Topic outline
Logic and Critical Thinking (3 credits)
OverviewThis course improves your God-given ability to think. You learn how to use logic and critical thinking to formulate clear, sound arguments, evaluate others' reasoning and evidence, and detect fallacies in flawed arguments. You will learn key elements of argument structure, inductive reasoning, probability, deductive reasoning, formal logic, and categorical logic.
Enroll me Outcomes
1. Understand the essential concepts, principles, and methods of logical reasoning
2. Be able to detect and avoid fallacious reasoning in the arguments of others and in your own arguments
3. Be capable of formulating and evaluating both deductive and inductive arguments
4. Appreciate the value of critical reasoning and precision in the use of language
5. Continue to develop habits of thinking and communicating with logical rigor and clarityResources
1. Main textbook: Matthew J. Van Cleave, Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking. Dr. Van Cleave earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Cincinnati and is Professor at Lansing Community College. This book is made available through Open Textbook Library. David Feddes selected portions of the book for this course and made some minor changes.
2. Video lectures by David Feddes. Among his other studies, Dr. Feddes earned a degree in philosophy, including the study of symbolic logic and modal logic.Assignments
Read all online materials from the textbook and view all video presentations. Unlike many courses, this class doesn't have just one quiz at the end of a unit. There may be several exercises or quizzes in a unit. Make sure you do every exercise.Accessibility
All of the videos have slides to accompany them.
Grading Scale
A 95-100% A- 90-94% B+ 87-89% B 83-86% B- 80-82% C+ 77-79% C 73-76% C- 70-72% D+ 67-69% D 63-66% D- 60-62% F 0-59%
Your average for the course must be at least 60%. Otherwise, you will fail the class and will receive no credit.Deadline
You have 180 days to finish the course. Complete all assignments before the final deadline, or you will be automatically unenrolled, and all coursework will be removed. You will have to start over and retake the class to receive credit.Days 1-10
Unit 1: Improve Your Thinking
Day 11-20
Unit 2: Arguments
Day 21-30
Unit 3: Complex Arguments
We are aware that the audio is out of sync and are working to correct that.
Day 31-40
Unit 4: Inductive and Analogical Reasoning
Days 41-50
Unit 5: Causal Reasoning and Probability
Days 51-60
Unit 6: Validity, Soundness, and Deductive arguments
Days 61-70
Unit 7: Formal Methods of Evaluating Arguments
Days 71-80
Unit 8: Truth Tables
Days 81-90
Unit 9: Conditionals
Days 111-120
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Unit 12: Categorical Logic
Days 121-150
The course has ended. Please make sure all quizzes have been completed. If your work is incomplete, it is considered a drop, and you will have to take the class again in order to receive credit.
Days 151-180
Our staff will be using this time to review your work. Your grade should appear on your "My Home Page" in the "Course Overview" section. Please contact Helpdesk if you have any questions or did not receive your grade.
Below you will find a series of lectures on logic by Dr. Roy Clouser. You are not required to view these, but they are available if you want dig deeper into logic.