PHI1CRT: Critical Thinking

1.5-hour Exam - 26%

The exam is conducted online through LMS. When I completed this subject in 2012, the exam was all multiple choice. From what my friends have told me in 2013, the format has not changed.

Short Quizzes (equivalent to 2000 words) - 50%

Each week there will be a short quiz on the weekly topic. In total there are 12 quizzes, and only your top 8 quizzes count for your grade. Hence, some weeks you can afford to miss a quiz although this is not recommended. With each quiz you have multiple attempts, and the LMS software also tells you which questions you got wrong. For many this is an easy 50%.

Short Essays (3 x 320 words) - 24%

During the semester there will be a bunch of essay topics provided. You need to select three of these topics and write a short essay. Typically, the questions require you to analyse statements, watch videos and respond, or to agree/disagree with statements using justification.

*NOTE* When I completed this subject in 2012, there were no short essays. I had to participate in a debate.

This subject is a fantastic casual introduction to philosophy. It's a fairly laid back subject since the majority of students take CRT as an elective. Dr Norva Lo is a terrific lecturer who constantly keeps the students engaged during lectures.

In this subject you will learn to logically and systematically present, analyse, and evaluate different types of arguments. You will learn to avoid fallacious reasoning and to use diagrams and symbols to assist higher and more abstract levels of thinking and reasoning. This has a direct link to the real world where you apply these skills to cases from popular culture and current affairs.

The subject description sums CRT up well. Because the ability to think and to argue clearly and fairly is central not just to philosophy but to university studies in general, many students find the experience gained in this subject immensely valuable, both within the university and later in employment whatever their subsequent areas of specialization.

The weekly readings are not required to pass this subject. Norva conveniently places everything you need on her own website, which contains a lot of hidden treasures such as funny videos, thought provoking talk shows, interviews and debates, and more advanced research-type materials for further studies and life long learning.

The subject revolves around the quizzes. If you can ace them, you should already be looking to score an A for the subject. Solutions to each weekly online quiz will be automatically released on the LMS website immediately after its due date. So late submission will not be accepted, and extension will not be given. In tutorial, your tutor will go over the sample solutions for each tutorial.

I would definitely recommend this subject to all LTU students. To get the most out of this subject, attend all lectures and complete the readings. Since the debate is no longer part of the subject, you don't have to be scared about standing in front of your tutorial group and being questioned by hardcore philosophy majors. You also don't need to worry about your debate team doing no work.

If you take this subject you may see me sitting in the back row on my laptop during lectures if my schedule allows it

Norva will also award bonus points if you find an error in any subject resource

Topics:

* Statements (Analytic, empirical, evaluative, etc.), rhetorical questions

* Arguments, inferencing, putting arguments in standard form, simple & complex arguments

* Validity & Soundness

* Statistical syllogism, Inductive generalization, analogical arguments

* Arguments to the best explanation

* Fallacies of relevance (appeal to force, appeal to pity, arguments against the person, straw man)

* Fallacies of weak induction (hasty generalization, weak analogy, false cause, slippery slope)

* Fallacies of presumption (begging the question, complex question, false dichotomy), fallacies of ambiguity (equivocation, amphiboly), part-whole relations (composition, division)

* Valid argument forms (modus ponens, modus tollens, hypothetical syllogism, disjunctive syllogism, constructive dilemma, reductio ad absurdum)

No. Lecture slides are provided on LMS.

Dr Norva Lo (excellent)

No. The exam has the same format as the quizzes, and you are expected to use the quiz answers as revision to the final exam.

5/5

CSE2DBF (Database Fundamentals)
CSE1IS (Information Systems)
CSE2DES (System Design Engineering)

None required.

Optional reading: A Concise Introduction To Logic, Hurley, PJ c2012, 11th ed, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Boston, MA

This subject is offered in both semesters.

Semester 1: 1 X 2hr lecture per week and 1 X 1hr tutorial per week

Semester 2: 3 hours of online learning per week

Semester 1, 2012

96 (A)