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Dowling College: Spring 2010 01/29-05/19

PHL 1005A Critical Thinking CRN 21448

Professor Christian Perring

Online: Blackboard

Office 330B RC

Office phone: 244-3349

Email: perringc at dowling dot edu

Office hours: Monday 1:30-2:30PM, Tuesday 10:30-11:30AM., Thursday 2:30-3:30PM

Textbook: Critical Thinking, by Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker. NINTH (9^th Edition)

(It is important to have this edition, and not an earlier one)

Course description: This course will enable students to analyze both popular and technical discourse for its assumptions and arguments and assess their plausibility. It will also help students improve their own abilities to argue for their own claims.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will be able to

• Identify deductive and inductive arguments.
• Identify different kinds of ambiguity.
• Assess sources for the credibility of their claims.
• Identify rhetorical devices and techniques.
• Identify fallacies.
• Understand categorical logic in deductive arguments.
• Understand truth-functional logic in deductive arguments.
• Identify causal explanation.
• Identify normative reasoning.

Note that this is the first time I have taught a course online, and so I may need to revise the syllabus as we go along to deal with problems that arise.

Due dates. Work will be due weekly, by Monday 11.59PM. Each week I will let you know what grade you got on that week's work and what your cumulative grade is. Since we will not be meeting together, it is important that all students are working on the same issues at the same time and are discussing them online at the same time. So I will be penalizing late work in order to give you an incentive to do your work on time.

Deadlines: Feb 1: Post info about yourself to Blackboard discussion group

Feb 8: Work on Ch. 1.

Feb 15: Work on Ch. 2.

Feb 22: Work on Ch. 3.

Mar 1: Work on Ch 4.

Mar 8: Work on Ch 5.

Mar 22: Work on Ch 6.

Mar 29: Work on Ch 7

Apr 5: Work on Ch 8

Apr 12: Work on Ch 9

Apr 19: Work on Ch 10.

Apr 26: Work on Ch 11

May 3: Work on Ch 12

May 10: Finishing up and loose ends.