| Unit name | Logic and Critical Thinking |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHIL10032 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Catrin Campbell-Moore |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Philosophy |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
This unit introduces the student to the analysis of arguments. It provides students with the tools to discern and analyze the structure of an argument, to distinguish good arguments from bad ones, to understand commonly encountered forms of reasoning, and to diagnose common ways in which arguments and reasoning may be flawed or misleading. Students will also be introduced to the tools of Formal Logic and taught how to use these to make arguments more precise and to evaluate their correctness in precise and rigorous ways.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
The unit provides students with an introduction to formal argumentation and reasoning that is a central methodological tool throughout analytic philosophy. The skills that students develop on this unit, including understanding formal arguments, developing structured arguments, and engaging in rigorous critical analysis, are central to all of the other philosophy units that students will take throughout their degree programme.
An overview of content
Topics covered will typically include formal approaches to argumentation and reasoning, such as elementary logic (including key ideas such as deduction, validity, soundness, proof) and propositional and predicate calculus, the analysis of the sort of informal arguments occurring in everyday life (including statistical reasoning), as well as the exploration of common fallacies in reasoning, the effects of various biases (including implicit bias), and the way certain forms of propaganda work. How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit? Students will be able to deploy formal argumentation and reasoning in developing their own philosophical positions. They will be able to break down others’ arguments to uncover underlying reasoning structures in order to analyse others’ positions precisely and rigorously. Students will be able to recognise biased or fallacious reasoning, and be aware of how their own reasoning may be subject to such biases.
Learning outcomes
1. Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the key ideas in elementary logic, including deduction, validity, soundness, proof;
2. Demonstrate familiarity with the propositional calculus and predicate calculus;
3. Analyse both the overall structure and the precise logical form of arguments and be able to translate arguments from English into the propositional calculus and predicate calculus;
4. Construct clear arguments and proofs, both formally and informally
5. Be reflective about their own reasoning; be less susceptible to committing fallacies and be less liable to bias.
Lectures, small group work, individual exercises, seminars and virtual learning environment.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Regular short online problem sets (10%) [ILOs 1-5]
Exam (90%) [ILOs 1-5]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PHIL10032).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
