Critical Reasoning
Philosophy 115 OAS &OAC
Spring 2005; 5.0 Credits
Instructor: Mark Storey
(425) 564-2118, R230-E
Office Hours: by appointment

Course Description:
This section of Philosophy 115 introduces the nature and structure of argument patterns. Students will teach themselves the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning, and how to assess the strengths and weaknesses of examples from each type of argumentation. Topics include validity and soundness, strength and cogency, definitions, informal fallacies, reasoning with categorical propositions, arguments from analogy, Mill’s Methods, basic probability calculations, statistical reasoning, and hypothetical reasoning. It will be expected that students will be able to perform basic mathematical calculations with fractions. The use of calculators is acceptable.

Critical reasoning plays an important part in any rational person’s life. When you argue for a position at work, at home, at school, or in the political arena, you need to provide good reason that others should believe you are right. Moreover, you will often need to be able to determine whether someone else’s arguments are good or bad. A primary value of critical reasoning is thus in sorting out the good arguments from the bad. Philosophy 115 emphasizes this aspect of critical reasoning.

This section of Philosophy 115 is an online class. Therefore, for this course, students must be ready to motivate themselves to grapple with the texts, to study on their own, to learn on their own, and to keep up with due dates. If students think they need a great amount of attention from an instructor, they should consider taking this course on campus at a college. Patrick Hurley’s textbook is the number-one seller among logic texts across North America, and thousands of freshmen have been able to learn many valuable concepts and techniques relating to critical reasoning from it. The CD that comes with the main text provides answers to most of the problems in the text, as well as interactive tools to help students learn the material. The Study Guide offers additional assistance. Although there are not official prerequisites for Philosophy 115, it will be expected that students can read, write, use email, and handle basic mathematical calculations with fractions.

The instructor is happy to respond to specific questions on specific problems, but will not be of much help if students send a message saying merely that they are “lost.” The instructor will also expect that students are capable of reading college-level textbooks, and will do so to answer most of the questions that arise in the course of their study of critical reasoning.

This class fulfills a requirement for either Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning or Humanities for an Associate in Arts & Sciences degree at BCC.

Required Course Texts:
Patrick Hurley, A Concise Introduction to Logic, 8th edition, Wadsworth/Thomson 0-534-45742-8
Robert W. Burch, Study Guide for Hurley’s A Concise Introduction to Logic, 8th edition

Course Requirements:

Weekly responses to Discussion Room questions: 10% of course grade
Weekly assignments: 50% of course grade
Two 3-5 page essay-style assignments: 20% of course grade each
Read http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/ArtsHum/policy.html

Grading Policy:
Weekly assignments are found at the Course Schedule on this course's Web site. Each assignment has a specific due date. Assignment grades and essays will be sent back approximately one week after their due date. Students may turn weekly assignments and essays in early, but should not expect grades for such assignments or essays to be sent out early. Late assignment will not be accepted once the instructor sends out assignment grades to the class. If a student wishes, the instructor will drop the one lowest weekly assignment grade along with the one highest weekly assignment grade in calculating the cumulative weekly assignment score for the course grade. Students will need to request this for the instructor to drop the two grades. It is each student’s responsibility to be aware of the due dates, and to find a working computer and Internet connection to send their assignments in on time.

Late essays will be penalized as follows. If the first essay is turned in one day late, it will be penalized 0.5 GPA points. If it is turned in after one day late, it will be penalized an additional 0.2 GPA points for each additional day late, including weekends and holidays (e.g., if the essay is turned in two days late, it will be penalized 0.7 GPA points). The second essay will not be accepted late. No essay will be accepted after June 16, 2005. Plagiarism of any form will result in an F for the assignment or essay, with no chance to make up that assignment or essay. Do not copy anyone else’s words (whether that person is a fellow-student, an author of a book or magazine article, or a source from the Internet). Students are also expected to be honest in their course work. Students may seek the assistance of others in the form of tutorials, student study groups, or helpful advice, but each student is expected to do his or her own work for weekly assignments, Discussion Room postings, and essays.

The instructor does not give Hardship Withdrawals or Incompletes to salvage students’ GPAs or to maintain their financial aid. The course is designed so that all students may do well, but if for some reason (and there are many good reasons in our busy lives) you stop turning in work, then you should quickly contact the Registration Office and officially withdraw from the course. Otherwise you will receive a course grade (A-F) based on the course work you did and did not complete. This often results in a failing grade. It is your responsibility to find out the last day in which you may drop a class.

Students with disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the Director of Disability Support Services, room B132-G (425-564-2498 or TTY 425-603-4110) to establish their eligibility for accommodation. In addition, students are encouraged to review their accommodation requirements with the instructor during the first week of the quarter.

For information on BCC’s Philosophy Tutorial Program and other Philosophy classes, visit the Philosophy Department’s Web site at: http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/philosophy/

Phil 115 OAS& OAC
Course Schedule

References below are to chapter sections of Patrick Hurley’s A Concise Introduction to Logic, and to the due dates for the essays and weekly assignments. Click on each Week for the weekly assignments, and on Essay 1 and Essay 2 for the essay assignments. Sections in both the interactive CD and Burch’s Study Guide accompany Hurley’s main text. We will not be covering every section of every chapter in the Hurley text. The book is designed to be used for both a Critical Reasoning class (e.g., PHIL 115) and a formal symbolic logic class (e.g., PHIL 120).

Essay 1: Due May 9, 2005

Essay 2: Due June 13, 2005

Week One: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5. Due April 11

Week Two: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5. Due April 18

Week Three: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4. Due April 25

Week Four: 4.1, 4.2. 4.3, 4.4, 4.5. Due May 2

Week Five: 4.7, 5.1. Due May 9

Week Six: 9.1. Due May 16

Week Seven: 9.2. Due May 23

Week Eight: 9.3. Due May 31

Week Nine: 9.4 Due June 6

Week Ten: 9.5. Due June 13

And again: The first essay is due May 9; the second essay is due June 13 (the same day as your last weekly assignment).

Weekly Discussion Room questions/problems will be posted at the beginning of each week, and students will need to respond with at least a single, brief, thoughtful response in the Discussion Room by the following Monday morning of the following week. Responses may directly address the instructor's weekly question, or address another student's posting for that week. Responses that are simply a repeat of what another student has offered will receive no credit. So it is to each student's interest to read and respond to the weekly question early. If you think that everything intelligent has been said about the question, you will have to get creative and respond with an illustration, example, or some other on-topic discussion. Students are encouraged to read all postings and respond to each other. It is hoped that each question or porblem posted by the instructor will show how the technique being learned that week can be applied to real life issues, as well as giving the class an opportunity to talk over the material they are learning. Students will be graded on the content of their posts, and their regularity in posting a timely response each week. This is a new feature of this section of this online section of PHIL 115 for Spring 2005, so the instructor will be sure to provide guidance as the quarter progresses.