PHIL - 121 Critical Thinking

Credits: 3

Corequisites
ENGL 101 & Mathematics 101.

This course is intended to introduce students to the art of critical thinking, the careful and deliberate determination about whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim. As with the acquiring of any skills, practice is essential. Hence, exercises both inside and outside of class will be required. The course will include examinations of the concepts of ‘argument’ and ‘evidence,’ common fallacies in reasoning, techniques of Categorical and Proposition logic to assess deductive validity, and techniques for assessing inductive strength. Attention will be give to the application of critical thinking skills to the evaluation of claims found outside academia, including newspaper editorials and issues centering around the “paranormal” (e.g., ESP, reincarnation, UFO’s, channeling).