Pierce College Philosophy 5- Critical Thinking and Composition
Prerequisite: English 101
Spring 2016
Instructor: Paul Hicks
Meets in Village 8408 Tuesday and Thursday 12:45p.m. to 2:10p.m.
Office Hours: Thursday 9:00a.m. to 11:00a.m. in BEH-1306D
Email: [email protected] or facebook.com/professorpaulhicks
Phone: 818-719-6514
Course Description: Critical Thinking deals with how to understand and
evaluate arguments and explanations by applying accepted standards of
good reasoning. Students will learn techniques to recognize deductively
valid arguments and avoid formal fallacies. They will also consider what is
required for inductively strong arguments in order to avoid informal fallacies.
In addition, this class is a course designed to improve your writing abilities.
Students are required to write argumentative papers which require the
ability to present and explain an argument or arguments and then critically
evaluate them for philosophical soundness by presenting objections or
defend them against objections. The purpose of these paper assignments is
to develop students’ critical thinking skills, make them better at presenting
and evaluating arguments, and make them better writers.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Ability to summarize an argument and evaluate an essay's arguments
with respect to clarity of key terms, emotive use of language, informal
fallacies, underlying assumptions and values, as well as validity,
soundness, and strength of arguments.
2. Be able to synthesize various arguments presented in essays on a
single topic, comparing and contrasting the main points.
Students will learn how to apply these critical thinking skills at the
college level. This will require not only that students learn to read,
understand, and reflect on material containing complex arguments,
but also to reconstruct positions by philosophers using reasonable
evidence.
Special Services:
Students with disabilities, whether physical, learning, or psychological, who
believe that they may need accommodations in this class, are encouraged to
contact Special Services as soon as possible to ensure that such
accommodations are implanted in a timely fashion. Authorization, based on
verification of disability, is required before any accommodation can be made.
The phone number for Special Services is (818) 719-6430 and they are
located in the Administration Building, Room 1024.
Veterans:
Many Pierce College students are veterans of the U.S. Military. The Financial
Aid, Scholarships and Veterans Office is designed as a liaison between you
as a veteran and the Veterans Administraion. Our friendly Financial Aid and
Veterans Office Staff will be available to answer any questions you may have
and will assist you in applying for both financial aid and veterans benefits.
Our Veterans Staff will forward all documents required by the Veterans
Administration directly to their Muskogee Regional Office. For those of you
who are due benefits as a result of your participation in the military, you
may contact our Pierce College Veterans Office at
http://community.piercecollege.edu/veterans/index.htm for any assistance
you may need.
Expectations:
 Tolerate and judge different points of view, but be courteous
listeners and speakers. All views are subject to disbelief, so always be
prepared to deny (or assert) personal views on the basis of reasoning
and evidence. In this course, attacks on arguments are permissible
(and encouraged) but attacks on persons are not.
 Ask questions whenever any term or concept is unclear or if you
are confused or unconvinced by any claim said or read during the
course of this class. I don't read minds, so please stop me and ask for
(or volunteer) clarification at any time; it is very likely others share
the same concerns.
 I will not preach. I teach people how to think critically and I
introduce them to what others have thought about significant issues. I
will not tell you what to think or how you should act. This course is an
occasion for people to exercise careful thought, and to realize the
practical value of rational deliberation.
 Serious disagreements will arise in class and this is good because
they compel us to clarify and support our own beliefs, which is useful
whenever we want to resolve conflicting points-of-view or influence the
thoughts and actions of others. In this course, you should expect me
to provoke people to discuss their own thoughts about issues raised in
the readings and in current events. Sometimes I will be deliberately
controversial and disputatious, so never assume that what I say is
what I believe.
 Consider all issues raised in this course in a thoughtful and
sincere manner, taking care to avoid poorly supported arguments
and unsubstantiated opinion. Sincere statements of personal belief or
disagreement are not sufficient reason for us to believe or doubt
anything.
Course Policies:
1. Students are graded on the finished product NOT on their effort.
2. Students are expected to arrive to class on time and prepared having
read the day’s material prior to class.
3. All take-home assignments must be typed, 12 point font, one-sided, 1inch margins, and double spaced. Failure on any of these points will
result in an automatic 10% reduction in your assignment grade. Also,
your font should be decipherable, such as Times New Roman, Arial, or
Calibri. No “funky” font types like Algerian, Blackladder ITC, or
Mistral. If I find difficulty in deciphering your font, whether typed or
hand-written, I will consider that word, sentence, paragraph, and/or
assignment missing.
4. LATE POLICY: All work must be turned in on the due date at the
beginning of class. Failure to do this will result in a 10% reduction in
your grade per class day late. Once an assignment is one week late, it
will be considered missing. All missing assignments are graded as a 0.
This is substantial, even an F of 50% has a less damaging effect on
your grade.
a. EXTENSION POLICY: All students are allowed one extension.
This is the only extension you will have, so use it wisely. You do
not need to tell me when you use your extension or what
assignment the extension should be awarded to. The first
assignment you turn in late will automatically be your extension.
5. A hard-copy of all assignments must be submitted in person.
No Assignments are graded by email. If for any reason you
think I gave you a special exception to this rule, let me repeat
“NO ASSIGNMENTS ARE GRADED BY EMAIL”. NO
EXCEPTIONS!!!
6. ATTENDANCE: All students should be familiar with the Attendance
Regulations printed in both the College Catalog and the Schedule of
Classes. Students are expected to be in class on time and to remain
for the entire class period. Medical appointments, work, job interviews,
childcare responsibilities, etc. should be arranged so as not to occur
during class time. Please do not make requests for exceptions. Any
student who has unexcused absences equaling one week’s worth of
class time (3 hours) prior to census date may be excluded. Students
may drop the class in the Admissions and Records Office, on-line, or
by phone. Students should never rely on the instructor to
exclude them. Students are responsible to inform the instructor of
any anticipated absences due to observance of major religious holidays
so that alternative arrangements may be made. Failure to do so may
result in an inability to make other arrangements or a lower grade.
7. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! I WILL
REPORT ANY STUDENT WHO IS IN VIOLATION OF THE POLICY.
STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE
COLLEGE’S POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY.
8. Electronic Devices: All electronic devices, such as cell phones or
pagers, are to be placed on silent mode or turned off during class
times. THERE ARE TO BE NO CELL PHONES OR ANY OTHER
ELECTRONIC DEVICES OUT OF BACKPACKS DURING EXAMS
AND QUIZZES. YOU WILL RECEIVE A FAILING GRADE FOR
VIOLATING THIS RULE. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED, NO
EXCEPTIONS!!!
9. Once you are seated for an exam, you may NOT leave the room.
10. Disruptive Behavior
No offensive or inappropriate behavior is allowed in class. An
atmosphere of mutual respect shall be accorded to all persons in the class
at all times. Consistent lateness, absenteeism, talking, eating, sleeping,
reading, using electronic devices, and other distracting behavior are all
examples of inappropriate and disrespectful conduct. If you have a cellphone, please either turn it off for the duration of the class or do not
bring it to class. Students not observing these rules will be asked to
leave class.
If you have a cell-phone, please either turn it off for the duration of
the class or do not bring it to class. If I catch a student texting, surfing
or using any electronic device in class, I will give the student a warning.
After a second time, the student will be asked to leave that class session.
Students may use a computer to take notes with two provisos: 1) you
may not sit in the back row with a computer, and 2) you may only use
the computer to take notes, not to surf. Again, a warning will be issued
to students not following these rules. Students not observing any of
these rules will be asked to leave class.
Required Text:
Philosophical Methodology by Paul Michael Hicks, 2011.
The text will be made available to students free on Moodle.
Grading: Based on a 1000 point scale
Exam 1 15%
Exam 2 15%
Final Exam 20%
Paper 1 10%
Paper 2 20%
Paper 3 20%
Reading List
Week 1: Philosophical Writing
Read:
Guidelines for Writing Philosophy Papers
Paper Grading
Week 2: Belief Forming Practices
William Clifford—The Ethics of Belief
William James—The Will to Believe
Week 3: Introduction to Arguments
Read:
Arguments
 Deductive vs. Inductive
 Logical Strength
 Soundness and Cogency
Reconstructing Arguments
 Principle of Charity
 Missing Premises
 Logical Presuppositions
 Inferring Conclusions
Jeff Jordan--Is it Wrong to Discriminate on the Basis of Homosexuality? (Pro)
David Boonin--Same-Sex Marriage and the Argument from Public
Disagreement (Con)
Week 4: Irrational Techniques of Persuasion
Read: Fallacies
Week 5: Paper 1 Due
Understanding Language
Read:
Language
 External Idea Theory of Meaning
 Reference Theory of Meaning
 Internal Idea Theory of Meaning
 Meaning as Use
Week 6 Exam 1
Read:
Robert Baker--"Pricks" and "Chicks": A Plea for "Persons"
Week 7—Truth Theories
Read:
Truth
 Correspondence Theory
 Coherence Theory
 Pragmatism
Week 8: Campus Closed Thursday, March 30, 2017
Read: Acceptability of Statements
 Analytic/Synthetic/Contradictions
 Sufficient and Necessary Statements
Hillary Putnam--It Ain't Necessarily So
Week 9:
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive Argumentative Forms
 Induction by Confirmation
 Statistical Syllogism
 Inductive Generalization
 Analogical Reasoning
Michael Levin--Why Homosexuality is Abnormal
Stephen Sullivan--A Critique of the Impeded-Function Objection to Gay Sex
Marilyn Frye--Oppression (Birdcage Analogy)
Week 10: Exam 2
Defining Concepts
Read: Conceptual Frameworks
Janice Raymond--The Transsexual Empire
Monique Wittig--One is Not Born a Woman
Jacob Hale--Are Lesbians Women?
Week 11:
Fallacious Conceptual Frameworks?
Talia Mae Bettcher--Evil-Deceivers and Make-Believers: On Transphobic
Violence and the Politics of Illusion
Thomas McCaullay-Millar--Towards a Performance Model of Sex
Week 12: Paper 2 Due
Robert Jensen--Patriarchal Sex
Robert Jensen--Is a DP Inherently Sexist?
Eric Patton--A Reply to Jensen
Week 13:
Julia Serano—Why Nice Guys Finish Last
Sarah Conly—Seduction, Rape, and Coercion
Week 14: Creating New Conceptual Models
Pornography and Sexual Violence--Robert Jensen
Hardcore--Natasha Vargas-Cooper
Week 15:
Pornography and Degradation--Judith M. Hill
Sex, Lies, and Pornography--Ann Garry
Paper 3 Due at the Final Exam
Final Exam on Thursday, June 1, 2017 from 12:30 to 2:30pm