Phil 141: Critical
Thinking
Fall 2022
Instructor:
Ted Parent, ted.parent@nu.edu.kz
Syllabus
Schedule of Readings
WEEK 1: Introduction
Buddha, the
Kalama Sutta
Paul Graham, What
You Can't Say
Handout: Pessimism
about Argument
Video: Ruth Chang's TED
talk on Hard Choices
Optional: Video:
Evidencebasedwisdom.com, Developing Wisdom
Optional:
Handout: Decision Theory Primer
WEEK 2: Psychological Obstacles
Video: Shepherd
on Cognitive Biases
Lewis Vaughn, Reasons
for Doubt
Handout: Cognitive
Biases
Videos: Laurie
Santos on Cognitive Biases
Handout: What
is the Ideal Setting for Inquiry?
Handout: S.L.O.W. Thinking Tool
Optional: Handout: Defense
Mechanisms
Optional:
Huemer, Why People are
Irrational about Politics
Optional: Kenyon & Beaulac, Critical Thinking Education
and Debiasing
WEEK 3-4: The Five Types of Argument
Handout: Five Types of Argument
Handout: Premise
and Conclusion Indicators
Handout: Criticizing
the Five Types of Argument
WEEK 5: Symbolization
Bergmann et al., excerpts from ch. 2 of The
Logic Book, 6th edition.
Video: Crash
Course in Formal Logic: Propositional Logic
Handout: Necessary
versus Sufficient Conditions
WEEK 6: Argument Forms
Howard-Snyder et al., The Power of
Logic, chapter
1 (excerpts)
Handout: Famous Forms
Handout: Formal
Fallacies
WEEK 7-10:
Informal Fallacies
Handout: Informal Fallacies: Pseudo-Deductions
Handout: Fallacies
of Unwarranted Premises
Handout: Devious Rhetoric
Handout: Fallacies in 12 Angry Men
Dan Dennett, excerpts from ch. 2 of Intuition
Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
Lewis Vaughn, Experts and Evidence
Handout: Website Credibility Checklist
Handout: Are
Emotions Relevant?
WEEK 11-13: Scientific Thinking
Forseman et al., excerpts from ch. 6 of The
Critical Thinking Toolkit
Forseman et al., excerpts from ch. 9 of The
Critical Thinking Toolkit
Forseman et al., more excerpts from ch. 9
Handout: Are You Prone to the Base-Rate
Fallacy?
Video: Cooke on
the "Scientific Method"
Handout: What Makes for a Good
Scientific Theory?
Handout: The
Bradford Hill Criteria
Optional:
Susan Haack, Correlation and
Causation: The Bradford Hill Criteria
Gorski & Novella, Clinical Trials of Integrative
Medicine
Rosa et al., A Close Look at Therapeutic
Touch
Video: Critique
of Scientism
Handout: Remarks
on Scientism
WEEK 14-15: Dialectical Method
Plato, Euthyphro
Janine Idziak, Divine Commands are the
Foundation of Morality
Optional: Plato,
In Praise
of Dialectic
Optional: Russ Shafer-Landau, Ethical Subjectivism (excerpt)
Jay Rosenberg, excerpts from chs. 5 and 6
of The Practice of Philosophy
Handout: How to Address Objections
Handout: Writing
Advice
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Forseman et al., Meta-Narratives
Baggini &
Fosl, Foucaultian Critique of
Power
Forseman et al., more excerpts from ch. 10
of The Critical Thinking Toolkit
Herman & Chomsky, Preface
to Manufacturing Consent
Chomsky, excerpts from the Afterward
of Failed States
Handout: Coping with
Ecological Despair
Updated: 1 September 2022