Assessment
CCC8001 Logic and Critical Thinking
Topic 1
Introduction: What is Critical Thinking?
• Class participation 30%
‐ Attendance, participation in class discussions, in‐class exercises (Please note that attendance is obligatory for this course) )
• In‐term assignments 30%
‐ Essay writing and short tests
• Final exam 40%
(30 multiple‐choice and 5 short questions)
What are we going to learn in this course?
What are we going to learn in this course?
We are going to study what reasoning is—
• What is good reasoning?
• How can we reason well?
• How can we guarantee that our reasoning is correct?
• When is reasoning fallacious?
We will study some logic:
• Basic concepts in logic
• Sentential logic
• Syllogistic logic
What are we going to learn in this course?
Learning Outcomes
We will also study some topics related to reasoning:
• Ambiguity and definitions
• Common fallacies
• Restructuring and criticizing arguments
• Inductive reasoning
• Basic reasoning with probabilities
• Basic statistics
• Logical puzzles
• Be able to recognize, analyze and evaluate arguments • Be able to recognize fallacies in everyday reasoning
• Be able to demonstrate the validity and invalidity of arguments by using logical methods arguments by using logical methods
• Learn how to think in a coherent and consistent manner, and to present arguments cogently in speech and writing
1
21/1/2014
Recommended Readings
• Salmon, M. H., Introduction to Logic and Critical
Thinking (5th ed.), Wadsworth, 2006
• Lau, J. Y. F., An Introduction to Critical Thinking and
Creativity: Think More, Think Better, Wiley, 2011
• Lau J Y F Critical Thinking Web
Lau, J. Y. F., Critical Thinking Web, http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/, 2004
What is critical thinking?
• What is it to think clearly?
The opposite of clear is confused.
Confused means mixing things up.
To think clearly is to be able to distinguish one