South Texas Community College
Division of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Philosophy
Spring 2004
Course: INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC, PHIL 2303
Location: (D01) DWTN 12, (G30) RGHI 1142, (G01) STRC PB2B, (P01) PB11B
Time: (D01) MW11:00-12:20, (G30) T 6:30-9:20, (G01) TR 2:30-3:50, (P01) MWF 9:00-9:50
Contact Information:
Instructor: Jeffrey McBride
Office: Pecan: PB1 118; Rio: PB3A
Office Hours: MWF Pecan 8-9 TR Rio 4-5
Telephone: Pecan: (956)688-2093
E-Mail: mcbridej@stcc.cc.tx.us
Course homepage: http://www.geocities.com/actual_entity
Chair: Bryant Morrison
Office: G-150
Telephone: (956)688-202
FAX: (956)688-2167
E-mail: morrison@stcc.cc.tx.us
Course Description: This course teaches you clear and effective thinking. The course will examine principles for correct reasoning, ways to distinguish good reasoning from bad, as well as the kinds of mistakes in reasoning that are most commonly made in everyday life.
Prerequisites: Eligible for ENGL 1301 Required Textbook & Resources: Patrick Hurley, A Concise Introduction to Logic , 8 th Edition
How to Approach the Course:
To get the most out of our time together, students should first realize that logic can be difficult. It involves the careful evaluation of a wide variety of claims and requires that you understand arguments of various forms, a skill that develops slowly over time for most people. Plan on this. Here are some general suggestions to help you succeed this semester:
A. Read all the assigned material before coming to class. Students who do not read the material will have difficulty passing the exams, are likely to be bored during class, hence are unlikely to remember much of this material after this semester is over. Be prepared to read the assigned material two or three times if necessary.
B. Attend every class. It will be hard to succeed if you miss more than two or three hours of class.
C. Ask questions. If I make a point that you don't understand, ask me to clarify my statement. Don't feel embarrassed about this. Remember: you are investing your time and your money in your education. Get the most out of it.
D. Keep in contact with your instructor. Email is a quick an easy way to get a question answered between classes. Use it. Also, remember that office hours are scheduled for you. Appointments can be made if the scheduled office hours are inconvenient.
E. Be intellectually curious. This is the most important thing that you can do. If you are genuinely interested in the ideas that we will talk about, your mind will absorb everything more easily. If you treat the topics that we will cover as just worthless degree requirements that one should quickly memorize and quickly forget, then you are squandering one of your best study aides. Keep asking yourself, “How can I apply the concepts that I am learning in this (or any other) class to the things that are important to me?”
Course Requirements:
A. Exams: Three exams will be given consisting of multiple choice, matching, and true/false and short answer questions. These exams will be non-comprehensive, e.g., the final will cover only the material presented since the second exam. Each quiz is worth 100 pts.
B. In-class Assignments: During most class sessions we will complete an in-class assignment taken from the exercises in the Hurley text. These will be worth 30 points each, and students may drop one of these grades. Students will prepare these assignments in designated groups. They will be graded as follows: Every student who participates in completing the assignment will receive 15 pts. To earn the other 15 points individual students must help to present the results of their work to the entire class. Sometimes this may mean that the entire group presents a problem to the class. It might also mean that the student must individually answer a problem from the text. Students who are not present in class to work on the assignment will receive no credit. And no student who was not present to work with his or her group will be allowed to present a problem to the class.
C. Extra Credit: There will probably be an opportunity to collect a few (no more than five) points of extra credit on each exam. Absolutely no other form of extra credit work will be accepted.
Grading
Exams (100 x 3 = 300) 300
In-class Assignments (5 x 30 = 150) 150
450 total
A: 450-403; B: 402-358; C: 357-313; D: 312-268; F: 267 and below
Tentative Calendar of Events:
Here is list of sections of Hurley that we will almost certainly cover. If we have extra time we may watch a film or two related to critical reasoning skills.
Unit 1: Basic Logical Concepts (about 6 weeks)
Hurley: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4
Exam#1
Unit 2: Categorical Logic (about 5 weeks)
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2 (5.3?)
Exam#2
Unit 3: Propositional Logic (about 4 weeks)
6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
Exam#3
Policies
A. Late Work: I will not accept any late work in this class.
Inclass Assignments: Since you have the ability to drop one of the six inclass assignments, a single missed assignment will not count again you. Should you miss two or more, you will have zeros for these grades. I will not allow students who were not present with their group during the entire time the class worked on these assignments to collect points for them. Since inclass assignments can be assigned at any time during a class period, students should make arrangements for regular class attendance.
Exams: You are expected to be present in class for all exams. The circumstances under which you will be allowed to make up an examination are few. For example, work related excuses are generally unacceptable. If you must miss an exam, you should contact me in advance of the absence so that we can schedule the make up at a mutually acceptable time. In no case will a makeup exam be given more than 6 days after the regularly scheduled exam.
Use of the internet or email to submit work for this class is expressly prohibited.
C. Academic Honesty : Students should exhibit the qualities of honesty and integrity. Any form of dishonesty such as cheating or plagiarism may make you subject to disciplinary action. Refer to the student handbook for more information regarding institutional policy.
D . Harassment Policy: Racial, sexual, and ethnic harassment and any other type of disruptive behavior are not conducive to a good learning environment. These behaviors will likewise not be tolerated.
E . ADA Students with Disabilities Statement: Reasonable accommodations may be made that allow disabled students to be successful at STCC. Accommodations may be provided for those students who submit the appropriate documentation by an outside/independent professional evaluator or agency. Contact an STCC ADA/DSS Counselor in the Annex (Pecan) or call (956) 688-2006. Students may volunteer to inform the Instructor about their disability and associated classroom limitations, if applicable.
F. Developmental Studies Policy Statement: Failure to remain in at least one Developmental Studies course for students who have not met the passing standard on an approved assessment instrument in reading, writing, and/or mathematics may result in the student's withdrawal from ALL college courses. All developmental courses including the College Success course will be included in the Semester Grade Point Average (GPA) for all students at STCC. Students in Developmental Studies will be limited to a maximum of 13 credit hours of course work per semester and 7 credit hours per summer session. Students taking 12 or more credit hours per semester who have not met the passing standard on an approved assessment instrument will be required to take two or more developmental courses every semester if they are deficient in more than one academic skill (reading, writing, and mathematics).
Learning Outcomes:
1. Exemplary Educational Objectives for Core Component Area
• Demonstrate knowledge of the influence of literature, philosophy, and/or the arts on intercultural experiences.
• Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
• Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.
• Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context.
2. Departmental outcomes:
• Distinguish and analyze different types of historical evidence and differing historical points of view;
• Recognize and apply reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence;
• Read and interpret philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion;
• Analyze philosophical importance of the area under study;
• Understand the roles of choice and of cause and effect;
• Assess the use and the potential misuse of philosophical analogies in contemporary situations.
3. Intellectual Competencies
• READING: Reading at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials—books, articles, and documents. A core curriculum should offer students the opportunity to master both general methods of analyzing printed materials and specific methods for analyzing the subject matter of individual disciplines.
• WRITING: Competency in writing is the ability to produce clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. Although correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are each a sine qua non in any composition, they do not automatically ensure that the composition itself makes sense or that the writer has much of anything to say. Students need to be familiar with the writing process including how to discover a topic and how to develop and organize it, how to phrase it effectively for their audience. These abilities can be acquired only through practice and reflection.
• COMPUTER LITERACY: Computer literacy at the college level means the ability to use computer-based technology in communicating, solving problems, and acquiring information. Core-educated students should have an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology, and should have the tools necessary to evaluate and learn new technologies as they become available.
• SPEAKING: Competence in speaking is the ability to communicate orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience. Developing this competency includes acquiring poise and developing control of the language through experience in making presentations to small groups, to large groups, and through the media.
• LISTENING: Listening at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken communication.
• CRITICAL THINKING: Critical thinking embraces methods for applying both qualitative and quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter in order to evaluate arguments and to construct alternatives strategies. Problem solving is one of the applications of critical thinking, used to address an identified task.
4. Perspectives
• Perspective 1: Establish broad and multiple perspectives on the individual in relationship to the larger society and world in which he or she lives, and to understand the responsibilities of living in a culturally and ethnically diversified world. Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 2: Stimulate a capacity to discuss and reflect upon individual, political, economic, and social aspects of life in order to understand ways in which to be a responsible member of society. Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 3: Develop personal values for ethical behavior. ( Required ) Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 4: Use logical reasoning in problem solving. Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
• Perspective 5: Integrate knowledge and understand the interrelationships of the scholarly disciplines. ( Required ) Outcome: Interpret and appraise different types of philosophical evidence (documentary and scientific) and differing philosophical points of view; weigh and explain reasonable criteria for the acceptability of philosophical evidence; Summarize and appraise philosophical texts (primary and secondary) critically and synthesize them for oral and written discussion; Appraise philosophical importance of the area under study.
