Critical Thinking
PHI120
Overview
Level of study: What does Undergraduate Level 1 mean?
Undergraduate Level 1
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
Duration:
13 weeks
Government loans available:
FEE-HELP FEE-HELP
Domestic student fee:
$750.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$975.00 (AUD)
Description
This unit aims to teach the fundamentals of critical thinking and reasoning. You will learn how to construct, analyse and critically evaluate arguments, how to detect common fallacies in reasoning, and how to think logically and creatively. We teach these skills by developing practical techniques for the evaluation of reasoning, and applying them to arguments from business, law, science, politics, philosophy and the media. Critical thinking skills are invaluable across all disciplines, and will benefit you in academic contexts and in life beyond university.
Prerequisites
If you have no prior university experience, you should complete SSK12 or SSK13 before starting this unit.
Learning Outcomes
In this unit, you will learn the following discipline based skills:
- how to recognise the structure of arguments, and how to represent that structure in a clear, standardised form
- different types of reasoning, such as deductive and inductive reasoning, and the methods of evaluation appropriate to each
- to apply your critical analysis skills to real arguments from a variety of contexts, encouraging you to recognise the generalisability of these skills and their applicability to other disciplines.
You will also develop the following generic skills:
- critical analysis skills: for the analysis and evaluation of reasoning
- problem-solving skills: to apply the skills and knowledge developed in the unit to new areas
- creative-thinking skills: for constructing strong, clear arguments and reasoning more effectively.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Identifying arguments |
| 2 | Standardisation of arguments |
| 3 | Counterarguments |
| 4 | Validity and invalidity |
| 5 | Conditional propositions and conditional arguments |
| 6 | Deduction and induction |
| 7 | Inductive and statistical generalisation |
| 8 | Inference to the best explanation and causal arguments |
| 9 | Analogical reasoning |
| 10 | Clarifying and summarising arguments |
| 11 | Language |
| 12 | Broad standardisation |
| 13 | Fallacies; evaluating inferences |
| 14 | Evaluating longer argument texts |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Online Quizzes/Tests
Print based materials
- Welcome Letter
Online materials
- Online Assessment
- Printable format materials
- Quizzes
- Resources and Links
Textbook information for this unit is currently being updated and will be available soon. Please check back regularly for updates. Alternatively, visit the Unibooks website and enter the unit details to search for available textbooks.
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art and Visual Culture), Curtin University
- Bachelor of Arts (Internet Communications), Curtin University
This unit is part of a major, minor, stream or specialisation in the following courses:
This unit is an approved elective in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
