Critical Thinking and Analytic Writing

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to critical thinking by emphasizing logical analysis and analytical writing. The course primarily examines inductive reasoning and its relation to deductive reasoning and other forms of persuasion. Topics include analysis of arguments, explanations, and informal fallacies that occur in the natural sciences, social sciences (including applied ethics), the humanities, (such as philosophy or art criticism), as well as everyday discourse. Critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills to be developed include identifying and evaluating arguments; recognizing and correcting reasoning errors; constructing arguments based on sound methods of reasoning; assessing subjects from multiple theoretical points of view; composing original work of varying lengths, reflective of course elements.