3X university

College of Social Sciences

Department of Philosophy
I. Instructor Information II. Course Infomation
Name: XY G Course Title: Critical Thinking
Department: Philosophy Course Code: Phil101
Email Address: [email protected] Course Cr. Hr: Three (3)
Mobile No.: +2519xxxxxxx Course ECTS: Five (5)
Office Address: BxxRxxx Contact Hour: 3 Hours
Office Hour: Monday: 3:00 – 5:00 LT

III. Course Description

Logic and Critical Thinking is an inquiry that takes arguments as its basic objects of investigation. Logic
is concerned with the study of arguments, and it seeks to establish the conditions under which an
argument may be considered acceptable or good. Critical thinking is an exercise, a habit, a manner of
perception and reasoning that has principles of logic as its fulcrum, and dynamically involves
various reasoning skills that ought to be human approach to issues and events of life. To think
critically is to examine ideas, evaluate them against what you already know and make decisions
about their merit. The aim of logic and critical thinking course is to maintaining an ‘objective’
position. When you think critically, you weigh up all sides of an argument and evaluate its
validity, strengths and weaknesses. Thus, critical thinking skills entail actively seeking all sides
of an argument evaluating the soundness of the claims asserted and the evidence used to support
the claims. This course attempts to introduce the fundamental concepts of logic and methods of logical
reasoning. The primary aim of this course is to teach students essential skills of analyzing,
evaluating, and constructing arguments, and to sharpen their ability to execute the skills in
thinking and writing.

Course Objectives
Ethiopian is striving to guarantee sustainable development and good living condition, where
constant and consistent critical thinking plays an irreplaceable role.
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
 Understand the relationship of logic and philosophy,
 Recognize the core areas of philosophy,
 Appreciate the necessity learning logic and philosophy,
 Understand basic logical concepts, arguments,
 Understand deductivness, inductiveness, validity, strength, soundness, and cogency,
 Develop the skill to construct sound argument and evaluate arguments;
 Cultivate the habits of critical thinking and develop sensitivity to clear and accurate usage
of language;
 Differentiate cognitive meanings from emotive meanings of words,
 Differentiate standard forms of categorical propositions from other types of sentences
used in any language,
 Apply symbols to denote standard forms of categorical propositions to form further
logical assertions among them.
 Develop logical and open-mind that weighs ideas and people rationally;
 Develop confidence when arguing with others,
 Demonstrate logical argumentative ability,
 Develop logical reasoning skill in their day to day life, and
 Appreciate logical reasoning, disproving mob-mentality and avoid social prejudice.
 Understand the basic concepts and principles of critical thinking.
 Understand the criterion of good argument.
 Identify the factors that affect critical thinking.
 Apply critical thinking principles to real life situation.

IV. Course Learning Outcomes

At the completion of the course, the student will have developed an understanding of the role
logic plays in the reasoning process. Specifically, the students are expected to achieve:
 The ability to recognize and analyze arguments in everyday language, to detect hidden or
implicit premises, and to extract the logical form of an argument;
 The ability to show the deductive validity or invalidity of an argument, to recognize and
criticize the flaws of a weak argument, and to develop counterarguments;
  The ability to evaluate the strength of evidential support for scientific hypotheses,
especially causal hypotheses, in relatively simple cases; and
 The ability to present arguments cogently in speech and in writing

V. Units and Contents

Chapter One: Logic and Philosophy (8 Hrs: Week 1 & 2)
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 Meaning and Definition of philosophy
1.3 Core Branches of Philosophy. Comment [G1]: added

1.4 Importance of Learning Logic and Philosophy

Chapter Two: Basic Concepts of Logic (12 Hrs: Week 3, 4 & 5)
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Basic Concepts of Logic
2.3 Techniques of recognizing arguments.
2.4 Types of Arguments
2.4.1 Deductive Arguments
2.4.2 Inductive Arguments Comment [G2]: modified

2.5 Evaluation of Arguments

2.5.1 Evaluating Deductive Argument
2.5.2 Evaluating Inductive Arguments
Chapter Three: Logic and Language (8 Hrs: Week 6 & 7)
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Logic and Meaning
3.2.1 Cognitive and Emotive Meaning of Words
3.2.2 Intensional and Extensional Meaning of Terms
3.3 Logic and Definition
3.3.1 Types and Purposes of Definition
3.3.2 Techniques of Definition
3.3.2.1 Extensional Techniques of Definition
3.3.2.2 Intensional Techniques of Definition
 3.4 Criteria for Lexical Definitions
Chapter Four: Basic Concepts of Critical Thinking (8 Hrs: Week 8& 9)
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Meaning and Definition of Critical Thinking.
4.3. Principles of Critical Thinking.
4.4. Criterion/Standard of Argument Good Argument.
4.5. Factors Affecting Critical Thinking.
4.5. Relevance of Critical Thinking.
Chapter Five: Logical Reasoning and Fallacies (16 Hrs: Week 10, 11, 12, & 13)
4.1 Induction
4.2 Types of Fallacies: Formal and Informal
4.3 Categories of Informal Fallacies
4.3.1 Fallacies of Relevance
4.3.2 Fallacies of Weak Induction
4.3.3 Fallacies of Presumption
4.3.4 Fallacies of Ambiguity
4.3.5 Fallacies of Grammatical Analogy
Chapter Six: Categorical Propositions (8 Hrs: Week 14 & 15)
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Categorical Propositions
5.2.1 The Components of Categorical Propositions
5.2.2 Attributes of Categorical Propositions: Quality, Quantity, and Distribution
5.2.3 Representing Categorical Propositions
5.2.3.1 Venn Diagrams
5.2.3.2 Boolean and Aristotelian Square of Oppositions
5.2.4 Evaluating Immediate Inferences: Venn Diagrams and Square of Oppositions
5.2.5 Logical Operations: Conversion, Obversion, and Contraposition
 VI. Teaching Methodologies
For the successful completion of this course, different Student-Centered teaching methodologies
will be applied. These include:
 Semi-Lecture,
 Class Discussion,
 Group Discussion,
 Pair Discussion,
 Peer-Learning,
 Video/Audio Visual, and
 Self-Reading.
 Debate

VII. Assessment Methodologies

The MoSHE Proclamation and the Senate Legislation of a given University shall determine the
assessment methodologies. Therefore, a Continuous Assessment Method will be applied to
evaluate the competence of students acquired from the course. And the Continuous Assessment
will incorporate:
 Test.………………………………………….…. 15%
 Mid Exam ……………………………………………….…. 20%
 Assignment …………………………………....... 15%
 Final Exam.…………………………………………. 50%
Moreover, the Moshe Proclamation and the Senate Legislation of a given University will
determine the Grading Scale: A Fixed Grading System. Thus:
[ > 90) = A+ [60-65) = C+
[85-90) = A [50-60) = C
[80-85) = A- [45-50) = C-
[75-80) = B+ [40-45) = D
[70-75) = B [30-40) = Fx
[65-70) = B- < 30 = F
VIII. Instructor Commitments
 Setting issues for discussion and critical thinking;
 Organizing and facilitating discussions;
 Presenting to students different Textbooks, Newspapers, Magazines, Videos, etc
that encourage critical thinking and reflection; and
 Giving semi-lecture to integrate and sum up the points of discussions.

IX. Academic Honesty and Integrity

In this course, the
principle
of
academic
integrity
will be
taken
very
seriously

and
violations
are
treated
gravely.
Academic misconduct statement: You are expected to adhere to the highest academic standards
of behavior and personal conduct in this course and all other courses. Students who engage in
academic misconduct are subject to university disciplinary procedures. Make sure you are
familiar with your Student Handbook, especially the section on academic misconduct, which
discusses conduct expectations and academic dishonesty rules.
Forms of academic dishonesty:
1) Cheating: Using unauthorized notes or study aids, allowing another party to do one’s
work/exam and turning in that work/exam as one’s own; submitting the same or similar
work in more than one course without permission from the course instructors; deception
in which a student misrepresents that he/she has mastered information on an academic
exercise that he/she has not mastered; giving or receiving aid unauthorized by the
instructor on assignments or examinations.
2) Aid of academic dishonesty: Intentionally facilitating any act of academic dishonesty.
Tampering with grades or taking part in obtaining or distributing any part of a scheduled
test.
3) Fabrication: Falsification or creation of data, research or resources, or altering a graded
work without the prior consent of the course instructor.
4) Plagiarism: Portrayal of another’s work or ideas as one’s own. Examples include
unacknowledged quotation and/or paraphrase of someone else’s words, ideas, or data as
one’s own in work submitted for credit. Failure to identify information or essays from the
Internet and submitting them as one’s own work also constitutes plagiarism.
 5) Lying: Deliberate falsification with the intent to deceive in written or verbal form as it
applies to an academic submission.
6) Bribery: Providing, offering or taking rewards in exchange for a grade, an assignment, or
the aid of academic dishonesty.
7) Threat: An attempt to intimidate a student, staff or faculty member for the purpose of
receiving an unearned grade or in an effort to prevent reporting of an Honor Code
violation.

X. Readings and Texts

Textbook
Hurley, Patrick J. (2014) A Concise Introduction to Logic, 12th Edition, Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning.
Hurley, Patrick J. (2012) A Concise Introduction to Logic, 11th Edition, Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning.
Reference Books
Copi, Irving M.and Carl Cohen, (1990) Introduction to Logic, New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company.
Damer, Edward. (2005). Attacking faulty reasoning. A practical guide to fallacy free argument.
Wadsworth Cengage learning, USA.

Fogelin, Robert, J, (1987) Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic, New York:
Harcourt Brace Jvanovich Publisher.
Guttenplan, Samuel: (1991) The Language of Logic. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Stephen, C.(200) The
Power of Logic. London and Toronto: Mayfield Publishing company.
Simico, N.D and G.G James. (1983) Elementary Logic, Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Walelign, Emuru, (2009) Freshman Logic, Addis Ababa.