PHIL-103 Critical Thinking

Credits 3 / 3 Contact Hours
Pre-requisite: Placement into RDNG-016 (ACSR-016), ACLT-075 or ACLT-076
Methods for evaluating claims and arguments with special emphasis on arguments in everday life such as those found in newspaper articles political speeches and advertisements. Students will learn to determine whether there are good reasons for accepting a claim even when those reasons have not been set forth explicitly. The course will cover induction deduction informal fallacies and other aspects of critical thinking and reasoning.

Course Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:

Defend the importance of critical thinking.
Explain common errors in reasoning.
Identify instances of common errors in reasoning.
Evaluate inductive arguments.
Formulate good inductive arguments.
Evaluate deductive arguments.
Formulate good deductive arguments.
Assess the quality of sources.
Assess the quality of expert evidence or testimony.
Apply critical thinking skills to a wide range of topics.