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Course/Training/Event Details
Welcome to the Course
Welcome to Think Again: How to Reason Deductively! This course is the second in a series of four courses jointly titled Think Again: How to Reason and Argue. We are excited that you are taking this course, and we hope that you will stick around for all four courses in the series, because there is a great deal of important material to learn.In the series as a whole, you will learn how to evaluate deductive arguments.
What is it for a deductive to be “valid”? And how can you tell the difference between deductive arguments that are valid and those that aren’t? In this course, we will answer these questions.
The first part of this course introduces the series and the course. It also clarifies some peculiarities you may find with this course. We encourage you to watch the "Introduction to the Course" video first as it will help you learn more from the materials that come later.
Propositional Logic and Truth Tables
CONTENT: This week we will teach you how such phrases as “and”, “or”, “if”, and “not” can work to guarantee the validity or invalidity of the deductive arguments in which they occur. It will also teach you to understand the functioning of these phrases using a device called a “truth-table”, which shows how the truth or falsity of propositions that use these phrases depends upon the truth or falsity of the propositions contained within it. We highly recommend that you practice the skills that you will learn in this week by doing the puzzles at betapuzzle.sonjara.com.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this week’s material you will be able to :
define what a deductive argument is
define what it is for a deductive argument to be valid
identify truth-functional operators and connectives
build a truth-table for any truth-functional operator or connective
OPTIONAL READING: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these topics, we recommend Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition, Chapter 6.
Categorical Logic and Syllogisms
CONTENT: This week will teach you how such phrases as “all”, “some”, and “none” can work to guarantee the validity or invalidity of the deductive arguments in which they occur. It will also teach you to understand the functioning of these phrases using a device called a “Venn Diagram”, which shows how the truth or falsity of propositions that use these phrases depends upon the truth or falsity of other propositions that use these phrases. We highly recommend that you practice the skills that you will learn in this week by doing the puzzles at http://philgames-neta.apps.unc.edu
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this week’s material you will be able to :
understand the information conveyed by a truth-table
use truth-tables to determine whether a deductive argument is valid
identify quantifiers and categories
build a Venn Diagram for any statement using quantifiers or categories
OPTIONAL READING: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these topics, we recommend Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition, Chapter 7.
Representing Information
CONTENT: This week we will teach you how to use the tools that you’ve learned about in the preceding modules in order to represent information. Information can be communicated in very different ways – by means of different languages or signaling systems – but no matter how that information is communicated, it can be important to use that information in reasoning. In this week, you will learn how to reason from information that is communicated directly by means of truth-tables or Venn Diagrams.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this week's material you will be able to:
understand the information conveyed by a Venn Diagram
use Venn Diagram to determine whether a deductive argument is valid
Catch-Up and Final Quiz
This week gives you time to catch up and review, because we realize that the previous weeks include a great deal of challenging material. It will also be provide enough time to take the final quiz as often as you want, with different questions each time.
We explain the answers in each exam so that you can learn more and do better when you try the exam again. You may take the quiz as many times as you want in order to learn more and do better, with different questions each time. You will be able to retake the quiz three times every eight hours. You might not need to take more than one version of the exam if you do well enough on your first try. That is up to you. However many versions you take, we hope that all of the exams will provide additional learning experiences.
Welcome to Think Again: How to Reason Deductively! This course is the second in a series of four courses jointly titled Think Again: How to Reason and Argue. We are excited that you are taking this course, and we hope that you will stick around for all four courses in the series, because there is a great deal of important material to learn.In the series as a whole, you will learn how to evaluate deductive arguments.
What is it for a deductive to be “valid”? And how can you tell the difference between deductive arguments that are valid and those that aren’t? In this course, we will answer these questions.
The first part of this course introduces the series and the course. It also clarifies some peculiarities you may find with this course. We encourage you to watch the "Introduction to the Course" video first as it will help you learn more from the materials that come later.
Propositional Logic and Truth Tables
CONTENT: This week we will teach you how such phrases as “and”, “or”, “if”, and “not” can work to guarantee the validity or invalidity of the deductive arguments in which they occur. It will also teach you to understand the functioning of these phrases using a device called a “truth-table”, which shows how the truth or falsity of propositions that use these phrases depends upon the truth or falsity of the propositions contained within it. We highly recommend that you practice the skills that you will learn in this week by doing the puzzles at betapuzzle.sonjara.com.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this week’s material you will be able to :
define what a deductive argument is
define what it is for a deductive argument to be valid
identify truth-functional operators and connectives
build a truth-table for any truth-functional operator or connective
OPTIONAL READING: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these topics, we recommend Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition, Chapter 6.
Categorical Logic and Syllogisms
CONTENT: This week will teach you how such phrases as “all”, “some”, and “none” can work to guarantee the validity or invalidity of the deductive arguments in which they occur. It will also teach you to understand the functioning of these phrases using a device called a “Venn Diagram”, which shows how the truth or falsity of propositions that use these phrases depends upon the truth or falsity of other propositions that use these phrases. We highly recommend that you practice the skills that you will learn in this week by doing the puzzles at http://philgames-neta.apps.unc.edu
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this week’s material you will be able to :
understand the information conveyed by a truth-table
use truth-tables to determine whether a deductive argument is valid
identify quantifiers and categories
build a Venn Diagram for any statement using quantifiers or categories
OPTIONAL READING: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these topics, we recommend Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition, Chapter 7.
Representing Information
CONTENT: This week we will teach you how to use the tools that you’ve learned about in the preceding modules in order to represent information. Information can be communicated in very different ways – by means of different languages or signaling systems – but no matter how that information is communicated, it can be important to use that information in reasoning. In this week, you will learn how to reason from information that is communicated directly by means of truth-tables or Venn Diagrams.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this week's material you will be able to:
understand the information conveyed by a Venn Diagram
use Venn Diagram to determine whether a deductive argument is valid
Catch-Up and Final Quiz
This week gives you time to catch up and review, because we realize that the previous weeks include a great deal of challenging material. It will also be provide enough time to take the final quiz as often as you want, with different questions each time.
We explain the answers in each exam so that you can learn more and do better when you try the exam again. You may take the quiz as many times as you want in order to learn more and do better, with different questions each time. You will be able to retake the quiz three times every eight hours. You might not need to take more than one version of the exam if you do well enough on your first try. That is up to you. However many versions you take, we hope that all of the exams will provide additional learning experiences.
Length:
Length of class not available at this time (see update in the Details section)
Cost:
Free
Instructor(s):
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Ram Neta - Duke University
IMPORTANT: External link to Coursera
When linking to access this class, a new window will open and you will be redirected to Coursera, the official provider of the class you selected. You may need to log in, so if you are not yet registered with them you may be required to do so in order to access the content (free registration, of course). Class is free to audit; however, some classes may require paid tuition but only if you want an official certificate or diploma from them – we have no control over that element. Please let us know if you encounter any difficulties – we’re here to help!
Think Again II: How to Reason Deductively