Critical Thinking

An informal analysis of inference and evidence employed in everyday arguments, including study of the principles held to justify forms of argument in morality, politics, the law and aesthetics. The aim of the course is to develop critical skills in reasoning and the evaluation of arguments, and sensitivity to the distinction between substantive argument and persuasive rhetoric, through a detailed analysis of examples drawn from a wide variety of sources, including the media. Attention will be paid to some elementary but critical distinctions relating to meaning, definition, and implication.