CNM: Phil 1156-301: Logic & Critical Thinking (Salbato) Summer, 2017
Syllabus: Philosophy 1156: Critical Thinking & Logic (3 units)
Instructor: Jeff SalbatoE-mail:
Website: jeffsreadings.com
Office hours: MJG 201-14, TR 1:15-2:15
Voicemail: 224-4000-ext.50166 / Days, times, location, final exam:
TR 9:30-11:15 in MJG-122
Final exam: R 8/3
Course Description (official): This course provides the tools of reasoning necessary for everyday decision-making and problem solving. Skills for argument, argument analysis, argument construction, and critical thinking are introduced. Informal fallacies, inductive and deductive systems of logic will be discussed and analyzed. The course will also take a critical thinking approach to the reasoning process.
What this course is REALLY about: Unlike most classes in college that, in part, aim to show you how much you don’t know, this course will try to help you become more literate in what you already know. We will be investigating how everyday reasoning works. You use reasons every day, but you have never been asked to articulate how you do it. The bulk of this class will be learning how to conceptualize and practice the good reasoning that we already know how to do. This will, then, provide us the vocabulary and competence to remedy faulty reasoning. As a bi-product you will become more articulate thinkers and writers, and, more importantly, you will be able to thoroughly annoy those around you as you dismantle their idiotic attempts to justify their ideas and lives (I cannot officially endorse applying these techniques to mass society and politics, but I have this “friend” that says it’s fun).
Course Text: All readings and handouts are available online: jeffsreadings.com
These are Word documents that can be opened with the following password: ______
(If you need software, get the free, open source LibreOffice)
Evaluation: Final grade is out of 100pts. (90s = A, 80s = B, 70s = C, 60s = D, 0-59 = F)
5pts. Weekly Exercises: Every Thursday: mid-week practice exercises (½ pt. each)
11pts. Daily Reading Quizzes: Start of class; should be easy if you’ve read (½ pt. each)
90pts. Big Quizzes: Approx. every 2-3 weeks: Five unit quizzes (18 pts. each)
20pts. Final Exam: A cumulative set of questions, like 3-4 Big Quizzes
(Note: Total points possible: 126)
The Pep Talk: I will try my best to make this stuff interesting and lively. If you get involved in the issues, keep up with the reading, and put in a solid effort, you will do fine in here. There are so many points, so, if you are not lazy and attend regularly, there is no need to worry about your grade. This stuff can be pretty complex, so never hesitate to ask the most basic questions. It is my job to explain things clearly, and it is your job to make sure that I am being clear. So, if I start mumbling like Ozzy, you would be doing the whole class a favor by raising your hand and asking, “What are you talking about, you spastic, unshaven, bookworm?” There is no competition nor curve in here, so please see this as a collective endeavor. This is a specific challenge to you shy students. I was desperately shy in college, so I know that the class is tired of listening to those annoying, outgoing students and is missing out on your thoughtful insights.
Course Policies Page:
Student ID Number: I will make up a student number for each of you. Please put this number on the back, at the very, very top, of all of your work in here.
Daily Tiny Quiz: These will occur at the beginning of class (when you are typically just walking in and are particularly disoriented...insert cackling laughter). These will be based on the concepts and examples in the readings and previous classes.
Weekly Readings & Exercises: I will assign readings at the end of every week by simply announcing the “letters” that distinguish each reading on the course website. I will assign a portion of the italicized exercises from the following pages of this syllabus at the end of every Tuesday that will be due Thursday. These are worth ½ point, based on accurately applying the techniques from the readings and class discussions. You must be in class when we go over them to earn the credit. These exercises will be like the ones we’ve been covering in class and will be similar to what will appear on the Big Quizzes.
Big Unit Quizzes: These will be given approximately every 2-3 weeks, at the end of each unit of material. There will be no surprises on these quizzes; they will be very similar to the examples we covered in class and in the exercises. Be careful to explain things clearly and write clearly.
Attendance/make-ups/tardiness: Every day is a chance to earn points, so absences are costly. The daily tiny quizzes and weekly exercises cannot be made up if you are absent or tardy (my sneaky way of getting you to class on time). The Big Unit Quizzes cannot be made up, but an extra 15 points will be added to the weight of your final exam for every missed Big Quiz (and this way there is no need to tell me, "I had to work to pay for my portable porn browser, cappuccinos, and meth”…zing!).
Playa’ hata’ rule: I am not disrespecting your urgent need to buy drugs, search for your next tattoo, or make fish faces on pimpstagram (you are so adorable), but you have to silence your cell phones and not allow them to distract us. If you can be discrete, feel free to send your pimps quick messages, but handle them quickly so you can get back to learning. Avid phone users keep struggling in my classes and annoy my favorite students. If you annoy the nerds, you have to bring snacks for everyone.
Warning to overachievers and grade-mongers: My past overachievers and grade-mongers have told me to write a special warning to you. I am supposed to tell you to be ready to feel alarmingly insecure, especially if you are used to cruising along in your memorization-based classes. This class is not about information; it is about everyday reasoning that is usually unconscious. Here’s an analogy: you know how to tie your shoes, but it would be surprisingly hard for you to explain and defend the particular technique you use. Don’t get me wrong, you will do fine in here and receive a good grade, but be prepared to feel intellectually insecure for the first time in a class.
B: Claims: Spheres of Discourse: Truth, Values, and Tastes
Truth (factual) claims: Statements or ideas that make a judgment about reality.
Rational Standard: Does it agree with reality?
Important! Every truth claim must be either true or false, not both!
Are these examples of truth claims? It is raining. There’s life on Mars.
I have a headache. God exists.
Values: Judgments about the quality or meaning of an action or thing.
Rational Standard: Does it fit reasonably with our other beliefs?
Two Tangents: Pimp-slapping normative relativism! Is vs. ought/ legal vs. moral
Are these examples of values? This is a good watch. Rape isn't always wrong.
Americans eat too much meat.
Tastes/Preferences: Personal ideas about what we think or feel.
Rational Standard: Does it make sense? Is the person a reliable source?
Are these examples of preferences? I hate mustard.
"Titanic" was a great movie.
“A” Exercises:
1. How do we access the readings?
2. What do we do with our 4 digit student ID numbers?
3. Are late exercises accepted?
4. Can missed daily reading quizzes or weekly major quizzes be made up?
“B” Exercises:
1. Answer the following questions in plain language:
a. How do you tell if you are dealing with a truth claim (a factual issue), as opposed to a value or taste claim (nonfactual issue)?
b. Are all opinions about facts equal? Are all opinions about values equal?
2. Explain whether the following are truth-claims, value-claims, or tastes (or both):
a. I think Jeff has a tattoo that says, “Rage Against the Machine” on his back.
b. Monet is a much better artist than Pollack.
c. The hills in western New Mexico are the most beautiful shade of red. The landscape becomes more pale and beige as you head into Arizona.
d. TV programs have too much violence and immoral behavior. Hundreds of killings are portrayed every month.
C: Concepts & Credibility
G.U.S. =General Understanding of Stuff: background knowledge & competence:
- Pre-judices:
Credibility: Can we trust a claim because of its author?
Tangent: Media bias: no research, advertisers, couch potatoes, & fear…
Tangent: Advertising: The lesson of Herbert, the American, middle class dog…
Analyzing Credibility:
A. Initial Plausibility (GUS)?
B. Source Credibility:
1. Expertise (access)?
- Tangent: The paradox of American’s cynicism and scientific idolatry:
2. Sincerity:
a. Presentation?
b. Character?
c. Coercion?
“C” Exercises: Analyze the credibility of the following:
1. The President says, “We are promoting democracy in (fill in latest country).”
2. A politician says, “The best way to create jobs is lower taxes for corporations.”
3. A politician says, “We have the greatest health care in the world.”
4. A TV news host says, “We spend more on welfare than defense in this country.”
5. Jeff says, “A gun is more likely to shoot someone in your family than a criminal.”
6. An auto mechanic says, “Your exhaust manifold is cracked; it’ll cost $600 to fix.”
7. A radio ad says, “We can cut your mortgage payment in half.”
8. Your buddy says, “A thermostat is not complicated at all.”
9. Your uncle says, “The U.S. has the worst public education system in the world.”
10. A citizen says, “The United States has the highest taxes in the world.”
D&E: Reading: Paraphrasing and Analyzing for Structure
Headlines: Not to entice but to give the reader the right prejudice. This is an exercise to help you locate the Main Point (MP).
One Sentence Paraphrases: Give the key ideas of passage in one, complex (yet grammatically correct) sentence, and make a note of what you leave out.
Analyzing for Structure: Lay out the structure of a passage to reveal its connections and reasoning. We are so competent in using language that we naturally supply clues to our reasoning, or lack thereof, when we speak and write. We are not judging the truth or rationality of what is said; we are just analyzing what is intended.
MP (main point), SP (secondary point), and TP (tertiary point or tributary argument)
Format: A random example:
MP: The key claim of the passage
SP: A claim that directly supports or follows from the MP
TP: A claim that supports or follows from the above SP.
SP: Additional SP (should be indented to align with other SPs).
SP: Additional SP
TP: (align with other TPs).
TP:
Padding: What to leave out: Location, helpful background information, definitions of terms, restatements of previous points, illustrations, and friendly jokes or asides. The degree of detail that is left out as padding will depend on the degree of detail called for in your paraphrase.
“D” Exercises: Provide a 4-word, informative headline and a clear, one sentence paraphrase for the following passages on pages 8-9 below: US Budget, It’s a Vagina, War on Terror, Gas, and Drug Scandal.
“E” Exercises: Provide a structure analysis into MP, SP, TP (no subordination categories yet) for the following passages on pages 8-9 below: Hell, Iraq, Alienation, Monogamy, and Cro-Magnon.
F: Reading: Subordination Categories: Understanding Nascar [1]
Backward-looking reasons (“because”):
Support: MP is supported by SP; MP is justified by the reason supplied in SP.
- I am certain that Nascar fans are morons, because (for the reason that) studies show they would be utterly confused if the cars turned any direction but left.
Explanation: MP was caused by SP; MP is explained by the motive SP.
- Cause: Dale Earnhardt died because (due to the event that) 2,000 pounds of corporate logos crushed his car.
- Motive: Gus waves his confederate flag, because (due to his regard for) he wishes the redneck racists had won the war.
Forward-looking reasons (“so”):
Inference: MP allows us to infer SP; MP gives us a reason to believe SP.
- Nascar is the fastest growing sport, so (which allows us to infer that) all those couch potato yoo hoo addicts must be getting bored of wrestling.
Result: MP results in SP; MP produces SP; MP helps one bring about SP.
- Cause: Several Nascar drivers crash, burn, or die every weekend, so (thus, as a result) thousands of bored, impotent losers tune into watch.
- Motive: Gus needs to be drunk so that (in order to bring it about that) he’ll forget how stupid he looks in his mullet and tank top.
Other:
Qualification: MP is refined by SP; MP has the tangent SP.
- Nascar fans chew their weight in tobacco, but they think it’s a vegetable.
- Nascar fans are typically sunburned, and they also tend to be fat and toothless.