Bernard Walker, Ph.D.
Fall 2009
Bethel Seminary
b-walker@bethel.edu
Office phone: 651.635.8005
CRITICAL THINKING
PH651DE
Course description: “A survey of informal logic, including informal fallacies and strategies of
critical thinking, and of formal deductive logic, embracing some symbolic logic. The course applies
these strategies to worldview concerns.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
(1) Understand the basic concepts of inductive and deductive reasoning.
(2) Understand, analyze, evaluate and write arguments.
(3) Possess the resources to develop critically and biblically informed concepts of belief,
truth, knowledge, and justification for engaging in apologetics, philosophical theology, or
physical or social science.
COURSE EXPECTATIONS:
This course is based upon collaborative learning. This means that you will be working together
with me and other students in the class. You will use various technologies, including discussion
boards and emails to interact with me and the other students in the course. However, most of
your time will be spent interacting with the other students in the course. My role is more of a
facilitator, providing the structure and learning activities. Doing the readings and exercises is
essential and imperative for success in this course. The more exercises you do the better your
comprehension of the course material. When you find material difficult to comprehend after
reading through it a few times, I expect you to initiate and contact me via e-mail and eventually
via phone to specify your difficulty in comprehending the material. I will in turn specify a
specific solution to your difficulty.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT:
This is a fully online course and so reliable equipment and access to the internet is required. You must
also have adequate computer skills.
TEXT:
Trudy Govier, A Practical Study of Argument, 7th Edition (Wadsworth, 2009).
ISBN 0495603406
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READINGS ON BLACKBOARD
This course will follow chapters from the professor’s book manuscript that will be available on
Blackboard under the course document tab, Is Philosophy Autonomous or Merely the Handmaiden
of Theology: Breaking Ties With Tradition While Maintaining a Philosophical and Biblical
Worldview (complete monograph: between 250-300 pages)
PH651DE: Syllabus
Page 2
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
The requirements for the course are as follows:
1. There will be a midterm on Blackboard to be taken during any two hour time between
12:00 a.m. on October 26th to 11:55 p.m. in your own time zone on November 1st . The
questions will be multiple choice, T/F and essay that reflect the major themes of
critical thinking skills on argument structure, deductive reasoning, logic puzzles and
on epistemology discussed in the readings. The midterm will be listed under
“assignments.”
2. Exercises from the text and on Blackboard. They cover the material for the week they are
assigned. The exercises on Blackboard will be posted on Blackboard under the
“assignments” tab at 8:00 am (CST) on the Monday they are assigned. Both Blackboard
assignments and text book assignments are each due by midnight in your own time zone of
the following Monday they are assigned. (See also schedule for the weeks when the
exercises are due). The purpose of the exercises is to assess your understanding and
competency of the weekly content from the reading assignments.
3. Discussion Board is on Blackboard. The DB covers the material for the week it is
assigned. You will be asked to reflect on and write (1) an essay on a significant topic
discussed in the week’s reading material and (2) a reply to one other student’s posting on
those topics. The purpose of the DB is to have each student develop his/her critical thinking
skills by critically assessing the discussion board content of another student in the course.
The topics for the DB will be posted on the Monday at 8:00 a.m. (CST) of the week it is
assigned. Your essay for the discussion board topics will be due 5 days later (Saturday) by
midnight in your own time zone midnight of the same week. Your reply will be due two
days later by midnight in your own time zone (midnight of the Monday of the next week).
The length for each essay and reply will be posted on the Discussion Board.
4. Each student in the cohort is encouraged to interact with his/her classmates for further
understanding of the course material. However, each student is required to check in with
me via phone call to go over the week’s material in terms of clarification of issues or any
other problems that may arise. The conversation will last no more than 20 minutes. If you
decide that on a given week you do not need to discuss the week’s material with me, then
send an e-mail saying “no assistance needed this week, thank you.” Points are not awarded
for the chats, but if you fail to have one or fail to send a “no assistance needed this week,
thank you” message for a given week, then 5 points are deducted. The 20 minute time slots
for the phone chats are available during the following CST periods:
Mondays: 10:30am -12:30pm; 2:00pm-3:30pm
Tuesdays: 10:30am -12:30pm; 2:00pm-3:30pm
Fridays: 10:30am -12:30pm; 2:00pm-3:30pm
To select a time slot for a given week, simply send me an e-mail with the time you prefer at
least 24 hours in advance of that time. Otherwise, send a “no assistance needed this week,
thank you” sometime that week. If the indicated times don’t work for you, notify me what
time works best for you.
5. Required debates online. You must select one of the following topics. No more than two
students to a topic. Send your request to me via e-mail no later than the third week of class.
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PH651DE: Syllabus
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Your e-mail must state what topic you chose and what side you intent to defend. Selection
is done by first come basis. I will reply to your request via e-mail to notify you whether
or not your selection has already been taken by another student. For best results, send
me two choices: one will be your top choice and the second will be your second choice:





Pro-choice or Pro-life on abortion (Feel free to defend the position you oppose)
Pro or Con Affirmative action (Feel free to defend the position you oppose)
Pro or Con: Should Christians oppose the legalization of same-sex marriages? (Feel
free to defend the position you oppose)
Pro or Con Philosophical and Theological Postmodernism are detrimental to the
Church (Feel free to defend the position you oppose)
Women, roles and leadership: Complementarianism or egalitarianism (Feel free to
defend the position you oppose)
I. Requirements for debate
A). Develop your case for your position.
B). Submit a typed one-page outline of your presentation. This is due the day the debate
starts. The outline should provide brief statements about what you plan to argue.
C). Submit an 8-page defense of your position (double spaced, 12 pt). This defense will be
posted on the discussion board for the opposing side to review.
D). Submit a bibliography sheet. The sheet should cite at least six references. The references
must be books or scholarly journals. Of these six sources, one of them must be a source that
disagrees with the position you are defending. If you use any Internet sources, they must be peer
reviewed journals or online books. Please follow Turabian Style or APA Style citation. A
DICTIONARY OR AN ENCYCOPEIDA DOES NOT COUNT AS A REFERENCE.
If you follow A – D above, you should receive an “A” for this assignment. The goal of the
debate is to develop or polish your critical thinking skills outside the class setting in actual
exchanges of reasoning. I trust that each of you will exercise a spirit of charity and kindness
during this time. Please do not approach the debate with an attitude of conquering your
opponent.
II. Format for debate
A. Stage One: Defense of your position.
Go to the discussion board under the tab “debates” to find your topic. Post your 8 page
defense, outline and bibliography there no later than midnight of your time zone the
Monday of the debate week (last week of class).
B. Stage Two: Cross Fire
Over the period of a week, you will post responses to the defenses provided by the other
student. The responses will be in the form of objections, e.g., by noting fallacies or error in
the information presented. The responses will go back and forward twice or until you or the
other student decides that the debate should move on to another objection. Each side must
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PH651DE: Syllabus
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offer at least three objections to the opposing side’s position. So this means that you and the
other student are discussing together at least six objections. Post your first objection by
midnight of your own time zone of that Wednesday; your second objection by midnight in
your own time zone of that Friday and your last objection by midnight in your own time
zone of that Monday of the following week. Whenever you post an objection to the other
student, she/he will receive an e-mail as notification of your reply. For each day you post
your objection, please do so as soon as possible but no later than by midnight of your own
time zone. Do this in order to give the other student as much time as possible to reply to
your objection.
Below is the grading scale for the course:
Midterm
A=100-90
B=89-80
C=79-70
D=69-60
Group Debate
A=50
B=44.5
C=39.5
D=34.5
Each exercise/discussion board
A=10-9
B=8.9-8.0
C=7.9-7.0
D=6.9-6.0
Phone Chat
5 pt deductions
Your letter grade is equivalent to either the high, middle or low end of the point distributions
above. It does not matter how many questions there are for each assignment. For example, if you
took a quiz that contained 25 questions and received a B+ on it, this grade is equivalent to 8.9
points. Or if you earned a B on the same quiz, your grade would be 8.5 points.
Accessibility: Please contact the instructor as soon as possible if disability-related accommodations
are needed. Accommodations for students with documented disabilities are set up through the
Office of Disability Services. Contact Kathy McGillivray, Director of Disability Services, at (651)
635-8759.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
**The professor reserves the right to adjust the schedule as necessary**
Schedule:
DATE
TOPIC
READINGS
Govier, ch.1
Week 1 Arguments and their parts
9/2810/4
Week 2
Argument Diagrams
Govier, ch.2
10/510/11
4
ASSIGNMENTS
Exercise 1: Part A;
Exercise 2: Part A
(exercises due next
Monday at midnight
in your own time zone)
Exercise: 1 ; Exercise
4; and Exercise 5
(exercises due next
Monday at midnight
in your own time zone)
PH651DE: Syllabus
Page 5
DATE
TOPIC
Week 3 INTRODUCTION TO TRUTH:
On propositions, opinions, truth
10/12- bearers, truth makers and
10/18
relativism. Is truth relative?
READINGS
ASSIGNMENTS
Blackboard reading #1
Discussion Board
(the post is due
Saturday by midnight in
your own time zone and
the reply the following
Monday at midnight in
your own time zone)
Week 4 deductive
10/1910/25
Govier, ch. 4
Exercise 1; Exercise
2; and Exercise 3:
Part A (exercises due
next Monday at
midnight in your own
time zone)
Week 5 Logic Puzzles
Blackboard reading #2
Midterm: 12:00 a.m.
on October 26th to 11:55
p.m. on November 1st
midnight in your own
time zone.
Govier, ch. 9; ch. 10 and
11
Ch. 9:Exercise 1: Part
A, Exercise 2: Part A
and Exercise 3; Ch.
10: Exercise 1: Part A,
Exercise 2 and
Exercise 3; and Ch.
11: Exercise 1: Part A,
Exercise 2 and
Exercise 3 (exercises
due next Monday at
midnight in your own
time zone)
Modes of justification: Inductive vs.
10/2611/1
Week 6 A return to inductive reasoning
11/211/8
Week 7 Language: Obscurity, Meaning
and Definition
11/9-
Govier, ch. 3
11/15
Week 8
Informal Fallacies
Appendix A
11/1611/22
Blackboard reading #3
5
Exercise 1: Part A;
Exercise 2:Part A;
and Exercise 3: Part
A and p.81(exercises
due next Monday at
midnight in your own
time zone)
Exercise A on
Blackboard (exercises
due next Monday at
midnight in your own
time zone)
PH651DE: Syllabus
DATE
Week 9
Week
10
Page 6
TOPIC
READINGS
Informal Fallacies continued
Exercise B on
Blackboard (exercises
due next Monday at
midnight in your own
time zone)
11/3012/6
Week
11
12/712/11
ASSIGNMENTS
Thanksgiving Week
Online debate
Critical Thinking skills in
application: Group debates.
Defense due for each
side on 12/7 midnight
in your own time zone
First objection for
each side due on 12/9
midnight in your own
time zone
Second objection for
each side due on
12/11 midnight in your
own time zone
Final objection for
each side due on
12/14 midnight in
your own time zone
6