Critical Thinking
Course name: Critical Thinking
Description
In daily life, we are always either disseminating information or interpreting it. When disseminating information, we aim to be logical and well-founded, trying to avoid common mistakes and unnecessary verbosity. When receiving information, we must discern the authenticity of the information and the credibility of the conclusions. We are constantly being given reasons to do and believe things: to buy a product, support a cause, comment on a tiktok video, exchange views with our friends, and so on. Assessing the reasons we are given to do or believe these things calls upon us to think carefully and accurately. The goal of this course is to help you disseminate and interpret information properly by improving your skills in giving and assessing reasons for beliefs and actions. This will help you in essay and report-writing, but more importantly contribute to your development as a reasonable participant in a complex and changing world.
The course is divided into three parts:
1- Reasoning with Certainty: We explore the principles of argumentation and how we might represent and analyse arguments. We will learn to analyse and evaluate deductive arguments with the valid/invalid reasoning forms, but also understand their limitations.
2- Reasoning with Doubt: Building on our understanding of deductive arguments, we will analyse and evaluate non-deductive arguments, including weighing competing arguments, and causal reasoning. We will identify good and bad arguments, and the kinds of arguments common in everyday life. We also will introduce the methods to decide which is the best explanation or action of an issue.
3- Reasoning in a Field: We apply our newly acquired reasoning tools to investigate the inner workings of specialised contexts for reasoning, such as: science, morality, statistics, business, or logic.
Format
This is a blended course, including readings, videos, quizzes, discussions, and exams.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
. Evaluate Arguments
. Construct reasoned, strong arguments using acceptable evidence.
. Provide perspectives and critiques on reasons from differing worldviews.
. Recognise and interpret mental dispositions, assumptions, biases and heuristics that can affect your reasoning.
. Write arguments, ideas, and reflections on and using critical thinking.