Reasoning & Rational Decision Making

University of Utah, Department of Philosophy, Fall 2013

Syllabus | Schedule | Professor

General Information

Course OVERVIEW

COURSE DESCRIPTION

From the Course Catalogue: "PHIL 1250 Reasoning and Rational Decision Making (3 credit hours) Fulfills Quantitative Reasoning (Statistics/Logic). Analyzing and evaluating arguments, basic logical framework, Aristotelian logic and beginning logic of sentences, fallacies, fundamentals of probability, decision theory, and game theory."

In more detail: Humans often praise or condemn each other on account of their reasoning skills. Many people admire scientists for typically reasoning well from experimental facts to hypotheses. Sherlock Holmes chastises Watson for missing an "elementary" inference from the evidence of a case to the culprit. And you might argue with your peers about whether they have made reasonable decisions in their personal lives. This course introduces the student to the philosophical study of such human reasoning. We will investigate the following questions (along with others) in this course:

• What does it mean to reason well?
• What sorts of things can be reasonable (beliefs, hypotheses, decisions, etc.)?
• What are the standards of good reasoning?
• Do humans typically meet these standards?

By taking this course, students develop a better understanding of the ins and outs of human reasoning. This understanding will enable students to become better reasoners themselves.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course and successful completion of all course requirements, the student will be able to do all of the following:

• explain the importance and relevance of the study of logic (and especially formal logic) to human reasoning,
• compare and contrast philosophical accounts of what it means to reason well (corresponding to various formal theories of how to model good reasoning), showing how they relate to one another and pointing to their particular strengths and weaknesses,
• display a solid understanding and working knowledge of the formal systems and principles of logic that we cover,
• display an improved ability to construct, clarify, and evaluate arguments encountered in the real world.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

None.

Course Materials

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION

CLASSES: On Mondays and Wednesdays, we will focus our attention on learning new material in a discussion-based lecture format. I intend for these “lectures” to draw heavily upon student input and dialogue; ideally, these will look more like discussion sections than sit-and-listen lectures. Given the nature of our class times, students will be expected to prepare well by doing the reading and homework carefully before classes and to participate throughout each class time every week.

LABS: On Fridays, Aaron will hold lab sessions in the regular class meeting time and place. These are primarily meant to help students better understand the material from that week's classes, and especially to give students a structured environment in which they can work on their homework, study for exams together, ask questions, discuss course material, etc. Often, we will spend lab time working together through homework problems that students are having particular trouble with. Homework is almost always due on the Monday after the lab session, so students should not miss these opportunities to improve the quality of their assignments and to gain a deeper understanding of the relevant material.

READINGS / HOMEWORK: To keep up with this course and to get the most out of our class times, you must do the assigned reading slowly and carefully before each class time. I cannot stress enough that you will not be able to do well in this course unless you do the readings well and on schedule! To measure your understanding of the reading material, I will assign regular homework from the text. Your grades on these homework assignments will be a significant determinant in the calculation of your final grade, so please take the reading and homework very seriously.

COURSE MATERIALS

COURSE Requirements

ATTENDANCE / PARTICIPATION / COURSE WIKI

(10% of final grade)

Learning will come much more easily and enjoyably if you’re actively participating in your education! Accordingly, I emphasize student participation and discussion in the classroom. I expect you all to bring questions, ideas, and insights to class and to be prepared to share them. Of course, if you're not attending class, then you're not participating well either; so attendance is required. You may also improve this part of your final grade by contributing to course wikis (these can be found under "Pages" on our CANVAS site). These wikis provide online venues for students to share their notes, ask each other questions, and to prepare for exams.

HOMEWORK

(30% of final grade)

In order to make sure that you are doing the reading carefully and understanding the material, you will have weekly homework assignments. Assignments are due at the beginning of class time, and students may not work on their assignments during our class meetings. Students may work together on HW, but each student actually needs to contribute when doing so. It should go without saying that students may not copy other students’ answers. Students who are struggling with HW should not hesitate to seek help. The best solution is to talk to your fellow classmates and try to work out issues together. The next best solution is to come to office hours (Aaron's or mine) or arrange a meeting with one of us to get some help. Remember which problems you struggled with; we will want to go through these difficult problems together as a class during our meetings.

EXAMS

(3 x 20% of final grade each)

Exams will cover significant ideas, principles, and methods treated in the course -- i.e., those covered in the readings, homework, and especially in class times. We will spend one full class time reviewing the relevant material together before each exam. Course Wikis serve as your study guides for each of the exams. Check the course calendar and schedule for exam dates, times, and locations.

Grading

Final letter grades will follow a standard 10-point scale: 98-100 A+, 92-98 A, 90-92 A-, 88-90 B+, 82-88 B, 80-82 B-, etc. I will not be using a curve when calculating your grades.

Policies, etc.

MISSING AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS

Students will not be allowed to make up missed tests without a valid reason excusing them and evidence of that reason (e.g., sickness and a doctor’s note). Late homework will not be accepted in any case (even with a valid excuse); however, I will throw out each student's lowest homework score at the end of the course. If you are going to be absent from class on the day that a homework assignment is due, you need to turn it in to me before class or have a friend turn it in for you at the beginning of class time.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Please silence your electronic devices during class. This includes your phones, tablets, computers, etc. Also, please refrain from texting, surfing the web, social networking, etc. during class time. Phones should not be used at all during class; tablets and computers should only be used for relevant readings / note-taking.

HUMANITIES ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT POLICY

Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarizing, research misconduct, misrepresenting one’s work, and inappropriately collaborating. Definitions can be found in the Student Code.

If you are suspected of academic misconduct, the process proceeds according to the rules found in the Student Code, University Policy 6-400(V). According to that policy, after meeting with you, the instructor must determine whether academic misconduct has, in fact, occurred.

• If s/he determines that no academic misconduct has occurred, s/he will document that you are not responsible for any academic misconduct.
• If s/he determines academic misconduct has occurred and this is the first instance in which you have been alleged to have committed academic misconduct, s/he will take into account whether the act was intentional or a result of negligence in determining the appropriate sanction, which can be up to failing the course. The sanction will be noted in the resolution of the case and your right of appeal is as specified in Policy 6-400(V).
• If s/he determines academic misconduct has occurred, and you have previously been sanctioned for an act of academic misconduct, and the prior instance of misconduct resulted in a sanction less than failing the course, the department will follow the process to fail you for the course. If the prior sanction was failure of the course, your new act of misconduct will result in failure of the course and the department will also follow the process to seek your dismissal from the program and the University.

ADA STATEMENT

The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. All information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.

GENERAL EDUCATION STATEMENT

This course contributes to the University of Utah's Quantitative Reasoning requirement. For such courses, academic units must identify three essential learning outcomes (ELOs) that are relevant to university general education objectives. The ELOs for this course are: Inquiry and Analysis, Quantitative Literacy, and Foundations and Skills for Lifelong Learning.