PHL247H1S: Critical Reasoning

The Greek words from which "Philosophy" is formed mean "love of wisdom" and all great philosophers have been moved by an intense devotion to the search for wisdom. Philosophy takes no belief for granted, but examines the grounds for those beliefs which make up a people's fundamental views of the world. Philosophers think about these beliefs as thoroughly and systematically as possible, using methods of conceptual analysis, reasoning, and detailed descriptions.

The subject matter of the Critical Reasoning course is argumentation as it occurs in a natural language context. Among the topics examined are the various kinds of use to which language can be put, the identification and analysis of argument forms, effective forms of argument, validity and soundness of deductive arguments, and the common forms of fallacy.

This course is also offered to students in the faculty of Arts & Science.