Midterm

The midterm will be held at the beginning of class on Thursday, October 25th. It's worth 15% of your overall grade, and will cover everything we've done in class so far:

• definitions of 'logic,' 'reasoning,' and 'argument'
• evaluating arguments (Chapter 6)
• types of arguments:
  -deductive (aim for certainty, are valid/invalid and sound/unsound) (Chapter 8)
  -inductive (generalizing from examples, are evaluated based how large and representative the examples in the premises are) (Chapter 7)
  -args by analogy (evaluated in terms of how similar the things compared are, and how relevant the similarities are to the conclusion being drawn) (Chapter 7)
  -args about cause/effect (correlation vs. causation) (Chapter 7)
  -abductive (inferences to the best explanation, evaluated in terms of coherence with background theories, simplicity, predictive power, falsifiability, etc.) (Chapter 12)
• the 10 or 11 fallacies covered in class so far (Chapter 5)

Get to studying!

Quiz You Once, Shame on Me

The first quiz will be held at the beginning of class on Thursday, September 27th. You will have about 25 minutes to take it.

There will be a multiple choice section, a section on understanding arguments, a section on evaluating deductive arguments, and a section where you provide examples of specific kinds of arguments. Basically, it will look like a mix of the homework, extra credit, and group work we've done in class so far.

The quiz is on what we have discussed in class from chapters 6, 8, and part of 7 of the textbook. Specifically, here's a lot of the stuff we've talked about in class so far that I expect you to know for the quiz:

• definitions of: logic, reasoning, argument, support, sound, valid, deductive, inductive
• understanding arguments
• evaluating arguments (truth and support!)
• deductive args (valid & sound)
• inductive args (there will only be a little on this, based on Tuesday's class)

The quiz is worth 7.5% of your overall grade.

Extra Credit: Understanding a Long Argument

As mentioned in class, your next extra credit assignment is to read the following column by Paul Krugman in the New York Times:

• Cleaning Up the Economy

Figure out Krugman's argument: what is his main point? What are his reasons supporting this main point? Paraphrase Krugman's argument in a clear premise/conclusion format and in your own words. Hand in your formal premise/conclusion version of Krugman's article at the beginning of class on Tuesday, September 18th.