TOPICS: HOW TO THINK: FORMAL LOGIC & CAUSAL REASONING in Spring 2019 (PL1091)

Often we disagree, and each of us believes they are right and have good reasons for their belief. But how can we know? This course introduces you to basic tools of formal reasoning so that you can make better arguments, assess the arguments of others and recognize typical mistakes in your own thinking and the thought of others. In contrast to most logic courses, this course combines deductive and inductive reasoning. It provides a systematic introduction to basic formal logic and argument analysis, i.e. the ways in which we use our existing knowledge, with an overview of fundamental causal reasoning, the basis for all empirical acquisition of new information.