PHIL 1111: Introduction to Critical Thinking
Students distinguish between good and bad reasoning through an introduction to logical analysis, which entails an examination of the meaning of logical terms and an investigation of their contribution to the arguments in which they occur. Considerable attention will be given to representing the logical structure of arguments and deciding their validity or invalidity.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:
- Understand philosophy as conceptual analysis, and identify the main branches and sub-branches of the discipline.
- Recognize what is and what is not an argument in a variety of contexts.
- Identify the anatomy of arguments - e.g., indicator words, subpremise, and main premise(s), subconclusion(s) and main conclusion, etc.
- Standardize and formalize arguments using prescribed logical tools and techniques.
- Diagnose common errors in reasoning.
- Assess arguments for validity, soundness, and/or cogency.
Course topics
PHIL 1111: Introduction to Critical Thinking includes the following 12 modules:
- Philosophy: A General Job Description
- What Is an Argument?
- Types of Persuasive Arguments
- Diagramming argument Structure
- Issues in Language
- Argument Evaluation: Cogency
- Premise Acceptability and Related Fallacies
- Premise Relevance, Sufficiency of Grounds, and Related Fallacies
- Inductive Reasoning and Related Fallacies
- Categorical Logic
- Sentential Logic I
- Sentential Logic II
Required text and materials
No textbooks are required for this course. All reading material will be provided.
Assessments
Please be aware that should your course have a final exam, you are responsible for the fee to the online proctoring service, ProctorU, or to the in-person approved Testing Centre. Please contact exams@tru.ca with any questions about this.
To successfully complete this course, you must achieve a passing grade of 50% or higher on the overall course and 50% or higher on the mandatory Final Exam. The following table illustrates how your final grade will be determined for this course.
| Assignment 1: Defended Position | 5% |
| Assignment 2: Defended Position | 5% |
| Test 1 | 25% |
| Test 2 | 25% |
| Final Exam * | 40% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
* Mandatory
Open Learning Faculty Member Information
An Open Learning Faculty Member is available to assist students. Students will receive the necessary contact information at the start of the course.
