Fall 2013 Syllabus, Outline, Grading, Objectives and Policies

Phil 102 (Sec 1005): Critical Thinking

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

--Aristotle

Instructor: Ami Palmer

Email: philosophami@gmail.com

Class Times: Mon & Wed 1:00pm-2:15pm Room: CBC C110Office Hours: Mon & Wed 2:30pm-4pm in CDC building 4.

Textbook: Good Reasoning Matters: A Constructive Approach to Critical Thinking (5th Edition) by Leo A. Groarke and Christopher W. Tindale

Course Outline:Aug 26&28: Go over course syllabus, goals, expectations, and intro to critical thinking; Ch. 1 Making Room for and Defining Argument.

Sep. 2&4: Labour Day Recess; Ch. 2 Bias, Detecting Illegitimate Biases, Slating by Omission and Distortionl, Haidt article (link will be posted).

Sep. 9&11: Ch. 3 Burden of Proof, Strong Arguments, Logical Consequence; Contextual Relevance, Schemes and Counter-Schemes.

Sep. 16&18: Ch. 4 Simple and Extended Arguments, Inference Indicators; Arguments w/o Indicator Words, Arguments and Explanations.

Sep. 23&25: Ch. 5 Diagrams: Simple Argument, Complex Arguments, Supplemented Diagrams, Building Your Own Arguments.

Sep. 30&Oct. 2: Mon. Review; Wed: Exam 1

Oct. 7&9: Ch. 6 Hidden Argument Components, Principles of Communication, Hidden Conclusions, Finding Hidden Conclusions, Hidden Premises; Non-Verbal Elements in Argument, Symbols and Metaphor.

Oct. 14&16: Ch. 7 Condensed Version; Ch. 8 Acceptable/Unacceptable/Questionable, Conditions of Acceptability, Conditions of Unacceptability. Take-Home Midterm #1 Assigned Wednesday

Oct. 21&23: Ch. 8 Relevance, Sufficiency, Applying the Criteria, Ch. 9 Generalizations, Polling Take-Home Midterm #1 Due Wednesday in Class.

Oct. 25: Nevada Day

Oct. 28&30: Ch. 9 General Causal Reasoning, Ch. 10 Particular Causal Reasoning; Argument from Ignorance.

Nov. 1: Final Day to Drop

Nov. 4&6: Ch. 10 The Scientific Method/Review; Wed: Exam 2

Nov. 11&13: Mon: Veterans' Day; Ch. 11 Slippery Slope, Arg. From Analogy, Appeals to Precedent.

Nov. 18&20: Ch. 11 Two Chainz Wrongs Reasoning, Ch. 12 Pro Hominem, Ad Populum, Arg from Authoritar, Ad Hominem.

Nov. 25&27: Ch. 12 Arg against Authoritar, Appeal to Eyewitness, Guilt by Association, Other logical fallacies; Cognitive Biases.

Nov. 28-29: Thanksgiving Recess

Dec. 2&4: Evaluating Scientific Studies (Quality of Evidence, Sample Size, Reproducibility, Epistemic Priors, , Take-Home Final/Group Project Assigned

Dec. 11: Take-Home Final/Group Project Due

Dec. 17: Grades Submitted

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of PHI 102 students should be able to:

1. Identify arguments and distinguish arguments from non-arguments in actual discourse.

2. Identify components of arguments – conclusions and premises (both explicit and implicit).

3. Identify assumptions used in actual arguments

4. Reconstruct arguments in order to make logical structure explicit.

5. Evaluate Arguments for:

a. strength of inference: validity vs. invalidity; strong vs. weak

b. type of inference: deductive, inductive, causal, analogical, statistical

c. truth/plausibility of premises: soundness or cogency

6. Identify, distinguish and classify fallacious forms of reasoning.

7. Distinguish types of definitions and their use in argumentation.

8. Identify, distinguish and classify typical argumentative forms:

a. standard deductive forms

b. standard inductive forms (e.g. Mill’s Methods)

c. statistical forms

d. analogies

e. causal arguments

9. Construct and defend reasonable arguments of your own.

Grading

Your grade is composed of the following elements: Homework (10%), participation (10%), 2 short exams (20% each), take-home midterm (20%), group project/final exam (20%).

Participation: Quality vs quantity. The person who only opens their mouth once the whole semester but says something brilliant will get a better grade than the person who monopolizes the floor and speaks with little forethought. Don't feel pressured to speak if you don't have anything meaningful to say. That's ok. If I can come up with one meaningful thing in 3 months—I'm doing well!
Homework: There is homework due at midnight the day before every class. This means the homework for Monday's class is due by Sunday midnight and for Wednesday's class it is due by Tuesday midnight. You will email your homework to philosophami@gmail.com (don't forget to attach the file—this is your responsibility). The homework only consists of a few questions and should not take more than 30-40min to complete—if that.

Homework and your grade: I do not grade individual homework sets. I only verify if it is either complete or incomplete. So how does it affect your grade? You start off with an 'A' for your homework grade. If you miss more than three assignments, your total letter grade for the course falls by 1/3 of a letter grade. For example, if you have an 'A' in the course and you miss four assignments, your final grade will be an 'A-'. Likewise, if you have a 'B+' in the course and you miss four assignments, your final grade will fall to a 'B'.

This system of deduction is logarithmic, so if you have missed more than 6 assignments, your final grade will fall by a full letter grade. If you miss half or more of the assignments, you will fail the course. To summarize: in my magnanimity I hereby grant all of ye the status of 'A' in homeworks, but should you fail to please me by missing three or more assignments, I will diminish the luster of your final grade accordingly.

But what if I get sick and can't do my homework that week? Don't fret little grasshopper. You have 3 get out of jail cards—use one! Can I make them up? Nope. You have 3 get out of jail cards—that should be enough to cover most excuses over a semester. But what if I get abducted by aliens, taken to a planet far far away, have disturbing medical experiments performed on me, and dropped of on another continent with no clothes, money, or phone? Nope. However, there may be the occasional bonus assignment throughout the semester which I will allow you to trade in for a used get-out-of-jail card.

But what happens if I don't know the answer to a question on the homework? That's ok. The reason you are in the course is presumably because there are things you don't already know about critical thinking. That said, this does not give you carte blanche to say of every question “I didn't understand!” Instead, what I expect is for you to explain why you don't understand how to do the problem or how to come up with the answer. A big part of my asking you to do homework is for me to be able to assess what the class does and does not understand well, and why! Your homework provides me with valuable insight into your comprehension and how I am doing with my teaching.

Extra Credit: Blog entries and podcast reviews. I strongly recommend each student pick a podcast from my approved list. For every 3 reviews you can gain 2% added to your final grade for a maximum total of 6%. Reviews and evaluations of approved articles and prompts are also acceptable. Extra credit work will be posted on the blog for other students to read.

Class Etiquette

Cellphones: Please turn them to silent (not vibrate) or even better yet, turn them off. What about texting/surfing in class? While I don't condone it, spending my energy trying to police it takes away from my teaching, so I will trust you all to give your thumbs a rest while in class. What if my phone rings and interrupts the class? For interrupting your fellow classmates from learning you will be penalized one homework get-out-of-jail card. However, since this is a class about arguments and critical thinking, you will have a chance in the following session to prepare an argument for why you should be excused from the penalty. If the class determines your reasons to be sufficiently strong and free of logical fallacies, you will reclaim your card. The outcome will be determined by class vote.

Class discussions: Since this is a class about arguments, I'm hoping we'll have some good ones with each other. That said, there need to be some ground rules and they need to be observed if the exchanges are to be fruitful. For the most part, common sense dictates, but here are some guidelines: (a) listening is just as (if not sometimes more) important than talking; (b) sharing the floor allows everyone to participate—if you've been doing a lot of talking (no matter how brilliant and stunning your rhetoric), let other people participate; (c) controlling our emotions in a good exchange isn't always easy but it is necessary. Generally, when we feel passionate about something, it is hard not to get emotional, but lets direct our passion into the quality of our arguments and into understanding our opponents'. While it is generally true of politics that the loudest voice wins, lets try to keep that element out of the classroom—little progress is ever made by yelling (see American politics).

University-Wide Policies:

Academic Misconduct – Academic integrity is a legitimate concern for every member of the campus community; all share in upholding the fundamental values of honesty, trust, respect, fairness, responsibility and professionalism. By choosing to join the UNLV community, students accept the expectations of the Academic Misconduct Policy and are encouraged when faced with choices to always take the ethical path. Students enrolling in UNLV assume the obligation to conduct themselves in a manner compatible with UNLV’s function as an educational institution.

An example of academic misconduct is plagiarism. Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of another, from the Internet or any source, without proper citation of the sources. See the Student Academic Misconduct Policy (approved December 9, 2005) located at: http://studentconduct.unlv.edu/misconduct/policy.html.

Copyright – The University requires all members of the University Community to familiarize themselves and to follow copyright and fair use requirements. You are individually and solely responsible for violations of copyright and fair use laws. The university will neither protect nor defend you nor assume any responsibility for employee or student violations of fair use laws. Violations of copyright laws could subject you to federal and state civil penalties and criminal liability, as well as disciplinary action under University policies. Additional information can be found at: http://provost.unlv.edu/copyright/statements.html.

Disability Resource Center (DRC) – The UNLV Disability Resource Center (SSC-A 143, http://drc.unlv.edu/, 702-895-0866) provides resources for students with disabilities. If you feel that you have a disability, please make an appointment with a Disabilities Specialist at the DRC to discuss what options may be available to you.

If you are registered with the UNLV Disability Resource Center, bring your Academic Accommodation Plan from the DRC to me during office hours so that we may work together to develop strategies for implementing the accommodations to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course. Any information you provide is private and will be treated as such. To maintain the confidentiality of your request, please do not approach me before or after class to discuss your accommodation needs.

Religious Holidays Policy – Any student missing class quizzes, examinations, or any other class or lab work because of observance of religious holidays shall be given an opportunity during that semester to make up missed work. The make-up will apply to the religious holiday absence only. It shall be the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor no later than the end of the first two weeks of classes, September 6, of his or her intention to participate in religious holidays which do not fall on state holidays or periods of class recess. This policy shall not apply in the event that administering the test or examination at an alternate time would impose an undue hardship on the instructor or the university that could not reasonably been avoided. For additional information, please visit: http://catalog.unlv.edu/content.php?catoid=4&navoid=164.

Incomplete Grades - The grade of I – Incomplete – can be granted when a student has satisfactorily completed all course work up to the withdrawal date of that semester/session but for reason(s) beyond the student’s control, and acceptable to the instructor, cannot complete the last part of the course, and the instructor believes that the student can finish the course without repeating it. A student who receives an I is responsible for making up whatever work was lacking at the end of the semester. If course requirements are not completed within the time indicated, a grade of F will be recorded and the GPA will be adjusted accordingly. Students who are fulfilling an Incomplete do not register for the course but make individual arrangements with the instructor who assigned the I grade.

Tutoring – The Academic Success Center (ASC) provides tutoring and academic assistance for all UNLV students taking UNLV courses. Students are encouraged to stop by the ASC to learn more about subjects offered, tutoring times and other academic resources. The ASC is located across from the Student Services Complex (SSC). Students may learn more about tutoring services by calling (702) 895-3177 or visiting the tutoring web site at: http://academicsuccess.unlv.edu/tutoring/.

UNLV Writing Center – One-on-one or small group assistance with writing is available free of charge to UNLV students at the Writing Center, located in CDC-3-301. Although walk-in consultations are sometimes available, students with appointments will receive priority assistance. Appointments may be made in person or by calling 895-3908. The student’s Rebel ID Card, a copy of the assignment (if possible), and two copies of any writing to be reviewed are requested for the consultation. More information can be found at: http://writingcenter.unlv.edu/

Rebelmail – By policy, faculty and staff should e-mail students’ Rebelmail accounts only. Rebelmail is UNLV’s official e-mail system for students. It is one of the primary ways students receive official university communication such as information about deadlines, major campus events, and announcements. All UNLV students receive a Rebelmail account after they have been admitted to the university. Students’ e-mail prefixes are listed on class rosters.

Final Examinations – The University requires that final exams given at the end of a course occur at the time and on the day specified in the final exam schedule. See the schedule at: http://www.unlv.edu/registrar/calendars.