PHIL 1500 - LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING

Syllabus for Spring 2008

Dr. Donald Nute

FAQ

Unit I:

Notes on Diagraming Arguments

Symbolization Exercises

Practice Exam I

Exam IA

Exam IB

Unit II:

Truth Trees Rules

Truth Trees Exercises

Venn Diagram exercises

Practice Exam II

Exam IIA

Exam IIB

Unit III:

Notes on Analogical Arguments

Analogical Arguments Exercises

Defeasible Reasoning Exercises 1

Defeasible Reasoning Exercises 2

Practice Exam III

Exam IIIA

Unit IV:

Slides on Fallacies

Exercises on Fallacies

Constraint Satisfaction Problems

Practice Exam IV

Exam IVA

More links may be added as the semester progresses.

The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Who, Where, and When

The class will meet at 10:10-11:00 on Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday in room 102 of the Student Learning Center.

The instructor for the course is Dr. Donald Nute (dnute@uga.edu; 706-542-0881; Graduate Studies 111; office hours by appointment.)

There are two teaching assistants for this course: Jason Carter (jwcarter@uga.edu) and AJ Tiarsmith (ajt@uga.edu). Jason and AJ both have office space in Room 1 of the basement of Peabody Hall. The phone number for their office is 706-583-8028. Jason's office hours are 1:30-2:30 Monday and Wednesday, 12:30-1:30 onThursday, and 11:10-12:10 Friday. AJ's office hours are 11:10-12:00 Monday through Thursday.

We encourage students to communicate with us by electronic mail. This is often the most efficient way to ask about assignments or problems with class material. Of course, we also encourage students to come in to talk to us about any problems they encounter in the course.

What benefit will you get from this course? Critical thinking means evaluating the reasons you or other people give to support your opinions or decisions. Critical thinking also means developing skills for determining what opinions are supported by information you have. In this class, you will learn some of the skills that can improve your ability to perform these tasks. Specifically, this course should help you do better at the following.

Texts: Copi and Nute, Methods for Critical Thinking, 3rd Edition, is available from the Off-Campus Bookstore on Baxter Street. This is a custom textbook designed specifically for this course. If you buy a used copy, be sure to get the 3rd Edition.

Structure, Exams, and Assignments: The course material is divided into four units with each unit including but not limited to the corresponding unit in these class notes.

There will be three examinations on each of the first three blocks of material and two examinations on the last block of  material. Exams will usually be given on Fridays and returned on Mondays. Two exams will be given on Units 1-3 and one exam will be given on Unit 4 prior to the final exam period. During the time scheduled for the final exam, an exam on each of the four units will be available. You may take as many exams as you wish, but to pass the course you must take at least one examination on each block of material. If you take more than one examination on any unit, your grade for that unit will be your grade for the last exam you took on the unit. One or more retakes are built into this course for each examination. No other retakes will be given for any reason. Due to the size of the class, no one will be allowed to take the final exam at any time other than the scheduled time. If you have three exams the same day or two exams the same period, you will need to arrange an alternate time for one of your other exams.

Here is a tentative exam schedule for the course FOR SPRING 2008. It may be necessary to adjust this schedule depending on how quickly we move through the material. Changes will be announced in class and posted on this Web page. It is your responsibility to find out about any changes in the exam schedule.

 
Martin Luther King Holiday January 21
Exam 1A February 8
Exam 1B February 15
Exam 2A March 3 (Changed!)
Last day to drop classes March 4
Exam 2B March 7
Spring Break March 10-14
Exam 3A April 4
Exam 3B April 11
Exam 4A April 25
Last day of class April 28
Final Exam April 30 , 8:00-11:00 AM


The examination on each of the four units in the course will include items totaling 100 points; so your score for the entire course will be in the range 0-400. Here is the grading scale: 360-400 = A; 350-359 = B+, 330-349 = B, 320-329 = B-, 310-319 = C+, 290-309 = C, 280-289 = C-, 270-279 = D+, 250-269 = D, 240-249 = D-, 0 -239 = F.

Grade Appeals: Exams will be returned on Mondays, and I will usually work the exam in class that day. Most questions about how items were graded will be answered as the exam is worked in class. However, you may discover an obvious error or think that there may be an error in the grading of your exam. Any complaints about grades on an exam must be made by Friday of the week the exam is returned. If you have a complaint about a grade, first take the exam to the TA who graded it. He or she can make whatever corrections are appropriate, but no TA may review a grade on an exam that he or she did not grade originally. If after talking to the TA who originally graded the exam you still have a complaint, you may bring the exam to me. In this case, I will regrade the entire exam and return it to you. If I regrade an exam, I may find credit that the TA gave you incorrectly as well as credit he should have given you but didn't. In any event, if I am asked to review a grade given on an exam, I will regrade the entire exam.

Attendance Policy: We will not keep attendance records, but experience has shown that students who frequently miss class do not do well in this course.

Policy on Academic Honesty: All academic work must meet the standards contained in the University's Academic Honesty Policy. Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work.

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