PY114-4-FY-CO:
Critical Reasoning and Logical Argument
2021/22
Philosophy
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 4
Current
Thursday 07 October 2021
Friday 01 July 2022
30
29 September 2021
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module functions as a kind of `boot camp` intended to develop and hone the skills and methods required for university-level work in philosophy and related disciplines.
Philosophical work involves dealing in arguments: assembling evidence in support of some conclusion. Such arguments are occasionally simple but often very complex; they are sometimes valid but they are often fallacious. The primary aim of the module is to assemble and hone a set of tools for (a) the identification of arguments in philosophical prose (b) the representation of arguments in summaries, in argument-schemata and in symbolization (c) the assessment of arguments both for logical soundness and for rhetorical effectiveness (d) the formulation of effective arguments in the writing of essays and examinations. The module also provides opportunities for developing the distinctive skills involved in oral presentation of argument and navigating the ensuing debates.
In the Autumn and Spring terms, students enrolled on this module will attend one weekly two-hour lecture (starting in Week 2) and one weekly 50-minute class (starting in Week 3). There will be two revision sessions in the Summer term.
Coursework assignments will focus on skills of analysis and writing, and on the basic skills of elementary symbolic logic, including symbolization, construction of truth-tables, working of natural deduction proofs. Students will be given the opportunity to discuss their coursework, and will receive close feedback on essay-writing skills and methods. The module provides the opportunity for students to make brief oral presentations, but these will be neither required nor assessed.
Each year the module supervisor selects one or two philosophical topics to be used as target areas for argumentative analysis. These topics vary from year to year but will be selected so as to avoid overlap with other materials covered elsewhere in the first-year curriculum. Possible topics include: Can there be free will in a deterministic universe? What constitutes personal identity over time? What does it mean to follow a rule? How is self-knowledge possible? Students read a sampling of classic texts pertaining to the chosen topic to use as a basis for the primary skill-focused work of the module. In 2021-22, the topic will be: `Free Will`.
Assessment for the module will be based on marked coursework and a final exam.
The coursework will consist of weekly assignments in the Autumn and Spring terms, with the first assignment due in Week 3. There will be a total of 16 weekly assignments over the course of Autumn and Spring terms. However only six of these assignments are `summative`. That is, only six weekly assignments will be used in the calculation of the coursework mark for the module. The other ten weekly assignments are `formative`. They form an essential part of the skill development for the module, but they will not be assigned a numerical mark that will be used in calculation of the coursework mark for the module.
The Autumn Term summative coursework assignments will be due in Weeks 4, 9 and 11. The Spring Term summative course work assignments will be due in Weeks 18, 22 and 25. Each of the six summative coursework assignments will be worth 16.67% of the overall coursework mark for the module.
Coursework assignments will take two different forms: three will be short writing assignments; three will be logic exercise sets.
Week 8 (Autumn Term) and Week 21 (Spring Term) are Reading Weeks; there will be no teaching events and no weekly assignments due in the two Reading Weeks.
1. To develop and hone the skills required for university-level work in philosophy and related disciplines.
2. To introduce techniques of logical analysis and proof.
3. To develop the capacity to present and critically analyse arguments.
4. To develop the capacity to use critical thinking reflexively.
5. To develop the ability to produce university-level writing.
By the end of the autumn term, students should:
1. Be able to identify and articulate arguments as presented in philosophical and other forms of prose.
2. Have developed a range of skills for the assessment of arguments.
3. Be able to identify informal argumentative fallacies.
4. Be able to represent arguments using sentential letters and logical connectives.
5. Be able to construct and interpret truth tables.
6. Have enhanced and developed their ability to write clear, forceful, argumentative essays in which arguments are presented and critically assessed, and in which a thesis is critically defended.
By the end of the spring term, students should:
1. Have a developed understanding of contemporary and historical approaches to the problem of free will.
2. Be able to identify both formal and informal fallacies.
3. Have gained familiarity with the basic concepts of formal logic, including the notions of validity, soundness, deduction, induction, logical form, disjunctive proof, conditional proof, reductio ad absurdum, conjunction, disjunction, quantification, bivalence, dilemma.
4. Be capable of constructing and assessing natural deduction proofs.
5. Have a basic understanding of the universal and existential quantifiers, and their role in logical argument.
6. Have enhanced and developed their capacity for philosophical analysis and argument through the study of what constitutes a valid argument.
There are two textbooks for this module: one required and one recommended. The required textbook is available for free to registered Essex students through the Sloman Library portal.
Required:
Tomassi, Logic (Routledge, 1999);
Recommended:
Watson, Free Will (Second Edition), (Oxford University Press, 2003);
This is an unusually work-intensive module, with weekly written homework assignments or logic exercises. It requires a high level of commitment from the students enrolled.
The module is open to students of all abilities. Whatever their starting point, intensive instructional support will be provided to help students achieve a `step-change` in their skills as they embark upon university-level studies in philosophy and related disciplines.
Autumn and Spring Term:
1 x two-hour lecture each week.
1 x 50min class each week
Weeks 8 and 21 are Reading Weeks. There will be two revision sessions during the summer term.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Week 4 summative assignment (1) |
|
16.66% |
| Coursework |
Week 9 summative assignment (2) |
|
16.67% |
| Coursework |
Week 11 summative assignment (3) |
|
16.67% |
| Coursework |
Week 18 summative assignment (4) |
|
16.66% |
| Coursework |
Week 22 summative assignment (5) |
|
16.67% |
| Coursework |
Week 25 summative assignment (6) |
|
16.67% |
| Exam |
Main exam: 24hr during Summer (Main Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Wayne Martin, email: wmartin@essex.ac.uk.
Daniel Shipsides
phiquery@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 68 hours, 62 (91.2%) hours available to students:
6 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Philosophy
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