| Course ID: | PHIL 2020H. 3 hours. |
| Course Title: | Logic and Critical Thinking (Honors) |
Course
Description: | The principles and standards for thinking and communicating clearly and effectively. Topics include theories of meaning, uses of language, common causes of confusion and error in thought and argument, and evaluation of arguments. |
| Oasis Title: | Logic and Critical Thinking H |
| Duplicate Credit: | Not open to students with credit in PHIL 2020, PHIL 2020E |
| Prerequisite: | Permission of Honors |
Semester Course
Offered: | Offered fall and spring semester every year. |
| Grading System: | A-F (Traditional) |
|
| Course Objectives: | The student will be able to identify premises, conclusions, and support relations in
arguments in a variety of contexts; to identify standard fallacies in arguments; and
to evaluate the strength of arguments using some or all of the following methods
or criteria: deductive validity, inductive soundness, Mill's methods, Venn diagrams,
or analysis of analogical argument form. Communicating effectively through writing
and speech, relevant use of the computer, and critical thinking are all stressed.
During the course the student should be improving in each of these skill areas. |
| Topical Outline: | Topics will vary, but will normally include several of the following:
I. Diagramming arguments
II. Informal fallacies
III. Truth
IV. Trees
V. Venn diagrams
VI. Aristotelian syllogism
VII. Theory of definition
VIII.Mill's methods
IX. Argument by analogy
X. Decision theory
XI. Game theory
XII Probability theory
XIII.The use of statistics in arguments
XIV. Constraint satisfaction problems
XV. Knowledge representation
XVI. Scientific method |