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Critical Thinking

Critical thinking (also known as informal logic & practical reasoning) is the use of reason to distinguish good arguments from bad arguments in real-life situations. This ability includes an array of different skills, e.g. being able to identify arguments from non-arguments, determining what is relevant to a conclusion, and developing a vocabulary for talking about and evaluating arguments. While all of us can and do think critically, none of us are perfect reasoning machines. We often succumb to our biases when we should't, rely on the testimony of authorities who are not genuine authorities, or uncharitably cast our political or intellectual opponents as fools when their views are actually quite sophisticated. The primary purpose of this course is to help you develop the critically thinking skills you already possess. To achieve this, this course includes an analysis of language, inductive and deductive reasoning, and a discussion of how to evaluate arguments effectively in everyday situations. At the end of this course, you should be able to do all of the following and more:

1. distinguish the functions of language and its capacity to express and influence meaning,
2. identify, analyze, and evaluate a variety of different types of arguments (inductive and deductive),
3. recognize common fallacies or errors in reasoning