1. Course Description
1. Course Description Analytical Thinking is a course in Logic that
proceeds in two steps. First, it teaches basic patterns for detecting,
constructing and analyzing arguments. This learning is facilitated
by working a number of examples. Second, the discussion proceeds to
variations upon this basic pattern which is found in specific areas
of argumentation: art, business, law, politics, philosophy, science,
etc. The overall goal is to increase the skill of argumentative discourse
and analytical thinking.
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- 2. Goals of the Course
Goals of this course are based on understanding of analytical thinking
as the backbone of civilized behavior, foundation of democracy and
human progress in general. The goals of this course focus on examination
and usage of arguments in political, professional and everyday situations
as well as analytical approach and correction of specious arguments,
generated by deceptive thinking.
3. Learning Objectives
• Recognize a persuasive role of arguments
• Differentiate rational and emotional means of persuasion
• Outline scientific development of argumentation from Aristotelian
Logic to modern Logic
• Identify structure of the syllogism: determine premises, conclusions
and inferences • Find, analyze, categorize and present evidence
• Evaluate and categorize definitions
• Distinguish deductive and inductive methods of argumentation
• Analyze validity, soundness, strength and cogency of deductive
and inductive arguments
• Identify fallacious thinking
• Develop written and oral arguments
4. Course Arrangements
Text analysis, lecture, class presentations, group discussions, work
in pairs, writing assignments, puzzle solutions, analysis of web sites,
business games, and audio-video clips
5. Course Requirements
• Participation: Involvement during class discussions is a critical
component of a successful learning process.
• Reading assignments will be provided in advance of each class.
To be successful in class discussions and understand the course
material, it is critical to complete the home reading assignments.
• The first examination (9/3/2003)
• A Mid-term examination (9/22/2003)
•The final Examination an open-book test (10/62003)
• Term paper (see guidelines at http://www.ographics.com/termpaper.html)
• An optional extra-credit paper oral presentation of 4-6 pages
of a double-spaced. (see guidelines at http://www.ographics.com/termpaper.html)
- 6. Textbook
Sally De Witt Spurgin. The Power to Persuade: A Rhetoric and Reader
for Argumentative Writing, 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice
Hall, 1994, p. 389. ISBN 0-13-221185-8
7. Supplemental Resource Material List
Seech, Zachary. Writing Philosophy Papers. Belmont: Wadsworth
Publishing Company, 1990. Hurley, Patrick J. A Concise Introduction
to Logic. Australia: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 2000.
Kahane, Howard and Nancy Cavender. Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric:
The Use of Reason in Everyday Life, 8th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing
Company, 1998.
Conway, David A. and Ronald Munson. The Elements of Reasoning.
Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1990
Capaldi Nicholas. The Art of Deception. How to: Win an Argument,
Defend a Case, Recognize a Fallacy, See through Deception, Persuade
a Skeptic, Turn Defeat into Victory.Buffalo: Prometheus Books,
1987
Perkins, Ray. Logic and Mr. Limbaugh: A Dittohead Guide to Fallacious
Reasoning. Chicago: Open Court, 1995
Priest, Graham. Logic: A Very short Introduction. Oxford:
University Press, 2000
De Bono, Edward . I am Right--You are Wrong. From this to the
New Renaissance: From Rock logic to Water Logic. London, Viking,
1990.
Arnauld, A. Port-Royal Logic, 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: UMI Books
on Demand, 1996.
Nozick, Robert. The Nature of Rationality. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1993.
Cederblom, Jerry and David W. Paulsen. Critical Thinking: Understanding
and Criticizing Arguments and Theories. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing
Company, 1982.
Walton, Douglas. Slippery Slope Arguments. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1992.
Rottenberg, Annette T. Elements of Argument. New York: A
Befdord Book of St. Martin's Press, 1985.
Regal, Philip J. The Anatomy of Judgment. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 1990.
Epstein, George. Multiple-Valued Logic Design:Introduction.
Bristol:Institute of Physics Publishing, 1993.
Hacher, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual, 3d ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2000.
Carey G.V. Mind the Stop: A Brief Guide to Punctuation. Penguin
Books, 1976.
Thomas, Norman. Modern Logic. New York: Barnes and Noble,
Inc., 1966. Kreyche, Robert. Logic for Undergraduates, 3d
ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970.
Copi, Irving. Introduction to Logic, 6d ed. New York: Macmillan
Publishing CO., Inc., 1982. Edgar, William. The Problem Solver’s
Guide to Logic. Lanham: University Press of America, 1983.
- Additionally, web sites addresses will be given and audio-video
materials relevant to in-class discussions will be shown.
8. Class Meetings and Examination Schedule
Information about dates, time of all class sessions, topics, study
assignments, and examination schedules are given in the handouts and
also accessible on the Instructor’s web site www.ographics.com/philosophy.html.
9. Class Policies
• Academic Integrity and Student Conduct: The highest standards
of personal conduct,academic integrity and honesty are anticipated
and will be mandated for all testing and class sessions. The Park
University catalog provides detailed information on this subject
. • Attendance: You must be on time and attend each and every class
and be present for the full class period.
•Absence and Makeup work: Excused absence: An absence, substantiated
with a written reason for the absence on letterhead signed by a
person in authority. Make up work will be accepted towards the final
grade. Absence: An absence with a written and signed statement from
the student. Make up work will be accepted at 90% of the total grade.
Unexcused absence: An absence without a written statement. Make
up work will not be accepted for the missed class, which will negatively
affect the final grade. Park University administration must be informed
where absences exceed university policy.
• Office Hours: The Instructor will set and coordinate office hours
at student’s request. Normally, any problems and/or changes will
be addressed at the beginning or end of each class. Additionally,
you may obtain assistance by calling the Instructor at 760-720-9088
from 2000-2100 hr. on Mondays and Tuesdays.
- 10. Grading Policy
The final grade will be calculated as a weighted mean of in-class
grades, three exams and a research paper according to the following:
1.2 x exam grade
1.3 x final exam grade
1.3 x research paper grade
1 x participation in class discussions grade
Note: the final exam or home tests with a grade “D” will limit your
final grade to " C".
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Park University Grading Requirements:
1 00%-90% A (4.0 grade points) , 89%-80% B (3.0 grade points), 79%-70%
C (2.0 grade points), 69%-60% D (1.0 grade point), Below 60% F (0.0
no grade.points)
Course Outline
Unit I Outline
8/18 Monday:
Ch. 1 Course and Book Overview Persuasive role of arguments Rational
and emotional aspects in arguments
8/20 Wednesday
Ch. 2 Scientific development of argumentation from Aristotelian
Logic to modern Logic Argument and its structure Syllogism, enthymeme,
polysyllogisms
8/25 Monday
Ch. 3 Types of definitions Evaluation of definitions
8/27 Wednesday
Ch. 4 Types and Sources of Evidence Qualifiers and quantifiers p.
11-12 Evaluation of Evidence
9/1 Monday
Ch. 4 Usage of Evidence
9/3 Wednesday
Exam I
Ch. 2 Working toward a term paper thesis
Unit II Outline
9/8 Monday
Ch. 5 Inductive methods of argumentation Types of inductive arguments
9/10 Wednesday
Ch. 5 Evaluation of inductive arguments
9/15 Monday
Ch. 6 Deductive methods of argumentation Types of deductive arguments
9/17 Wednesday
Ch. 6 Evaluation of deductive arguments
9/22 Monday
Exam 2
Ch. 9 Power of Style Essay review
Unit III Outline
9/24 Wednesday
Ch. 7 Deceptive thinking
9/29 Monday
Ch. 7 Fallacies
10/1 Wednesday
Ch. 6 Fallacies in Advertisement
10/6 Monday
Final Exam (open book)
Term paper presentation
10/8 Wednesday
Term paper presentation
Search
the Web
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 www.sodaplay.com
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Excercise your brainhttp://www.crpuzzles.com/
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http://www.norfacad.pvt.k12.va.us/puzzles/sallys.htm
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http://einstein.et.tudelft.nl/~arlet/puzzles/logic.html
New: http://encyclozine.com/Puzzles/Logic/
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More about Semantic Web:http://www.w3.org
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Which of the following statements is true?
1.Exactly one of these ten statements is false.
2.Exactly two of these ten statements are false.
3.Exactly three of these ten statements are false.
4.Exactly four of these ten statements are false.
5.Exactly five of these ten statements are false.
6.Exactly six of these ten statements are false.
7.Exactly seven of these ten statements are false.
8.Exactly eight of these ten statements are false.
9.Exactly nine of these ten statements are false.
10.Exactly ten of these ten statements are false.
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Get ready for the final test
Fallacies
http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/skepticism/blfaq_fall_index_alpha.htm
http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/fallacy/toc.htm
Have Fun with Symmetry Studio http://ronblatt.tripod.com/symmstudio.html
Get ready for a test: Venn Diagrams (copy and paste the address
below in the browser to open the web site , for some reason the
direct link is not functional )
http://ronblatt.tripod.com/venndiagram.html
Get ready for a test http://www.phil.gu.se/JohanWWW/Syllog.machine.html
Get ready for a test Standard
Form Categorical Syllogisms
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Look for definitionswww.webster.com
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www.encyclopedia.com
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www.philosophypages.com
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Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy
Mind your phraseology!
Using controlled vocabularies to improve findability by Christina
Wodtke
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Learn More about History of Logic http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/
Get ready for a test (Logic.
... This discussion is based on: Copi and Cohen Introduction to
Logic 11th Ed.) http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/
Activities For Children http://www.berenstainbears.com/
Get
ready for a test http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/graphics/main.html
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Analyze the world newshttp://www.worldexaminer.com/
http://www.gazeta.ru/english.shtml
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Essay Topics
• The Logic of Judicial Reasoning.
• Logical Analysis of Modern Ethical Problems.
• Logical Analysis of Computer Problems.
• Thinking Critically about Common Prejudices.
• Inconsistent Statistics.
Evidence Dependent on Definitions
• Paradoxes of the 21 st century. |
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Links to the Next Class Discussions on Friday 7/20/2001
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Logical Analysis of Evidence:
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Case Studies
The Darden School at the
University of Virginia produced this statistical simulation to
allow students to model decision making in their Industrial Process
Management courses.
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Philosophical Interpretation of
Time and Events
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http://www.hf.uio.no/filosofi/njpl/vol5no1/eventcl.pdf
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Evidence in Federal Courts
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http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/overview.html#article
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These rules govern the introduction of evidence in proceedings,
both civil and criminal, in Federal
courts. While they do not apply to suits in state courts, the rules
of many states have been closely
modeled on these provisions.
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Forensic Science:
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Evidence Presentation
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http://library.thinkquest.org/17049/gather/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi?/00Index
Visit the above link, to view definition index on:
Anthropology, Ballistics, DNA Fingerprinting, Entomology, Fingerprints,
Hair and Fibers, Odontology, Pathology, Questioned Documents, Toxicology
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The Evidence for Evolution
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http://id-www.ucsb.edu/fscf/LIBRARY/JOHNSON/images/fig1.html
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http://trueskeptic.homestead.com/doubts.html
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