Schedule
| Date | Topic/Readings | Assignments |
|---|---|---|
| 1/9 (Sun) | Introduction (slides) | Problem Set #1 (Solutions) |
| 1/11 (Tue) | What is an Argument? (Unit #1) (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Propositions” (handout). |
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| 1/13 (Thu) | What is an Argument? (slides) Workshop on statement classification (worksheet). |
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| 1/16 (Sun) | What is an Argument? (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 9–17. |
Quiz #1 Problem Set #2 (Solutions) |
| 1/18 (Tue) | What is an Argument? (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 17–20. |
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| 1/20 (Thu) | What is an Argument? (slides) Workshop on argument parsing (worksheet). |
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| 1/23 (Sun) | Understanding an Argument (Unit #2) (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Emotive Language, Neutral Language, and Disputes” (handout). Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Disputes and Ambiguity” (handout). |
Quiz #2 Problem Set #3 (Solutions) |
| 1/25 (Tue) | Understanding an Argument (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 96–101. |
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| 1/27 (Thu) | Understanding an Argument (slides) Workshop on dispute analysis and diagramming arguments (worksheet). |
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| 1/30 (Sun) | Understanding an Argument (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Diagramming Arguments” (handout). |
Quiz #3 Problem Set #4 (Solutions) |
| 2/1 (Tue) | Review of Units #1 and #2 (slides) | |
| 2/3 (Thu) | Exam #1 | |
| 2/6 (Sun) | Assessing Arguments (Unit #3) (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 68–73. |
Problem Set #5 (Solutions) |
| 2/8 (Tue) | Assessing Arguments (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 74–79. |
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| 2/10 (Thu) | Assessing Arguments (slides) Workshop on informally assessing arguments (worksheet). |
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| 2/13 (Sun) | Modern Propositional Logic (Unit #4) (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 219–228. |
Quiz #4 Problem Set #6 (Solutions) |
| 2/15 (Tue) | Modern Propositional Logic (slides) Reread The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 219–228. |
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| 2/17 (Thu) | Modern Propositional Logic (slides) Workshop on translating natural language and creating truth tables (worksheet). |
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| 2/20 (Sun) | Modern Propositional Logic (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 231–238. |
Quiz #5 Problem Set #7 (Solutions) |
| 2/22 (Tue) | Modern Propositional Logic (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 88–93. |
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| 2/24 (Thu) | Modern Propositional Logic (slides) Workshop on assessing arguments with truth tables (worksheet). |
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| 2/27, 3/1, 3/3 | Spring Break | |
| 3/6 (Sun) | Natural Deduction (Unit #5) (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “The Elementary Valid Argument Forms” (handout). |
Quiz #6 Problem Set #8 (Solutions) |
| 3/8 (Tue) | Natural Deduction (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Formal Proofs of Validity Exhibited” (handout). |
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| 3/10 (Thu) | Natural Deduction (slides) Workshop on identifying valid argument forms (worksheet). |
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| 3/13 (Sun) | Natural Deduction (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Constructing Formal Proofs of Validity” (handout). |
Quiz #7 Problem Set #9 (Solutions) |
| 3/15 (Tue) | Natural Deduction (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Constructing More Extended Formal Proofs” (handout). |
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| 3/17 (Thu) | Natural Deduction (slides) Workshop on natural deduction (worksheet). |
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| 3/20 (Sun) | Natural Deduction (slides) Reread Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “Constructing More Extended Formal Proofs” (handout). |
Quiz #8 Problem Set #10 (Solutions) |
| 3/22 (Tue) | Review of Units #3, #4, and #5 (slides) | |
| 3/24 (Thu) | Exam #2 | |
| 3/27 (Sun) | Basic Categorical Reasoning (Unit #6) (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking,pp. 252–262. |
Problem Set #11 (Solutions) |
| 3/29 (Tue) | Basic Categorical Reasoning (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 264–268. |
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| 3/31 (Thu) | Basic Categorical Reasoning (slides) Workshop on translating and diagramming categorical statements (worksheet). |
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| 4/3 (Sun) | Basic Categorical Reasoning (slides) Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen, “The Traditional Square of Opposition” (handout). |
Quiz #9 Problem Set #12 (Solutions) |
| 4/5 (Tue) | Basic Categorical Reasoning (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 269–276. |
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| 4/7 (Thu) | Basic Categorical Reasoning (slides) Workshop on reasoning with categorical statements and syllogisms (worksheet). |
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| 4/10 (Sun) | Ineffective Reasoning (Unit #7) (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 176–194. |
Quiz #10 Problem Set #13 (Solutions) |
| 4/12 (Tue) | Ineffective Reasoning (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 194–200. |
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| 4/14 (Thu) | Ineffective Reasoning (slides) Workshop on identifying informal fallacies (worksheet). |
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| 4/17 (Sun) | Ineffective Reasoning (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 130–139. |
Quiz #11 |
| 4/19 (Tue) | Ineffective Reasoning (slides) The Power of Critical Thinking, pp. 152–161. |
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| 4/21 (Thu) | Review of Units #6 and #7 (slides) | |
| 4/24 (Sun) | NU-Q Students: 11:00am to 12:00pm (noon) in lecture hall 2163. CMU-Q Students: 2:00pm to 3:00pm in classroom 1190. |
Exam #3 |