Understanding Args

Here are the answers to the group work handout on understanding arguments.

1. (P1) Fairdale has the best team.
(C) Fairdale will win the championship

2. (P1) The housing market is depressed.
(P2) Interest rates are low.
(C) It's a good time to buy a home.

3. (P1) China is guilty of extreme human rights abuses.
(P2) China refuses to implement democratic reforms.
(C) The U.S. should refuse to deal with the present Chinese government.

4. (P1) The revocation of the 55 mph speed limit has resulted in an increased number of auto fatalities.
(C) we must alleviate this problem with stricter speed limit enforcement.

5. (P1) The results of the Persian Gulf War were good.
(C) The U. S. military is both capable and competent.

6. (P1) Scientific discoveries are continually debunking religious myths.
(P2) Science provides the only hope for solving the many problems faced by humankind.
(C) Science provides a more accurate view of human life than does religion.

7. (P1) Jesse is one year old.
(P2) Most one-year-olds can walk.
(C) It follows that Jesse can walk.

8. (P1) I'm very good at my job.
(C) I deserve a raise.

9. (P1) Freedom of speech and expressions are essential to a democratic form of government.
(P2) As soon as we allow some censorship, it won't be long before censorship will be used to silence the opinions critical of the government.
(P3) Once we allow some censorship, we will have no more freedom than the Germans did under Hitler.
(C) We must resist all effort to allow the government to censor entertainment.

10. (P1) Maebe didn't show up for work today.
(P2) Maebe never missed work unless she was sick.
(C) Maebe is probably sick today.

11. (P1) The United States, as the most powerful nation in the world, has a moral obligation to give assistance to people who are subjected to inhumane treatment.
(P2) The ethnic Albanians were being persecuted in Kosovo.
(C) It was proper for the U.S. to become involved in the air campaign against Kosovo.

12. (P1) The last person we hired from Bayview Tech turned out to be a bad employee.
(C) I'm not willing to hire anybody else from that school again.

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Hat tip: I took examples 1-8 (with some revisions) from Beth Rosdatter's website, and examples 9-13 (with some revisions) from Jon Young's website.

Email Subscriptions

So why does this course have a blog? Well, why is anything anything?

A blog (short for “web log”) is a website that works like a journal – users write posts that are sorted by date based on when they were written. You can find important course information (like assignments, due dates, reading schedules, etc.) on the blog. I’ll also be updating the blog throughout the semester, posting interesting items related to the stuff we’re currently discussing in class. I used a blog for this course last semester, and it seemed helpful. Hopefully it can benefit our course, too.

Since I’ll be updating the blog a lot throughout the semester, you should check it frequently. There are, however, some convenient ways to do this without simply going to the blog each day. The best way to do this is by getting an email subscription, so any new blog post I write automatically gets emailed to you. (You can also subscribe to the rss feed, if you know what that means.) To get an email subscription:

1. Go to http://ccclogic08.blogspot.com.

2. At the main page, enter your email address at the top of the right column (under “EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION: Enter your Email”) and click the "Subscribe me!" button.

3. This will take you to a new page. Follow the directions under #2, where it says “To help stop spam, please type the text here that you see in the image below. Visually impaired or blind users should contact support by email.” Once you type the text, click the "Subscribe me!" button again.

4. You'll then get an email regarding the blog subscription. (Check your spam folder if you haven’t received an email after a day.) You have to confirm your registration. Do so by clicking on the "Click here to activate your account" link in the email you receive.

5. This will bring you to a page that says "Your subscription is confirmed!" Now you're subscribed.

If you are unsure whether you've subscribed, ask me (609-980-8367; slandis@camdencc.edu). I can check who's subscribed and who hasn't.

Course Schedule

January 23 – 25
Wednesday: Intro to Class (no reading)
Friday: Doing Philosophy (no reading)

January 28 – February 1
Monday: Reasoning (1.1-1.6)
Wednesday: Reasoning (1.6-1.11)
Friday: Reasoning (finish Chapter 1) (group work)

February 4 – 8
Monday: Reasoning/Arguments (2.1-2.2)
Wednesday: Deductive Args (2.3-2.5)
Friday: Inductive Args (2.6-2.8); Homework #1 due

February 11 – 15
Monday: Abductive Args (no reading) (group work)
Wednesday: Fallacies (3.1-3.3)
Friday: Quiz #1; Fallacies (no reading) (group work)

February 18 – 22
Monday: Fallacies (3.4-3.6)
Wednesday: Fallacies (finish chapter 3); Group Project #1 (in class)
Friday: Fallacies (4.1-4.3)

February 25 – 29
Monday: Fallacies (4.4- 4.6)
Wednesday: Fallacies (4.7) (group work)
Friday: Fallacies (finish chapter 4) Homework #2 due

March 3 – 7
Monday: Fallacies (5.1-5.3)
Wednesday: Fallacies (5.4-5.7)
Friday: Fallacies (5.7-5.9) (group work)

March 10 – 14
Monday: Fallacies (finish chapter 5); Paper #1 due
Wednesday: Review for Midterm (no reading)
Friday: MIDTERM

March 17 – 21: Spring Break
SPRING BREAK! (no class) (woo?)


March 24 – 28
Monday: Psychological Impediments (6.1-6.3)
Wednesday: Psychological Impediments (6.4-6.6)
Friday: Psychological Impediments (6.6-6.9)

March 31 – April 4
Monday: Psychological Impediments (finish Chapter 6) (group work)
Wednesday: Advanced Psychological Impediments (handout)
Friday: Advanced Psychological Impediments (handout); Group Project #2 (in class)

April 7 – 11
Monday: Intellectual Honesty (3.3, 3.7, 4.5)
Wednesday: Intellectual Honesty & the Principle of Charity (no reading)
Friday: Intellectual Honesty (no reading) (group work)

April 14 – 18
Monday: Quiz #2; Intro to Writing Essays (9.1-9.2)
Wednesday: Writing Essays (9.3-9.4)
Monday: Writing Essays (finish chapter 9); Homework #3 due

April 21 – 25
Monday: Evaluating Ads (10.1-10.3)
Wednesday: Ads (10.4-10.5)
Friday: Evaluating the News (11.1-11.4)

April 28 – May 2
Monday: News (11.5-11.8); Group Project #3 (in class)
Wednesday: Reliability of Experts (handout)
Friday: Prepare for group presentations (no reading) (group work)

May 5 – 9
Monday: group presentations (no reading)
Wednesday: group presentations (no reading)
Friday: Review for Final Exam (no reading)

May 12
Monday: FINAL EXAM

Course Details

Logic & Reasoning
Camden County College, Blackwood Campus
Philosophy 121, Section 02
Spring 2008
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
noon – 12:50 p.m. in Madison 311

Instructor: Sean Landis
Email: slandis@camdencc.edu
Phone: 609-980-8367
Course Website: http://ccclogic08.blogspot.com

Required Text
Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric, 10th edition (Howard Kahane & Nancy Cavender)

About the Course
We are presented with arguments for all sorts of conclusions all the time, on topics as serious as abortion or the death penalty and as trivial as the best player on the Phillies or the funniest late night host. How can we tell good arguments from bad ones?

This course focuses on understanding and evaluating arguments. We’ll first learn how to identify the components and structures of arguments. We’ll then learn how to pick apart bad reasoning found by going over logical fallacies—all the ways arguments can go wrong. We’ll also discuss psychological impediments—the ways most of us unreflectively reason poorly.

Armed with these evaluative tools, we’ll then explore our arguments for what we believe, and revise or strengthen them based on proper reasoning. The course’s main goal is to develop the ability to create original arguments that avoid the pitfalls of bad reasoning.

Grades
90-100% = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
below 60% = F.

Midterm: 15%
Final: 25%
Quizzes (2): 7.5% each (15% total)
Oral Report: 15%
Short Papers (2): 5% each (10% total)
Group Projects (3): 3% each (9% total)
Other Homework (3): 2% each (6% total)
Attendance/Participation: 5%

Exams: The midterm tests everything covered during the first half of the course, and will last the full period (50 minutes) on the scheduled day. The final exam is cumulative—that is, it tests everything covered throughout the whole course, not just the second half. The final will last 50 minutes, and will take place on the last day of class.

Quizzes: Quiz #1 will test you on everything covered during the first 4 weeks of class, and quiz #2 will test you on everything covered after exam #1 (weeks 7 through 9). Quizzes will last 20 minutes, and be held at the beginning of the period on the scheduled day.

Oral Report: This will be a group project presented in front of the class at the end of the semester. Each group of 3-4 students will present a 10-15 minute oral presentation.

Short Papers: There will be two short papers (250-500 words each), the first on understanding and evaluating an argument, and the second on presenting an original argument of your own on a topic of your choosing.

In-Class Group Projects: There will be a lot of group work for this class. In addition to the group oral presentation, there will be three in-class group projects due at various times throughout the semester.

Other Homework: There will be three total homework assignments in addition to the two short papers. Each one is due at the beginning of class the day they are due.

Classroom Policies
Academic Integrity: Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students found guilty of either will definitely fail the test, quiz, or assignment – and possibly the entire class.
NOTE: Working with fellow students on group projects or homework assignments is not cheating. Copying a fellow student’s completed homework assignment is cheating. (Come to me if you are unsure what constitutes cheating or plagiarism.)

Excused Absenses: Make-up exams, quizzes, in-class projects, or oral reports will only be scheduled for any excused absences (excused absences include religious observance, official university business, and illness or injury – with a doctor’s note). An unexcused absence on the day of the exam or quiz will result in a zero on that exam or quiz.

Important Dates
January 18: Last day to drop a course & receive a 100% refund.
February 4: Last day to drop a course & receive a 50% refund.
February 11: Last day to sign up to audit a course.
April 28: Last day to withdrawal from Fall Classes.