PHIL 100 Syllabus
Fall 2011

Course Title:General Logic
Course Number:PHIL 100
Ticket Number:13224
13225		 MW 8:00 - 9:40 AM, Jacaranda 1553 (moved from SH190 9/12/11)
MW 10:00-11:40, Jacaranda 1553
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Analytical Reading/Expository Writing; either GE Mathematics or MATH 210
Contact information: Professor Stern
Phone: (818) 677-4853
Sierra Tower, Room 508
Office hours: MW 7:00 - 7:45 AM and 12:00 - 12:45 PM; also by appointment
Email: cindy.stern@csun.edu

Catalog description:

Study of deductive and inductive inferences. Attention to formal and informal fallacies and the relations of logic and language. Emphasis on critical thinking and the attainment of skill in it. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 200. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills, Critical Thinking)

Instructor's Description:

This course satisfies the “Critical Thinking” component of the Basic Skill section of the General Education Program, which recognizes critical reasoning as a fundamental competence. Courses in this section of General Education take reasoning itself as their focus. Their goals are to provide students with criteria and methods for distinguishing good reasoning from bad and to help students develop basic reasoning skills that they can apply both within a broad range of academic disciplines and outside the academic environment. Students are expected to acquire skill in recognizing the logical structure of statements and applying the principles of sound reasoning in the construction and evaluation of arguments, and an appreciation of the value of critical reasoning skills in the pursuit of knowledge.

Goal:

Students will analyze information and ideas carefully and logically from multiple perspectives and develop reasoned solutions to problems.

For more specific information on skills to be developed and the activities through which students will build these skills, see the Student Learning Outcomes for this course.

Topics Covered:

  1. Recognizing arguments, premises and conclusions, and the roles of premises in arguments
  2. Reasons for belief and doubt, and common fallacies
  3. Deductive reasoning (propositional logic and categorical logic)
  4. Inductive reasoning (enumerative induction, analogical induction, and causal arguments)
  5. Explanation (inference to the best explanation; evaluating theories)

Schedule of assignments:

See http://www.csun.edu/~hcphi003/PHIL100/schedule.html for a schedule of topics, assignments, and tests.

The schedule may be adjusted in response to learning outcomes as the semester progresses. Changes will be announced in class and on the class announcements web page, http://www.csun.edu/~hcphi003/PHIL100/announcements.html. Revisions to the schedule page itself may lag behind these announcements.

Required Textbook:

Vaughn, Lewis. The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims, 3d edition. Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-19-537792-7.

Course Requirements and Methods of Evaluation:

Attendency policy:

Documentation will be required for excused absences. Each student may have 5 unexcused absences without a grade penalty. Each additional unexcused absence will result in a grade penalty of 2%.

Written Assignments and Grading:

Four tests and several quizzes will be given. Regardless of average on graded work, a student must fulfill two requirements to pass:
  1. take all four tests;
  2. earn at least 50% on the last test.
For students who meet both of these requirements, plus/minus grades will be used, and will be determined on the basis of the following weighting:
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
Quizzes (usually not announced)		 21%
21%
21%
27%
10%

Make-up policies:

  1. No make-ups will be given for quizzes, but your lowest one or two quiz grades will be dropped. The number to be dropped will depend upon the number of quizzes given over the course of the semester.
  2. If you must miss a scheduled test, you must notify me by the day of that test. Send me an email, phone me directly, or leave a message in the Philosophy Department office. If you cannot do any of these yourself, have someone contact me for you.
  3. Make-ups for scheduled tests well be given only in case of legitimate excuses such as illness, death of a parent or sibling, or involvement in a car accident. Documentation (such as a doctor's bill or the police report from an accident) may be required
  4. Once you begin taking a test, no make-up is possible. If you are able to attend class on the day of a test but believe you have a good reason for being allowed to take a make-up at a later time or date instead, discuss this with me before starting the test.
  5. Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, no make-ups will be given for a test after that test has been graded and returned to the class.

Academic integrity:

The University is a community with learning as its central purpose. Both the unity of the community and the activity of learning depend upon academic integrity. As a result, I take academic integrity and its breaches seriously. You can expect discovery of a violation to result in the filing of a Student Misconduct Complaint with the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

For information on what constitutes academic dishonesty, and on the possible repercussions of and penalties for acts of academic dishonesty, consult the CSUN Student Conduct Code in the University Catalog or at http://www.csun.edu/anr/soc/studentconduct.html. See details on plagiarism and how to avoid it at http://library.csun.edu/Guides/ResearchStrategies/AvoidingPlagiarism.

Special needs (such as interpreters, note takers, or testing services

Students with special needs should work with the office of Disability Resources and Educational Services and inform me of any accommodations needed.

Course web pages

Learning outcomes and activities http://www.csun.edu/~hcphi003/PHIL100/outcomes.html
Schedule of assignments http://www.csun.edu/~hcphi003/PHIL100/schedule.html
Announcements http://www.csun.edu/~hcphi003/PHIL100/announcements.html
Course info last modified August 21, 2011 (one link updated September 1; room change for 8 AM section posted September 9) Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional