Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to the tools of reasoning used in everyday life and in science. The overall aim of the course is to understand what makes good reasoning good, what makes bad reasoning bad, and how to do more of the former and less of the latter. Topics include: construction, analysis, and evaluation of arguments; logic and probability; updating beliefs and making decisions; designing experiments; interpreting statistics; identifying fallacies and biases. Open to all students. Students with credit for PHIL XX1 may not take this course for further credit. Q/Breadth-Social Sci/Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This is a course about how to think, and how to understand and evaluate what other people think. It won’t tell you what to think. You won’t prepare for exams by memorizing lots of facts. Instead, you’ll develop general skills for deciding what to believe and what to do. These are skills to use in any situation where having true beliefs matters, because you just want to know what’s true or because actions guided by true beliefs are the best way to achieve your goals. These are also skills for clear and effective communication.

The major topics we’ll learn about in this course are:

Arguments
An argument presents reasons to hold a belief. Arguments are useful but can be misleading. We’ll learn how to construct and criticize them.

Logic and Probability
Logic and probability include some of the most basic rules of good reasoning. The rules are commonsense at heart, but learning to apply them takes some practice.

Explanation and Confirmation
Explanation and confirmation are fundamental to the careful use of evidence. We’ll learn some ways to recognize good and bad evidence, and some common ways that we accidentally fool ourselves.

Data and Experiments
We often rely on limited data to learn about the world beyond our personal experience and to understand how to control it. We’ll learn some basic statistical and experimental procedures to help with this.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

PHIL 105 may be applied towards the Quantitative Requirement, and the Breadth-Social Sciences Requirement OR the Breadth-Science Requirement (but not both; student can choose which Breadth requirement to satisfy and plan enrollment in other courses accordingly).

Note: PHIL 105 has replaced PHIL XX1. If you have taken PHIL XX1 in the past and you enroll in PHIL 105, it will be considered a repeat.

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Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: