to Logic. London : Wadsworth.

RECOMMENDED READING
Cederblom, J. and Paulsen, W. D. (2001). Critical Reasoning. London: Wadworth.
Copi, I. M. (1986). Introduction to Logic. New York: Macmillan.
Epsterin, E. L. (2002). Critical Thinking. London: Wadworth.

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