I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Critical Thinking
2. Course Prefix & Number:
PHIL 1421
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
This course helps students develop analytical and reasoning skills that will permit them to more effectively understand and discern the logical content of various types of persuasive communication, which will empower them to: 1) defend themselves from deceptive arguments and attempts to persuade, as well as 2) to more precisely clarify and evaluate their own thoughts, beliefs, values and goals. Students will learn about uses and misuses of language, common cognitive errors, recognition and formal analysis of good and bad arguments, and how to articulate and critically assess moral implications of claims.
5. Placement Tests Required:
6. Prerequisite Courses:
PHIL 1421 - Critical Thinking
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
PHIL 1421 - Critical Thinking
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
Lake Superior College, PHIL 1140 Critical Thinking, 3 credits
St. Cloud State University, PHIL 194 Critical Thinking, 3 credits
III. Course Purpose
2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
- Goal 2 – Critical Thinking
- Goal 9 – Ethical and Civic Responsibility
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
| College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
| Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
Demonstrate understanding of content and major ideas conveyed in assigned readings and lecture. |
| Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
Accurately apply logical concepts presented in readings, class lecture and discussion to real and hypothetical issues in the context of short written exercises and group projects. |
| Apply ethical principles in decision-making |
Clearly articulate informed, logically consistent and adequately supported moral solutions for selected controversial ethical issues. |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
- Gather factual information and apply it to a given problem in a manner that is relevant, clear, comprehensive, and conscious of possible bias in the information selected. MnTC Goal 2
- Analyze the logical connections among the facts, goals, and implicit assumptions relevant to a problem or claim; generate and evaluate implications that follow from them. MnTC Goal 2
- Recognize and articulate the value assumptions which underlie and affect decisions, interpretations, analyses, and evaluations made by ourselves and others. MnTC Goal 2
- Imagine and seek out a variety of possible goals, assumptions, interpretations, or perspectives which can give alternative meanings or solutions to given situations or problems. MnTC Goal 2
- Demonstrate proficiency by applying core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues. MnTC Goal 9
- Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. MnTC Goal 9
- Examine, Articulate and apply their own ethical views. MnTC Goal 9
- Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues. MnTC Goal 9
- Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others. MnTC Goal 9
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
- Intro: What is Critical Thinking?
- Critical thinking history
- Critical Thinking and the individual
- Obstacles to critical thinking
- Moral aspects of critical thinking
- Logic and Argument
- Basic logical terminology
- Two types of argument: deductive and inductive
- Basic Fallacious argument patterns
- Moral reasoning
- Relativism
- Reliability of information sources
- Science and pseudoscience
- Appeals to inappropriate authority
- Herd influences
- Education
- Media sources
- Advertising
- Language
- Connotation and denotation
- Euphemism and dysphemism
- Types of definition
- Language and implied paradigms
- Fallacies of linguistic confusion
- Fallacies in depth
- Unwarranted assumptions
- Question begging fallacies
- Fallacies of inadequate evidence
- Causal fallacies
- Irrelevant appeals
- Fallacies of diversion
I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Critical Thinking
2. Course Prefix & Number:
PHIL 1421
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
This course helps students develop analytical and reasoning skills that will permit them to more effectively understand and discern the logical content of various types of persuasive communication, which will empower them to: 1) defend themselves from deceptive arguments and attempts to persuade, as well as 2) to more precisely clarify and evaluate their own thoughts, beliefs, values and goals. Students will learn about uses and misuses of language, common cognitive errors, recognition and formal analysis of good and bad arguments, and how to articulate and critically assess moral implications of claims.
5. Placement Tests Required:
6. Prerequisite Courses:
PHIL 1421 - Critical Thinking
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
PHIL 1421 - Critical Thinking
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
Lake Superior College, PHIL 1140 Critical Thinking, 3 credits
St. Cloud State University, PHIL 194 Critical Thinking, 3 credits
III. Course Purpose
2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
- Goal 2 – Critical Thinking
- Goal 9 – Ethical and Civic Responsibility
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
| College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
| Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
Demonstrate understanding of content and major ideas conveyed in assigned readings and lecture. |
| Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
Accurately apply logical concepts presented in readings, class lecture and discussion to real and hypothetical issues in the context of short written exercises and group projects. |
| Apply ethical principles in decision-making |
Clearly articulate informed, logically consistent and adequately supported moral solutions for selected controversial ethical issues. |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
- Gather factual information and apply it to a given problem in a manner that is relevant, clear, comprehensive, and conscious of possible bias in the information selected. MnTC Goal 2
- Analyze the logical connections among the facts, goals, and implicit assumptions relevant to a problem or claim; generate and evaluate implications that follow from them. MnTC Goal 2
- Recognize and articulate the value assumptions which underlie and affect decisions, interpretations, analyses, and evaluations made by ourselves and others. MnTC Goal 2
- Imagine and seek out a variety of possible goals, assumptions, interpretations, or perspectives which can give alternative meanings or solutions to given situations or problems. MnTC Goal 2
- Demonstrate proficiency by applying core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues. MnTC Goal 9
- Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. MnTC Goal 9
- Examine, Articulate and apply their own ethical views. MnTC Goal 9
- Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues. MnTC Goal 9
- Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others. MnTC Goal 9
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
- Intro: What is Critical Thinking?
- Critical thinking history
- Critical Thinking and the individual
- Obstacles to critical thinking
- Moral aspects of critical thinking
- Logic and Argument
- Basic logical terminology
- Two types of argument: deductive and inductive
- Basic Fallacious argument patterns
- Moral reasoning
- Relativism
- Reliability of information sources
- Science and pseudoscience
- Appeals to inappropriate authority
- Herd influences
- Education
- Media sources
- Advertising
- Language
- Connotation and denotation
- Euphemism and dysphemism
- Types of definition
- Language and implied paradigms
- Fallacies of linguistic confusion
- Fallacies in depth
- Unwarranted assumptions
- Question begging fallacies
- Fallacies of inadequate evidence
- Causal fallacies
- Irrelevant appeals
- Fallacies of diversion