General Catalog 2024-25

Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour. Nature of arguments: how to analyze them and assess soundness of reasoning they represent. Common fallacies that often occur in arguments discussed in light of what counts as good deductive or inductive inference. Other topics include use of language in argumentation to arouse emotions as contrasted with conveying thoughts, logic of scientific experiments and hypothesis-testing in general, and some general ideas about probability and its application in making normative decisions (e.g., betting). P/NP or letter grading.