Course Syllabus

Philosophy 105[G]: Critical Thinking

• Lecturer: Andrew Withy
• Course Director: Matheson Russell
• Tutors: Ben, Cameron, Chantelle, Conor, Dani, Daniel, Fifi, Matteo, Nicole.

PHIL 105[G] is a 15pt Stage I Course for Philosophy (BA major), and for General Education.

Delivery format

This is a blended course. All course material, including readings, videos, quizzes, discussions, and lectures recordings, are available online. Both streams cover the same material, and have the same assessment. You can switch between delivery formats at any time.

• The Lecture stream has two lectures every week and tutorials every week after the first.
• The Online stream is completely online except for the final exam.

Course Description

We are constantly being given reasons to do and believe things: to believe that we should buy a product, support a cause, accept a job, judge someone innocent or guilty, that fairness requires us to do some household chore, and so on. Assessing the reasons we are given to do or believe these things calls upon us to think carefully and accurately. This course will help you improve your skills at giving and assessing reasons for beliefs and actions.

The course is divided into three parts:

Core Argumentation: We explore the basics of argumentation and how we might represent and analyse arguments. We will learn to analyse and evaluate arguments, and we will consider both good and bad arguments, and patterns we find in the wild.

Advanced Argumentation: We develop a systematic way to represent a particular, commonplace type of argument that often leads to action. Then we use this systematic representation to determine the best explanations and most reliable recommendations in our current circumstances.

Applied Argumentation: We apply our newly acquired reasoning tools to investigate the inner workings of three specialised contexts for reasoning: science, morality, and the law. In each context we will consider how and why the techniques we have learned vary in that context, and how good reasoning varies in each context.

Course Outcomes

You'll learn how to:

• identify and avoid common thinking mistakes and habits that lead to the formation of bad beliefs
• recognise, reconstruct and evaluate arguments
• write and strengthen your own arguments
• reason both about abstract knowledge, and for practical action
• apply reasoning tools in areas including science, morality and law.

Recommended & Prescribed Texts

We provide online all the materials you need, including video presentations and written texts. We will provide links to optional, additional resources for those interested in pursuing topics further.

Workload

The University of Auckland's expectation on 15-point courses, is that students spend 10 hours per week on the course (twice that in summer). Students must manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Students attend two hours of lectures each week (in person or via online recordings) and participate in a one-hour tutorial or chat from week 2 of semester. This leaves seven hours per week of non-contact time to engage with the material, complete quizzes, discussions and assignments and prepare for the exam. This expectation applies whether you do this course online or via more traditional scheduled lectures and tutorials.

Assessment

Weekly Quizzes: 10%
Weekly Discussion: 10%
Assignments: 30%
Multi-Choice Final Exam: 50%

Deadlines

Deadlines for coursework are non-negotiable. In extreme circumstances, such as illness or legal difficulty, you may seek an extension for Assignments but you should provide a certificate from Student Health or your Parole Officer before the assignment is due. The very few assignments that are accepted late without a pre-approved extension may be penalised.

Weekly Topics

The material is broken into 12 modules corresponding to the 12 weeks of a normal semester. The provisional modules are: