PHIL 201 - Critical Thinking
Fall 2024 - A01
CRN: 22526
Instructor: Geordie McComb (he/him)
Email: gmccomb@uvic.ca
Teaching assistant: Ghada Youssef (she/her)
Time & Location: None! The class is fully online.
Books you have to buy: None! See Brightspace for course materials.1
Drop-in times & office hours: Schedule to be posted on Brightspace.
Tech help: Email helpdesk@uvic.ca or visit the IT Service Desk website.
Welcome!
This course is an introduction to some basic tools for thinking well about
arguments—about the ways we try, by giving reasons, to persuade one another
to believe this or that.
And they are everywhere. We find arguments in the news and on social
media, in ads and on PowerPoint slides, in science textbooks and policy
proposals, as well as in the dark recesses of the web, where conspiracy
theorists and pseudo-scientists peddle their wares.
Some arguments, of course, should persuade you. But how can you tell the
good from the bad? The tools taught in this class will help; they will help you
to spot the good ones and to uncover the bad ones.
By the end of this course, you should understand many common argument
patterns and fallacies. This understanding should, in turn, help you to read
more efficiently, to write stronger essays, and, in general, to be a better critical
thinker. It should also help you to perform well on standardized exams such as
the LSAT and GRE.
1 These course materials are based on those developed by Dr. Carrie Klatt.
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Course Plan
Here is the course plan, which I may adjust from time to time.
Unit I: Arguments
Week Topic Work Due
Week 1, Jan 8–12 Arguments, Premises, Conclusions
Deduction, Induction
Week 2, Jan 15–19 Validity, Soundness Assg 1, Jan 15
Counter-Example Method Assg 2, Jan 18
Week 3, Jan 22–26 Implicit Premises, Argument Assg 3, Jan 23
Patterns, Diagramming, Review Test 1, Jan 26–28
Unit II: Deductive Arguments
Week 4, Jan 29–Feb 2 Propositional Translations
Week 5, Feb 5–9 Truth Tables Assg 4, Feb 5
Assg 5, Feb 8
Week 6, Feb 12–16 Short Truth Tables Assg 6, Feb 12
Review Test 2, Feb 15–18
Unit III: Inductive Arguments
Week 7, Feb 26–Mar 1 Enumerative Induction
Week 8, Mar 4–8 Argument by Analogy Assg 7, Mar 4
Causal Arguments Assg 8, Mar 7
Week 9, Mar 11–15 Explanations and Hypotheses Assg 9, Mar 12
Review Test 3, Mar 15–17
Unit IV: Fallacies
Week 10, Mar 18–22 Fallacies or Irrelevant Premises Assg 10, Mar 21
Week 11, Mar 25–29 Fallacies of Unacceptable Premises Assg 11, Mar 26
Assg 12, Mar 28
Week 12, Apr 1–5 Biases Assg 13, Apr 2
Review Test 4, Apr 6–8
The last day to add a class is Jan 18, to drop one with 100% free reduction is
Jan 21, to drop one with a 50% fee reduction is Feb 11, and to drop one
without penalty of failure is Feb 29. For details and other important dates, see
the academic calendar.
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Course materials
Fully online class: This section of PHIL 201 will be run as a fully online
course. You need not be online at any particular time, but there will be due
dates for the assignments and tests.
Brightspace: Pre-recorded lectures will be available to view at any time on
Brightspace. Posted grades will also be available on the site, as well as lecture
notes, practice assignments, solutions to selected assignments, announcements,
and other course materials.
Study groups: To set up a study group, or to find one, see the Discussions
page.
Grading
Here is how grades will be calculated:
Assignments and Tests Percentage of Grade
Assignments (best 10 of 13) 25% (2.5% each)
Tests 1, 2, and 3 60% (20% each)
Test 4 15%
There is no final exam.
Assignments: Complete them on Brightspace, and take as much time as
you need. But do submit them by 11:30pm (Victoria time) on their respective
due dates, which are listed above, in the course plan. Late submissions will
not be graded, absent special considerations.
NB: If you do not attempt most of the assignments, it will be difficult to do
well in this course. Also, do at least open them; otherwise, after their due
dates have passed, the answers will not be accessible to you.
Tests: They are to be completed online. Take them on their respective due
dates, which are, again, listed above in the course plan. Be sure to complete
them within the allotted time.
Live help sessions: They will be run at various times during the week. Feel
free to drop in at any point during the posted time. These sessions are not
mandatory.
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Percentage grades: Here is how to understand them:
Superior work A+ (90–100%) A (85–89%) A- (80–84%)
Good work B+ (77–79%) B (73–77%) B- (70–72%)
Adequate work C+ (65–69%) C (60–64%) —
Min. acceptable work D (50–59%) — —
Inadequate work F (0–49%) — —
For more information, e.g., about religious observance, see the January 2024
undergraduate calendar. For information specifically about grading, e.g.,
about N grades and DEF status, see the calendar’s grading section.
When you need help:
i Do the practice questions and see the explanations of the answers.
ii Go to drop-in hours on Zoom (times and dates to be announced). Feel
free to drop in to these group meetings! A teaching assistant or your
instructor will be available to discuss any difficulties that you have
understanding course material. Many difficulties in this class can be
cleared up quickly and easily.
iii Study with your classmates. They can be a great resource. That said,
please see below about what kinds of information sharing count as
academic misconduct.
iv Drop by during office hours or email me to schedule a time to Zoom.
These are one-on-one meetings during which I am available to discuss
anything to do with the course.
Lateness policy
To receive special consideration for a missed test or assignment—because of
illness, a medical or family emergency, etc.—contact me as soon as possible.
Email: gmccomb@uvic.ca Please include “PHIL 201” in the subject line. If 48
hours pass without a reply, please email me again.
NB: If you miss an assignment, or two or three of them, there is no need to
request special consideration, since only your best 10 of 13 grades count.
If you miss more than three assignments, or if you miss a test, please email me
as soon as possible. You will be able to make up the missed material.
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Accessibility
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are very welcome in this
course. If you have a disability or health consideration that may require
accommodations, please contact the Resource Centre for Students with a
Disability, and feel free to approach me for any further help.
Mental health
The UVic Student Wellness Centre provides cost-free and confidential mental
health services to help you manage personal challenges affecting your
emotional or academic well-being.
Academic misconduct
Academic misconduct is a grave offence, and the University of Victoria treats
it very seriously. Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
• copying the answers or work of another person
• sharing information or answers when doing assignments or tests, except
when collaborative work is allowed
• possessing any unauthorized materials or equipment during a test
• accessing unauthorized information when doing assignments
• impersonating a student on an assignment or test, or being assigned the
results of such impersonation
• accessing or attempting to access assignments or tests before it is
permitted to do so
• attempting to help others to engage in any of the above conduct
It is your responsibility to understand the Policy on Academic Integrity. More
generally, students enrolled in courses in the Faculty of Humanities are
expected to be familiar with university policies, including the Tri-Faculty
Standards for Professional Behaviour for Students
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Copyright
All course content and materials that instructors make available for
educational purposes are for the exclusive use of students registered in the
class. Any further use or distribution of the materials—for example, posting
them to note-sharing sites—requires the written permission of the instructor,
except under fair dealing or another exception in the Copyright Act. Any
evidence that a student is circulating materials without permission will be
referred to the Chair of the Philosophy Department for investigation.
Territory acknowledgement
The institution which brings us together is located on the traditional territory
of the l@k w @ŋ@n peoples, whom we acknowledge and respect together with the
Songhees, Esquimalt and W SÁNEĆ peoples, whose historical relationships
with the land continue to this day. We are grateful for the opportunity to
study here, on these beautiful lands. How we came to have this opportunity,
and what it means for these to be their traditional lands, are questions we in
the humanities especially should ask, in light of historical and present injustice.
