Spring 2004, Instructor: Dr. Ron Wilburn

Time and Location: Tu, Th 10:00-11:45, CBC C237

Office Hours: M, W 1:00 – 1:30, T, Th 12:00 – 12:30 and by appointment.

Office: CDC Building #4, Room 30 (CDC is the collection of temporary one-story structures between CBC and BEH -- Link to Interactive Campus Map)

Return to Wilburn Webpage 

INTRODUCTION: In this class, I will present to you a practical introduction to sound argumentation. To this end, we will develop the tools with which to formulate good and effective arguments. Most of our work will be theoretical and the arguments we will examine will be relatively short. However, we will spend several weeks after spring break analyzing and assessing article-length longer argumentative selections.

More formally, you may think of the course’s aims as follows:

·         to teach students the role and importance of arguments

·         to teach students to recognize when arguments are being offered (as opposed to, say,

explanations)

·         to teach students how to extract and reconstruct arguments from their natural language settings

·         to teach students how to classify arguments by type (deductive, inductive, statistical, causal, analogical)

·         to teach students how to distinguish between good arguments and bad arguments

Moreover, you may think of the course’s expectations as follows:

·         abide by the UNLV code of Student Conduct at http://studentlife.unlv.edu/judicial/

·         read the material relevant to each lecture prior to the lecture

·         do all of the exercise sets assigned in the text prior to lecture and bring the results to class.

·         seek help with the exercises from the instructor as needed

·         attend class regularly and in a timely manner

·         participate actively and courteously in class discussions

·         Do chapter quizzes and send the results to the instructor within 48 hours of our in-class completion of appropriate chapters).

·         ask pertinent questions and share pertinent thoughts during lecture

GRADING: There will be at total of four in-class exams, including the final, spaced equally throughout the semester, all of equal value. In addition, for each chapter there are online quizzes), there are online quizzes (T/F, MC and chapter final) for each of the text’s 14 chapters. You can access these through the text’s companion “powerweb” site at

http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780534605254&discipline_number=5.  You are to take these quizzes and email the results to me at rojobn@unlv.nevada.edu, at which point I will review and record the results.

What this means is that when we have finished covering a given chapter (by the end of the second day after we have covered it) you are to go to the Powerweb site and click on that chapter site from the table of contents page. Quickly answer the “True or False”, “Multiple Choice Quiz” and “Final” questions and send the results to me at rojobn@unlv.nevada.edu with the following in the "section line": “Your last name, your first initial,102,Chapter#,type of quiz”(no spaces, but include the commas). Thus if I were sending off the answers to my Multiple Choice Chap. 3 exercises, I would write the following in the “subject line”: “Wilburn,R,102,3,MC.” If True/False, I would write “Wilburn,R,3,TF”. This may all sound very picayune, but it really helps me to keep track of student’s work.

I also require that you look at all of the exercise sets as they occur in the text before the day that we are scheduled to cover the associated sections. These are not to be turned in. However, I will choose a subset of these exercises to review in class, generally calling on volunteers to lead the discussion, or perhaps calling on individual students at random when volunteers are not forthcoming.

The online tests collectively account for 10% of the course grade. The four in-class exams (including the final) each account for 20%. Attendance and participation account for 10%.

The following is an explanation of Course Attendance and Participation grading:

A -- Is almost never absent from class and can always be relied upon to make substantive and insightful contributions to class discussion that reflect a knowledge of assigned readings and exercises and a knowledge of the subject matter.

B -- Is almost never absent from class and can always be relied upon to participate constructively in class discussions.

C -- Attends class regularly and can always be relied upon to participate in class discussions.

D -- Attends class regularly, but rarely participates in class discussions.

F -- Attends class sporadically and seldom participates in class discussions

TEXTS:  Trudy Govier, A Practical Study of Argument, sixth (required).                        

DISABILITY SERVICES:  The Disability Resource Center (DRC) coordinates all academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities. The DRC is the official office to review and house disability documentation for students, and to provide them with an official Academic Accommodation Plan to present to the faculty if an accommodation is warranted. The DRC strongly encourages faculty to provide accommodations only if and when they are in receipt of said plan. Faculty should not provide students accommodations without being in receipt of this plan.

UNLV complies with the provisions set forth in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, offering reasonable accommodations to qualified students with documented disabilities. If you have a documented disability that may require accommodations, you will need to contact the DRC for the coordination of services. The DRC is located in the Student Services Complex (SSC), Room 137, and the contact numbers are: VOICE (702) 895-0866, TTY (702) 895-0652, FAX (702) 895-0651. For additional information, please visit: http://studentlife.unlv.edu/disability/

final remarks: I also require that each student submit a “record page” to help me recognize who's who. This consists of a letter-size sheet of paper onto which the student has photocopied some kind of ID that has a picture of him or her on it. This single "record page" is to be given to me at beginning of the second week of class (after which I start taking daily role). After this, students are automatically counted as "absent" until they have submitted a record page. I have been very casual about this requirement in the past, often accepting record pages without penalty up until the fourth week of class. I am changing this policy this semester. To avoid penalty, students must give me a record page on Tu, Jan 20, not after (and not before). No exceptions.

Finally, I try to encourage a free and tolerant atmosphere in class. I encourage and expect questions and challenges at appropriate times during class. I welcome visits to my office. I am here to help you learn.

AGENDA: Note that I reserve the right to alter any or all portions of this schedule, at my sole discretion, at any time, and in any manner.

Week 1:  What is an Argument? (And What is Not?)

Tu, Jan 13

• Argument and opinion

• Argument and indicator words

• Where and how do you find arguments?

Th, Jan 15

• Why are arguments important?

• What isn't an argument?

• Argument and explanation: the difference

Week 2: Pinning Down Argument Structure

Tu, Jan 20

• Standardizing an argument

• General strategies for standardizing arguments

• Further Tools for Understanding Arguments: Location, Scope, and Commitment

         Th. Jan 22

• Patterns of Arguments

• Unstated Premises and Conclusions

• An Interesting Sideline: The Question of Visual Arguments

• Charity and Accuracy in Argument Interpretation

3. When is an Argument a Good One?

            Tu, Jan 27

• The ARG conditions

• More on the R and G Conditions

• Using the ARG conditions to evaluate arguments

           Th. Jan 29

• The significance of argument evaluation

• The challenge of argument

• Evaluating arguments and constructing your own arguments

• The dialectical context

4. Exam#1 and Looking at Language

Tu, Feb 3: In-class Midterm Exam #1

Th, Feb 5

• Definitions

• Language and Clarity

• Language and Its Emotional Connotations

• Clarity and Audience: Lingo, Technical Languages, and Jargon

5. Premises: What to Accept and Why

           Th, Feb 10

• The dilemma of premises

• When premises are acceptable

           Th, Feb 12

• When premises are unacceptable

• Internet sources

6. Working on Relevance

            Tu, Feb 17

• Understanding Relevance

• Relevance and the ARG Conditions

            Th, Feb 19

• Fallacies Involving Irrelevance

• Emotional Appeals, Irrelevance, and Distraction

7. Deductive Arguments: Propositional Logic

Tu, Feb 24

• Definition of the basic symbols used in propositional logic

• Testing for validity by the truth table technique

Th, Feb. 26

• The shorter truth table technique

• Translating from English into propositional logic

8. Deductive Arguments: Propositional Logic

            Tu, March 3

• Further points about translation

             Th, Mar 5

• Simple proofs in propositional logic

• Propositional logic and cogent arguments.

9. Exam #2 and An Introduction to Inductive Arguments

Tu, Mar 10: In-class Midterm Exam #2

Th, Mar 12

• Philosophical background

• Inductive generalizations

• The Same and the Population

• Applying Statistical Generalizations: Statistical Syllogisms

• Language Problems in Contexts of Inductive Argument

• Common Errors in Inductive Reasoning

10. Causal Inductive Arguments

            Tu, Mar 17

• Causation and Meaning

• Distinguishing Between Correlation and Cause

• Associations and Links

Th, Mar 19

• Causal Reasoning: Mill's Methods

• Background Knowledge and Inference to the Best Explanation

• Errors in Causal Reasoning

11. Analogies: Reasoning from Case to Case

            Tu, Mar 24

• The nature and functions of analogy

• Analogy and consistency

• Inductive analogies

Th, Mar 26

• Further critical strategies

• Loose and misleading analogies

12. Conductive Arguments and Counterconsiderations

            Tu, Mar 31:

• The Nature of Conductive Arguments

• Counterconsiderations and Conductive Arguments

• Evaluating Conductive Arguments

Th, April 2:

• Objections and Counterconsiderations

• The Confirmation Bias

13: Exam #3 and Selected Essays for Analysis

Tu, April 14: In-class Midterm Exam #3

Th, April 16:  Trudy Govier, "Critical Thinking in a Life and Death Situation"

14. More Selected Essays for Analysis

            Tu, April 21: Rose Kemp, "No Kidding?"

Th, April 23: Gary Bauslaugh, "Zero Tolerance"

15: Selected Essays for Analysis

Tu, April 27: Ernie Regehr, "Culpable Nonviolence: The Moral Ambiguity of Pacifism"

Th., April 29: Ernie David Ehrenfeld, "In Ethics, Context Matters!"

16: Final Examination -- Tuesday May 5 10:10 a.m. in or regular classroom.