Week | Topic | Homework |
Week 1 | Introductions; course outline; review of formal logic. | Simple logic review exercises. |
Week 2 | Common fallacies. | Evaluating fallacious arguments. |
Week 3 | Introduction to practical reasoning; simplified logical form and enthymemes. | Completing enthymemes. |
Week 4 | Premises for practical reasoning; interests and commitments. | Evaluating and ranking interests and commitments. |
Week 5 | Additional premises for practical reasoning; authority. | Prepare for "you should recycle." |
Week 6 | Arguing "you should recycle." | Short essay. |
Week 7 | Introduction to scientific reasoning; the mediaeval view of motions and forces. | Do youhave to keep pushing to make something move? |
Week 8 | Early modern science on motions and forces; Copernicus. | Does the earth move?
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Week 9 | Early modern science; Galileo and Newton. | Review handout on experiments with air pressure. |
Week 10 | Science wrap-up; asking the right questions; choosing what not to explain. | Read handout on sources of legal authority. |
Week 11 | Introduce recent Supreme Court opinion. | Outline Supreme Court majority opinion. |
Week 12 | Discuss majority opinion. | Outline dissenting opinion. |
Week 13 | Discuss dissenting opinion. | Short essay: evaluate majority vs. dissenting opinion. |
Week 14 | Legal reasoning wrap-up. | List ten moral truths. |
Week 15 | Introduction to moral reasoning; moral data. | Distinguising rights, duties, character traits, values, situations. |
Week 16 | Is there a unifying theory of morals? | Short essay. |
Week 17 | Review short essays. | Prepare to interview the villager. |
Week 18 | Interviewing the villager. | Review handout on contemporary moral issue. |
Week 19 | Discuss contemporary moral issue. | Outline argument in Declaration of Independence. |
Week 20 | Introduction to theological reasoning. | Reading from the Book of Genesis. |
Week 21 | Theological reasoning continued. | Reading from the Psalms. |
Week 22 | Theological reasoning continued. | Review handout on the Trinity. |
Week 23 | Theological reasoning concluded. | Write proposal for final paper. |
Week 24 | Discuss proposed final paper topics. | Outline final paper. |
Week 25 | Discuss progress on final papers. | First draft of final paper. |
Week 26 | Course wrap-up; discuss progress on final papers. | Final paper due. |