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reasoning and rational decision making Philosophy 1250 Spring 2003 |
Instructor: Tim Black
Office:
Office phone: 585.5810
Email: tim.black@philosophy.utah.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays and
Thursdays,
Teaching assistant: Joe
Ulatowski
Office:
Office phone: 585.5514
Email: oohlah@msn.com
Office hours: Mondays,
Class meets: Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays;
Joe and I invite you to visit us during our office hours and to talk
with us via telephone and e-mail. We always welcome your comments and
questions, and we’re exceptionally happy to talk with you about the course
material or about other philosophical or administrative matters.
Department office:
Department phone: 581.8161
Aims of the
Course: This course is an introduction to the
principles and methods of sound reasoning.
We will focus on identifying and evaluating arguments; on identifying
and examining some common fallacies in reasoning; and on exploring the
fundamentals of probability, of decision theory, and of game theory.
Course Materials:
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Course packet (available at
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WebCT course materials can be found online at the
following address: http://webct.utah.edu.
Attendance: Since you are responsible for any and all material presented in class,
regular attendance is essential to doing well in this course. Furthermore, logic and critical reasoning are
akin to mathematics, for example, in the following respect: becoming proficient
in either requires the development of a certain set of skills. And you can’t develop those skills without
practice. This means, among other
things, that you should diligently work both in class and outside of
class. Class attendance and completing
the homework assignments are both essential to doing well in this course.
Students with
Disabilities: If you have a disability, please identify yourself to the University,
as well as either to Joe or to me, so that we can reasonably accommodate your
learning and the preparation and evaluation of the work that you must do for
this course. Please contact the Center
for Disability Services, Olpin Union, Room 162,
581.5020. For more information, visit the CDS’s website.
Evaluation: Your final grade in the course will be based on the following:
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1 midterm exam |
25% |
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1 final exam |
26% |
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5 quizzes |
25% |
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7 homework
assignments |
24% |
Grades: Letter grades are assigned according to the
following system: 100-92% = A; 91-90% = A-; 89-87% = B+; 86-83% = B; 82-80% =
B-; 79-77% = C+; 76-73% = C; 72-70% = C-; 69-67% = D+; 66-63% = D; 62-60% = D-;
59-0% = E. If your final grade falls
just short of some higher grade, we will consider the quality of your participation
as grounds for improving your final grade.
We strongly encourage your participation, which can come in class,
during office hours, by phone, or by email.
Cheating and
Plagiarism: We consider academic dishonesty a very
serious issue. If you are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty or
about the possible repercussions of and penalties for acts of academic
dishonesty, please consult the
University of Utah Student Code.
Exams: Each of the two exams will be designed, of
course, to determine whether you understand the material covered in class and
in the homework assignments. You may take a make-up exam only if either
(a) you have received, prior to the scheduled date of the exam, my permission
to do so, or (b) you miss the exam due to a documented medical or family
emergency.
Quizzes: There
will be six quizzes, administered online.
Your scores on each and every one of these quizzes will count toward
your final grade for the course. The
quizzes will cover recent material, and will feature problems similar to those
in recent homework assignments. Each
quiz will be available only for a limited time, and we will not extend their availability. You should therefore make sure to complete
the quizzes during the ample time of their availability.
Homework Assignments: We will distribute seven homework
assignments. They should not be
difficult, and doing well on them will require little more than regular work
and timely submission. We will not accept late homework assignments.
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Schedule |
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Topic |
Date |
Readings |
Homework |
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Course Introduction |
January 6 |
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Reasoning and Rationality |
January 8 |
Chapter 1, pp. 1-6 |
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January 10 |
Chapter 1, pp. 6-15 |
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January 13 |
Chapter 1, pp. 15-26 |
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January 15 |
Chapter 1, pp. 26-30 |
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January 17 |
Discussion with TA |
Homework Assignment #1 is
due |
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January 20 |
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Reasoning, Argumentation,
and the Logical Framework |
January 22 |
Chapter 2, pp. 33-46 |
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January 24 |
Chapter 2, pp.46-51 |
WebCT Quiz #1 |
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January 27 |
Chapter 2, pp. 51-62 |
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Deduction and Logic |
January 29 |
Chapter 3, pp. 67-77 |
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January 31 |
Discussion with TA |
Homework Assignment #2 is
due |
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February 3 |
Chapter 3, pp. 77-89 |
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February 5 |
Chapter 3, pp. 77-89
(continued) |
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February 7 |
Chapter 3, pp. 93-102 |
WebCT Quiz #2 |
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February 10 |
Chapter 3, pp. 93-102
(continued) |
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February 12 |
Chapter 3, pp. 102-113 |
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February 14 |
Discussion
with TA |
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Homework Assignment #3 is due • WebCT P1-P3 |
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February 17 |
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February 19 |
Chapter 3, pp. 102-113
(continued) |
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February 21 |
Open |
WebCT P4-P9 |
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Inductive Reasoning and
Qualitative Probability |
February 24 |
Chapter 4, pp. 120-129 |
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February 26 |
Chapter 4, pp. 120-129
(continued) |
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February 28 |
Discussion
with TA |
Homework
Assignment #4 is due |
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March 3 |
Chapter 4, pp. 129-138 |
WebCT Quiz #3 |
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March 5 |
Chapter 4, pp. 129-138
(continued) |
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March 7 |
Midterm
Exam |
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March 10 |
Chapter 4, pp. 139-149 |
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March 12 |
Chapter 4, pp. 139-149
(continued) |
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March 14 |
Discussion with TA |
Homework
Assignment #5 is due |
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March 17 |
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March 19 |
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March 21 |
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March 24 |
Chapter 4, pp. 149-158 |
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Probability by the Numbers |
March 26 |
Chapter 5, pp. 160-182 |
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March 28 |
Discussion
with TA |
WebCT Quiz #4 |
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March 31 |
Chapter 5, pp. 160-182
(continued) |
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April 2 |
Chapter 5, pp. 182-196 |
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April 4 |
Discussion
with TA |
Homework
Assignment #6 is due |
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April 7 |
Chapter 5, pp. 182-196
(continued) |
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April 9 |
Chapter 5, pp. 196-207 |
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April 11 |
Discussion
with TA |
Homework
Assignment #7 is due |
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April 14 |
Chapter 6, pp. 210-218 |
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April 16 |
Chapter 6, pp. 219-223 |
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April 18 |
Chapter 6, pp. 223-232 |
WebCT Quiz #5 |
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April 21 |
Chapter 7, pp. 237-242 |
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April 23 |
Chapter 7, pp. 242-244 |
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May 1 |
Final Exam (from |
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Note: Everything in this syllabus, including the reading assignments and the
homework assignments, is subject to revision. We will announce any and all revisions in
class and, in general, do our best to make sure that everyone knows about
revisions. If you miss class, you must
nevertheless submit assignments according to any revisions that we make to the
Schedule. You should either make sure
that you don’t miss class or find a sure way of becoming aware of any revisions
that we make to the Schedule or to the syllabus.
Tim’s Philosophy Page · Tim Black’s Homepage