All PHIL 02 courses satisfy CSU Chico General Education requirements in Area A3. This campus's policy states that students in a Critical Thinking course must demonstrate
1. ability to distinguish between fact and judgment and between belief and knowledge;
2. ability to distinguish between correct and incorrect reasoning, including an understanding of the formal and informal fallacies in language and thought;
3. knowledge of and skill in using elementary methods and patterns of reasoning, including induction and deduction; and
4. ability to criticize, analyze, and advocate ideas with logical force within human discourse, both oral and written.

Reading: Syllabus
(CT) Chapter 1 -- Critical Thinking: It Matters; pp. 1-20
(WWW) Geov Parrish column, "Now it gets interesting"
Objectives: Be familiar with what the text says about basic critical thinking skills and misconceptions about arguments, plus the following concepts: issue/question, argument, conclusion, premises, conclusion and premise indicators, subjectivism, relativism, claim.

Reading: (CT) Chapter 2 -- Critical Thinking and Clear Writing; pp. 48-67
(WWW) Geov Parrish column, "Now it gets interesting"
Objectives: Be aware of the different types of definitions: stipulative, explanatory, precising, rhetorical.
Be able to recognize, evaluate, and create these forms of definition: by example, by synonym, analytical.
Be able to distinguish and remedy vagueness, ambiguity, and bias.
Be able to recognize, avoid, and repair these fallacies: division, composition.
Be able to evaluate comparisons: completeness of information, same standard of comparison, same reporting and recording practices, comparability of items being compared, sources of numbers (including possible omission of relevant facts), appropriateness of averages (mean, median, mode).

Reading: (CT) Chapter 3 -- Credibility; pp. 84-112
(WWW) Rache l Mills, "Sniper's Death Penalty - Do punishments fit crimes anymore?"
Presentation file: Credibility.ppt
Objectives: Be aware of factors that may affect observations.
Develop critical sense of the nature and importance of background knowledge.
Be able to assess credibility of claims and experts in an organized way:
education, experience, accomplishments, reputation, position.
Be able to evaluate reliability of electronic and printed news and reference materials.

Reading: (CT) Chapter 7 -- The Anatomy and Varieties of Arguments; pp. 226-253
(WWW) Rache l Mills, "Sniper's Death Penalty - Do punishments fit crimes anymore?"
Presentation file: Argument.ppt
Objectives: Make sure concepts of premise and conclusion are clear.
Be able to analyze argument structures and understand argument diagrams.
Know the difference between dependent and independent premises.
Know the difference between inductive and deductive arguments.
Be familiar with terms to describe arguments: Valid, Strong, Weak.
Increase ability to detect unstated premises in arguments.

Reading: (CT) Chapter 8 -- Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic; pp. 261-275
(WWW) TBA
Presentation file: Categorical 1.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file:Categorical 1.htm
Objectives: Be able to write natural language sentences as standard-form categorical claims.
Be able to recognize subject and predicate terms in a categorical claim.
Memorize rules about "only" and "the only".
Understand the Square of Opposition, incl. notions of contrary and contradictory. Understand notion of complementary terms.
Be able to identify logically equivalent claims.
Memorize conversion, obversion, contraposition forms of immediate inference.
Be able to represent single categorical claims in Venn diagrams.

Reading: (CT) Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic; pp. 281-290
(WWW) TBA
Objectives: Be able to determine validity of categorical syllogisms using Venn diagrams.
(This includes being able to apply all techniques in the Categorical logic chapter.)

Reading: (CT) Chapter 10 -- Inductive Arguments; pp. 357-380
(WWW) TBA
Presentation files: Inductive1.ppt Inductive2.ppt Web-viewable versions of presentation files:Inductive1.htm Inductive2.htm
Objectives: Be able to evaluate analogical and other inductive arguments.
Understand concepts of representativeness, bias, sample size, error margin, confidence level.
Be able to identify and respond to these fallacies:
• biased sample
• hasty conclusion
• hasty generalization
• anecdotal evidence
Understand problem of self-selected samples.
Understand problem of slanted questions in polls and surveys.
Know the law of large numbers and gambler's fallacy.

Reading: (CT) Chapter 11 -- Causal Arguments; pp. 394-400, 417,426-436
(WWW) TBA
Objectives: Presentation file: Causation.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file:Causation.htm
Know the post hoc fallacy
Understand the notion of hypothesis
Be able to identify these types of causal arguments:
Relevant difference reasoning
Common thread

Know common mistakes in causal reasoning:
overlooking alternative differences and common threads
focusing on irrelevant differences and common threads
overlooking possibility of reversed causation
overlooking possibility that stated cause and effect are both effects of a 3rd cause
failing to consider the possibility of coincidence

Be aware of problems of:
appeal to anecdotal evidence
circularity
nontestability
vagueness
unnecessary assumptions
conflict with well-established theory
Know the rule of single causation and why it is useful (in-class discussion).

Reading: (CT) Review all material on inductive arguments
(WWW) TBA

Reading: (CT) Chapter 4 -- Persuasion Through Rhetoric; pp. 124-141
(WWW) TBA
Presentation file: Rhetoric1.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file:Rhetoric1.htm
Objectives: Be aware of what rhetoric and rhetorical devices are and have a working knowledge of these types:
• Euphemism and Dysphemism
• Rhetorical comparison/definition/explanation
• Stereotype
• Innuendo
• Loaded question
• Weaseler
• Downplayer
• Ridicule/Sarcasm
• Hyperbole
• Proof surrogate

Be able to critique credibility of news reports and advertisements
Be familiar with concept of intentionality (presented in lecture)

Reading: (CT) Chapter 5 -- More Rhetorical Devices: Psychological and Related Fallacies
(WWW) TBA
Presentation file: Rhetoric2.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file:Rhetoric2.htm
Objectives: Be able to define what a fallacy is and identify these informal fallacies:
• Argument from outrage (incl. scapegoating)
• Scare tactics (argument by force)
• Argument from pity
• Argument from envy
• Apple polishing
• Guilt trip
• Wishful thinking
• Peer pressure
• Group think fallacy
• Rationalizing
• Argument from popularity
• Argument from common practice
• Argument from traditionn
• Relativism
• Subjectivism
• Two wrongs make a right
• Smokescreen/Red herring

Reading:
(CT) Chapter 6 -- More Fallacies; pp. 181-200
(WWW) TBA
Presentation file: Rhetoric3.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file:Rhetoric3.htm

Objectives: Be able to identify these informal fallacies:
• Ad hominem
  • Personal attack
  • Inconsistency
  • Circumstantial ad hominem
  • Poisoning the well
• Genetic fallacy
• Positive ad hominem
• Straw man
• False dilemma
  • Perfectionist fallacy
  • Line drawing fallacy
• Slippery slope
• Misplacing the burden of proof (incl. appeal to ignorance)
• Begging the question

Reading: (CT) Chapter 9 -- Deductive Arguments II: Truth-Functional Logic; pp. 306-320
Presentation file: Deduction1.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file:Deduction1.htm
Presentation file: Boolean.ppt Web-viewable version of presentation file: B oolean.htm
Objectives: Be familiar with functions of Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT.
Be familiar with basics of truth tables
Know rules for "if" and "only if".

Reading: (CT) Chapter 12 -- Moral, Legal, and Aesthetic Reasoning; pp. 448-472
(WWW) TBA
Presentation slides: Moral Reasoning
Presentation file: Moral Reasoning.ppt
Objectives: Understand what a non sequitur is.
Be able to recognize and respond to naturalistic fallacy.
Understand issue of consistency/inconsistency in moral reasoning. Understand problems of moral relativism and subjectivism.
Be aware of general approaches of these ethical theories:
utilitarianism
duty theory
divine command theory
virtue ethics

Reading: (CT) Review as needed
(WWW) TBA Objectives: Memorize all that needs to be memorized
Identify and remedy all areas of uncertainty

Cumulative final exam in Harlen Adams Theater on Tuesday at Noon (the scheduled time; NOT the "group final" time) and on WebCT

The three papers (two required and one optional) for this course are all submitted through WebCT. Directions and relevant links for each assignment are given in WebCT with the submission boxes, of which there are two for each paper, one for the report about what is said in the text under analysis and one for the discussion of critical thinking issues. The sample paper linked below is divided into two sections that correspond with the division of the paper in WebCT.

Article on Richard Clarke

Sample essay