CRITICAL THINKING (Philosophy 120)		Syllabus			Fall 2009
 
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Instructor: Greg Frost-Arnold		
Office Phone: 781.4509			Email: gfrost-arnold@hws.edu
Office Hours: (Demarest 308/ Harris House) M&W 11:15-12:15, Th 1-2:30, & by appointment
 
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Advertisements, politicians, bosses, friends, and family all try to convince you that various claims are true.  This class will provide tools to determine whether these people have given you good evidence to believe their claims; that is, whether they have given good arguments.  Specifically, after completing this class, you will be able to: 
1.  Distinguish arguments from non-arguments.
2.  Reconstruct arguments in order to make their logical structure explicit.
3.  Evaluate arguments for strength of inference: valid vs. invalid and strong vs. weak.
4.  Construct your own arguments.
5.  Use your knowledge of argument analysis to write more clearly and effectively.
	
TEXT:  Reason and Argument, 2nd edition, by Richard Feldman.  
 
GRADING & ASSIGNMENTS: There are two in-class tests, each worth 20% of your grade, and a final exam and project, worth 30% of your total grade.  30% of your grade comes from weekly homework assignments (lowest score dropped).  There is a further requirement that you submit examples of arguments you find in sources outside the course material.  Grades follow the usual 100% scale: 90% is the minimum for an A-, 87% the minimum for a B+, 83% for a B, etc. 
 
CLASS POLICIES:  Participation: You are allowed two unexcused absences.  With further unexcused absences, your final grade will suffer.  The point of this policy is so that I do not have to attempt to determin which students are telling the truth.  If you have a problem and must miss class please inform me as soon as you can, preferably in advance.  Expect to provide documentation (or other evidence) to have an excused absence.  
Repeatedly engaging in activities that hurt class function, like talking to your neighbor or using your phone, will count against your final grade.  Thus, no laptops are allowed in class, unless you have a letter from CTL that says you need one.  Please, please turn off your phone.
            Late homework will not be accepted, because we will go over the answers to homework assignments immediately after you turn them in.
            Cheating or plagiarism, in any form, absolutely will not be tolerated.  If this class is to succeed as a learning project for you and me, it must be based on respect and trust between us.  If anyone abuses that trust, I will punish that person to the extent that University policies allow; the usual penalty is for that person to fail the course. You are responsible for knowing HWS’s Principle of Academic Integrity: http://www.hws.edu/catalogue/policies.aspx.
	If you have a documented disability, I will do everything I can to help you succeed in this class.  You need to contact the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to get a letter saying you need special accommodations, and then you and I must meet to discuss how best to meet your needs.  More information can be found at http://www.hws.edu/studentlife/stuaffairs_disabilities.aspx.  The CTL phone number is x3351 or TTY x4412.