In the course schedule below, you'll see that the course is broken into four main sections; these are: 1. Reasoning, Language, & Arguments, 2. Good Reasoning by Deductive Standards, 3. Good Reasoning by Inductive Standards, and 4. Rational Choice. Our textbook, Understanding Arguments by Sinnott-Armstrong & Fogelin, is abbreviated below as "UA". In the right column, I list your assigned reading for the week, then any homework, review sessions, exams, and the like. Homeworks are due by the beginning of the following Monday's class, unless otherwise specified.
Week 1 (Aug 26-30)NO CLASS ON WEDNESDAY Course Introduction, Rationality & Arguments, Uses of Arguments |
UA, ch. 1 Register clickers (instructions on CANVAS); [due by class time on Wednesday, 9/4] |
Week 2 (Sep 2-6)NO CLASS ON MONDAY (Labor Day) Arguments in Everyday Language, Argument Evaluation |
UA, pp. 51-69 Ch. 1: Ex I (3,4,8), Ex II, Ex III (4,9); Ch. 3: Ex I (evens), Ex II (all) [HW due on Monday, 9/9] |
Week 3 (Sep 9-13)Extracting Arguments out of Everyday Language |
UA, ch. 4 Ch. 3: Ex III (odds), Ex IV (1,3,5,7,9), Ex V (all), Ex VII (1,3,5,8)[HW due on Monday, 9/16] |
Week 4 (Sep 16-20)Standards of Rationality, Formal Logic, Deductive Standards, Propositional Logic |
UA, pp. 139-62 Ch. 6: Ex I, Ex II, Ex IV (2,4,6), Ex V (1,2,3), Ex IX (1,2,4,6), Ex XII (1,3,5,7,9), Ex XV (evens), Ex XVIII, Ex XIX (3,5,7,9) [HW due on Monday, 9/23] |
Week 5 (Sep 23-27)Propositional Logic: Connectives, Truth Tables, Truth-Functionality, Logical Equivalence, Validity |
UA, pp. 162-78; Handout: "Some Reasons to Formalize “If…, then…” with the Connective ⊃" Ch. 6: Ex XX, Ex XXI, Ex XXIII, Ex XXIV (2,4,6,8), Ex XXV, Ex XXVII (1,5,7,8), Ex XXVIII (2,4,6,8; you don't have to do part (c) for these) [HW due on Monday, 9/30] |
Week 6 (Sep 30 - Oct 4)Limitations of Propositional Logic, Categorical Logic |
UA, pp. 179-190 Ch. 7: Ex I (odds), Ex II (2-20 evens), Ex III [HW due on Monday, 10/7] |
Week 7 (Oct 7-11)Categorical Logic, Limitations of Deductive Logic |
UA, pp. 190-202 Ch. 7: Ex V (odds), Ex VI, Ex VII (evens), Ex VIII [HW due on Monday, 10/21] |
Week 8 (Oct 14-18)NO CLASSES THIS WEEK (Fall Break) |
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Week 9 (Oct 21-25)TEST WEEK |
REVIEW SESSION: Monday, regular class time |
Week 10 (Oct 28 - Nov 1)Deduction versus Induction, Monotonicity / Defeasibility, Inductive Strength, Statistical Generalizations, Inference to the Best Explanation |
UA, pp. 213-225, 257-267 Ch. 8: Ex I (1,3,5,7,9), Ex II (1,2,3,4,6,8,10) |
Week 11 (Nov 4-8)Inference to the Best Explanation; Formal Inductive Logic, Probability Theory |
UA, pp. 277-291; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Bruce-Partington Plans" Ch. 11: Ex I (all except for 6), Ex II (1-8), Ex III (1-7), Ex IV (1-6) [HW due on Monday, 11/11] |
Week 12 (Nov 11-15)Probability Theory, Bayes's Theorem, Inductive Strength |
UA, pp. 291-302; Timothy McGrew, "Sherlock Holmes, Mathematician" Ch. 11: Ex VIII (1-8), use Bayes's Theorem directly when calculating your answers instead of the "table method" [HW due on Monday, 11/18] |
Week 13 (Nov 18-22)Inductive Logic; TEST WEEK |
REVIEW SESSION: Wednesday, regular class time |
Week 14 (Nov 25-29)NO CLASS ON FRIDAY (Thanksgiving Break) Rational Choice, decisions under risk, expected value |
UA, ch. 12; Hacking, ch. 8 (available on CANVAS) Ch. 12: Ex I (all); Hacking, ch. 8: Ex's 1,2,6 [HW due on Monday, 12/2] |
Week 15 (Dec 2-6)Utility theory, St. Petersburg Paradox, diminishing marginal utility |
Hacking, ch. 9-10 (available on CANVAS) Hacking, ch. 9: Ex's 1-7; ch. 10: 1-4 [HW due on Monday, 12/9] |
Week 16 (Dec 9-13)Decisions under ignorance / uncertainty, Pascal's Wager TEST WEEK |
Recommended: SEP, "Pascal's Wager" REVIEW SESSION: Wednesday, regular class time |