Philosophy 200:
Critical Reasoning
California State University, Northridge
Department of Philosophy
Fall, 2011
Syllabus
Course Description
Course Information for Course Number 13317
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Meeting Times................................ |
Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:15PM |
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Meeting Location............................ |
Jerome Richfield (JR) 242 ( |
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Website............................................ |
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Reading and Assignment Schedule. |
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Instructor......................................... |
Christopher Lay, PhD |
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Contact............................................ |
christopher.lay@csun.edu (clay@csun.edu)
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Office Location............................... |
Sierra Tower (ST) 532 |
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Office Hours................................... |
Fridays 4:00 to 6:00PM and by appointment |
Role
in the General Education Program
This course satisfies the "Critical Thinking" component of the "Basic Skills" section of the General Education Program, which recognizes critical reasoning as a fundamental competence. Courses in this part of General Education take reasoning itself as their focus. Their goals are to provide students with criteria and methods for distinguishing good reasoning from bad and to help students develop basic reasoning skills that they can apply both within a broad range of academic disciplines and outside the academic environment. Students are expected to acquire skill in recognizing the logical structure of statements and arguments, the ability to distinguish rational from non-rational means of persuasion, skill in applying the principles of sound reasoning in the construction and evaluation of arguments, and an appreciation of the value of critical reasoning skills in the pursuit of knowledge.
Course Goals and Objectives
This course aims at empowering students to
1. distinguish between opinions, facts, and arguments;
2. identify valid and invalid reasoning;
3. identify formal and informal fallacies; and
4. develop critical thinking capacities by:
a) identifying main theses,
b) identifying what supports those theses,
c) evaluating the strengths of that which supports those theses, and
d) evaluating the validity of the reasoning that takes the reader from that which supports those theses to the theses themselves.
Text
Burton F. Porter's The Voice of Reason: Fundamentals of
Critical Thinking, Oxford University Press, 2002.
Course Grade and
Assignments
Participation 10% of course grade
Weekly Quizzes 20% of course grade
Midterm Exam 30% of course grade
Final Exam 40% of course grade
Participation
Participation in philosophy is essential. You are expected to do the readings on
schedule (i.e. before the class period indicated) and come to class prepared to
discuss them. Class participation
will decide borderline grades, either up or down, and in rare cases,
extraordinary class participation can boost your final grade up a third (e.g.,
from 'B' to "B+"). Class
participation will mainly be evaluated by the contribution the student makes
toward the learning experience of the class as a whole. Note that discussing the substantive
issues of the course in office hours and via email will also count as class
participation.
Weekly Quizzes
Each weekly quiz will cover that week's reading and will consist of questions either from, or like, the "Assignments, Exercises, and Puzzles" from the textbook.
Midterm and Final
Exam
Both the midterm and the final exams will consist of 1) questions either from, or like, the "Assignments, Exercises, and Puzzles" from the textbook, and 2) short essay questions. The final exam will not be cumulative.
Make-up Quizzes
You will only be able to make up in-class assignments if you have a credible excuse (e.g., doctor's note, jury summons, obituary notice, etc.).
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, cheating, or any other form of academic
dishonesty will not be tolerated.
It is your responsibility as a student to know CSUN's academic
dishonesty policy, as spelled out in the "Student Conduct" appendix to CSUN's
catalogue. Any assignment produced
in an academically dishonesty way will receive an "F" grade, and the
student submitting it will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs. Students who engage in academic
dishonesty in more than one assignment will receive an "F" grade for
the course. There are no exceptions
to this policy: "I didn't know that what I turned in constituted
plagiarism," "I forgot the quotation marks and citation,"
"It was only one sentence," or "It was an accident, it'll never
happen again" are not valid excuses.
Please, if you don't
understand what plagiarism or academic integrity is, ask me.
Students with Disabilities
This course will accommodate any disability if you have registered
with CSUN's Disability Resources and Educational Services.
Schedule
of Readings and Assignments
(with embedded links to
Lecture Notes)
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Week One |
Critical Thinking |
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Monday, August 29th |
Syllabus, Schedule, Overview, and
Introductions |
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Wednesday, August 31st |
Pages 1 to
20 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Week Two |
Using Words |
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Monday, September 5th |
Labor
Day |
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Wednesday, September 7th |
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Week Three |
Using Words & Language and Definition |
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Monday, September 12th |
Pages 33 to
42 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Wednesday, September 14th |
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Week Four |
Language and Definition & Disagreements,
Claims, and Reasons |
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Monday, September 19th |
Pages 56 to
63 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Wednesday, September 21st |
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Week Five |
Disagreements, Claims, and Reasons & Avoiding
Mistakes in Thinking |
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Monday, September 26th |
Pages 81 to
92 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Wednesday, September 28th |
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Week Six |
Avoiding Mistakes in Thinking & Avoiding
Subtle Mistakes in Thinking |
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Monday, October 3rd |
Pages 103
to 113 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Wednesday, October 5th |
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Saturday, October 8th |
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Week Seven |
Avoiding Subtle Mistakes in Thinking &
Midterm |
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Monday, October 10th |
Pages 123 to
133 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Wednesday, October 12th |
Midterm |
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Week Eight |
Formal Reasoning |
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Monday, October 17th |
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Wednesday, October 19th |
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Week Nine |
Formal Reasoning & Deductive
Reasoning |
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Monday, October 24th |
Pages 143
to 152 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Wednesday, October 26th |
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WEEK TEN |
Deductive Reasoning |
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Monday, October 31st |
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Wednesday, November 2nd |
Pages 163
to 177 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Week ELEVEN |
Inductive Reasoning, Causes and Analogies |
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Monday, November 7th |
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Wednesday, November 9th |
Pages 195
to 206 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Week TWELVE |
Generalizations and Hypotheses |
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Monday, November 14th |
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Wednesday, November 16th |
Pages 218
to 230 (Weekly Quiz) |
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Week THIRTEEN
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Reasoning in the Disciplines |
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Monday, November 21st |
Pages 233
to 243 Political Rhetoric |
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Wednesday, November 23rd |
Pages 243
to 257 Persuasion in Advertising |
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Week FOurTEEN
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Reasoning in the Disciplines |
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Monday, November 28th |
Pages 257
to 269 The Law |
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Wednesday, November 30th |
Pages 269
to 273 The Law |
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WEEK FIFTEEN |
Arguing in the Disciplines |
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Monday, December 5th |
Pages 283
to 284 Literary Explication Pages 303
to 316 Historical Explanation |
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Wednesday, December 7th |
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Finals Week |
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Monday, December 12th |
Final Exam from 3:00PM to 5:00PM, in
JR 242 |