PHIL 150: Critical Thinking

This course is an introduction to argumentation and reasoning. It focuses on the kinds of arguments and reasoning one is likely to encounter in public and social debate, scientific and legal settings, as well as in the media. The primary objective of this course is to improve student ability to critically evaluate the arguments of others as well as to construct persuasive arguments of their own. Furthermore, students should leave the course with critical thinking tools that can be applied in nearly every area of study. To this end, the course will explore different forms of arguments, e.g., deductive and inductive arguments, the role of language in arguments and reasoning, numerical and probabilistic reasoning, cognitive and perceptual biases, the scientific method, and social aspects of critical thinking.