PHIL10160 Critical Thinking

Academic Year 2023/2024

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes their share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.” (Harry Frankfurt, 'On Bullshit').

Thinking is easy, but *reasoning* -- and in particular, *reasoning well* - is hard. The aim of this course is to help you to learn to reason better, so you can have more accurate beliefs and make better choices.

In the first part of the course, we will learn about how our psychological biases make it hard for us to reason well, and what the typical psychological characteristics of a good reasoner are.

In the second part of the course, we'll learn what an *argument* is; what makes an argument good or bad; what makes one claim *evidence* for another claim; how we might fail in our search for evidence; and how to extract an argument from a piece of text, in order to assess whether it is good or bad. Finally, we'll think about *paradoxes* (such as that generated by the statement ‘This sentence is not true’), which seem to threaten our most basic assumptions about good reasoning.

Along the way, we'll address questions like: what are some of the verbal and visual tricks people use to persuade us of things we oughtn't believe? What is logic and how does it work? What is the difference between lying and bullshitting?

The course is taught by Dr. Daniel Esmonde Deasy (Associate Professor, UCD School of Philosophy) and is delivered in the form of two 50-minute in-person lectures per week of term, and seven 50-minute in-person tutorials. Lectures will consist primarily in the presentation of material by the lecturer, and tutorials will involve active discussion of the material and non-graded quizzes.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

As a result of studying this course, students will learn to:

1. Identify key concepts in critical thinking such as 'reason', 'argument', 'premise', 'conclusion', 'evidence', 'valid', 'fallacy', 'cognitive bias' and 'paradox'.
2. Understand what makes an argument (logically) good or bad.
3. Reconstruct and assess short arguments presented in texts.
4. Distinguish lies, bullshit, and rhetoric.

Indicative Module Content:

The key topics in this course are:

1. Reasoning (good and bad).
2. Cognitive Biases (common patterns of thought that lead to bad reasoning).
3. Fallacies (commonly accepted patterns of bad reasoning).
4. Arguments (what they are; how they are structured).
5. Evidence (what it is; how it works; what makes it strong or weak).
6. Logical validity (a quality of arguments whose conclusions must be true if their premises are true).
7. Inductive strength (a quality of arguments whose conclusions are likely to be true given the truth of their premises).
8. Rhetoric (the art of persuasion).
9. Lies and Bullshit.
10. Paradoxes (arguments that seem to lead to contradictions).

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Tutorial

7
Autonomous Student Learning

94
Total

125
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
1. TEACHING

Teaching for this module is centred around lectures; tutorials; and (graded and non-graded) assignments.

The course is taught by Dr. Daniel Esmonde Deasy (Associate Professor, UCD School of Philosophy) and is delivered in the form of two 50-minute in-person lectures per week of term, as well as and seven 50-minute in-person tutorials.

The course is assessed on the basis of participation in tutorials (pass/fail; worth 20% of final grade); five short online MCQs (letter grades; 20% of final grade); and a written, two-hour exam (letter grades; 60% of final grade).

Lectures will be delivered in person during timetabled slots. Each lecture will consist primarily in the presentation of content by the lecturer.

In tutorials, students will be divided into smaller groups and asked to collaborate on informal (i.e. non-graded) assignments related to the content of the module. For example, groups might be asked to identify the conclusions in short passages containing arguments, or to identify which statements provide reasons for another statement. The tutor will provide feedback in the tutorial on students' work. You will also have the opportunity in tutorials to discuss the week's readings and the material presented in the lectures in detail, as well as to raise questions concerning the material with the tutor.

2. LEARNING

Learning for this module is centred around (i) content presented in lectures; (ii) reading material shared online by the lecturer; (iii) discussion and debate; (iv) informal tutorial exercises; (v) formal online assessments; and (vi) feedback on both formal and informal assessments.

You will be expected to (i) read short set texts in advance of the lectures (shared on Brightspace as PDFs); (ii) attend in-person lectures; (iii) actively participate in in-person tutorials; and (iv) engage with the continuous online assessments.

You will be supported in your learning of the module material by lecturers and tutors, in both lectures and tutorials; by email; and in set office hours. You will be supported in your completion of both formal and informal assessments by feedback in lectures and tutorials.
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Five short online MCQs. (There will be six MCQs in total, but only your best five will be counted.) Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20
Examination: A written two-hour examination covering material from the whole course. 2 hour End of Trimester Exam No Graded No

60
Attendance: Participation in tutorial exercises. Throughout the Trimester n/a Pass/Fail Grade Scale No

20

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

1. Online MCQs will generate immediate online feedback. 2. There will be feedback in the lectures on the online MCQs. 3. You will receive feedback in tutorials on informal assignments and exercises. 4. There will be a set of practice MCQs with an answer sheet that you can use to test yourself and check your results.

Name Role
Armando Francesco D'Ippolito Tutor
Antonio Pio De Mattia Tutor
Marta Dmuchowska Tutor
Ms Aisling Phipps Tutor
Petros Satrazanis Tutor
Dr Liam Ó Beagáin Tutor
Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Autumn
      
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 11:00 - 11:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Tues 12:00 - 12:50
Tutorial Offering 1 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Mon 12:00 - 12:50
Tutorial Offering 2 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Mon 16:00 - 16:50
Tutorial Offering 3 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Tues 10:00 - 10:50
Tutorial Offering 4 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Fri 12:00 - 12:50
Tutorial Offering 5 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Mon 14:00 - 14:50
Tutorial Offering 5 Week(s) - 8, 9, 10 Mon 14:00 - 14:50
Tutorial Offering 6 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Mon 13:00 - 13:50
Tutorial Offering 7 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Thurs 13:00 - 13:50
Tutorial Offering 8 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Tues 16:00 - 16:50
Tutorial Offering 9 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Thurs 16:00 - 16:50
Tutorial Offering 10 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Fri 11:00 - 11:50
Tutorial Offering 11 Week(s) - 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Mon 11:00 - 11:50
Tutorial Offering 12 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Wed 09:00 - 09:50
Tutorial Offering 13 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Fri 10:00 - 10:50
Tutorial Offering 15 Week(s) - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Tues 15:00 - 15:50
Autumn