Lahore University of Management Sciences

Phil133CriticalThinking(3credithours)
Summer2015

Instructor
RoomNo.
OfficeHours
Email
Telephone
Secretary/TA
TAOfficeHours
CourseURL(if
any)

AnwarulHaq
TBA
TBA
anwarul.haq@lums.edu.pk

CourseBasics
CreditHours
Lecture(s)
Recitation/Lab(perweek)
Tutorial(perweek)

3
NbrofLec(s)Per
Week
NbrofLec(s)Per
Week
NbrofLec(s)Per
Week

Duration

NA

Duration

NA

Duration

75 minutes each

CourseDistribution
Core
Elective
OpenforStudent
Category
CloseforStudent
Category

*
All
None

COURSEDESCRIPTION

Thiscourseisanintroductiontoinformalreasoningandhowtocriticallyanalyzeissuesacrossdisciplines.Topicstobe
coveredinclude:recognizingargumentsandcomponentsthereof,reconstructingandanalyzingarguments,deductive
andinductivereasoning,discoveringfallacies,andsoon.Thecoursewillhelpstudentstoreadandanalyzeacademic
material more critically thereby helping them better organize their own work in order to produce defensible
arguments.

COURSEPREREQUISITE(S)

None

COURSEOBJECTIVES

Lahore University of Management Sciences

Studentswilllearnavarietyoftechnicalnotionsandskillsforapplyingthem.Themainobjectivesaretoenhancethe
capacitytoconductcriticalinquiryanddevelopreadingandwritingskillstobesuccessfulinacademicandprofessional
environments.

LearningOutcomes

After completing this course students should be able to recognize arguments, identify their salient components,
arrangetheminastandardlogicalform,identifytheirtypes,detectpotentialfallacies,andevaluatetheirstrength.
GradingBreakupandPolicy

Attendance:10%
Quizzes:20%
Practiceexercises:20%
Groupassignments:20%
Midterm:30%

ExaminationDetail

Midtermexam:yes
Finalexam:no

Lahore University of Management Sciences

COURSEOVERVIEW
Topics

Introduction

Introducingarguments

Recognizingpremisesandconclusions

Distinguishingargumentsfrom
explanations

Languageandrhetoric

Recommended
Readings

BowellandKemp,Ch.1

BowellandKemp,Ch.2

(Ambiguity,vagueness,rhetoricalploys)

Logic:deductivevalidityandsoundness

BowellandKemp,Ch.3

Logic:
inductiveforce

BowellandKemp,Ch.4

Argumentreconstruction

BowellandKemp,Ch.5

(Implicitandexplicitpremises,
connectingpremises,intermediate
conclusions,explanationsasconclusions)

Argumentassessment

(Rationalpersuasiveness,refutationby
counterexamples)

BowellandKemp,Ch.6

Lahore University of Management Sciences

Pseudoreasoning

Fallaciesandtheirdebunking

Truthandrelativity

Belief,justificationandtruth

Knowledge
Criticalanalysisoftexts

BowellandKemp,Ch.7

BowellandKemp,Ch.8

Textbook(s)/SupplementaryReadings

Primary:
Bowell,T.andKemp,G.2010.CriticalThinking:AConciseGuide.NY:Routledge.

Supplementary:
Fogelin,R.andSinnotArmstrong,W.2010.UnderstandingArguments:AnIntroductiontoInformalLogic.CA:Wadsworth.

Cottrell,S.2005.CriticalThinkingSkills.NY:PalgraveMacmillan.