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Syllabus for Philosophy 110, Section 4, Spring 2016
Critical Thinking & Composition, Schedule #22567, Nicholas Cardwell,
Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, 10:00AM – 10:50AM, PS 140
*The instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus during the course of the semester in order to fit
the needs of the class. Students will be notified of any changes made during the course of the semester.*
Description from Course Catalogue: Introduction to critical thinking and writing. Evaluation and
development of correct reasoning and effective style and organization in argumentative writing. Correct
deductive and inductive reasoning. Fallacies. Critical appraisal of evidence. Construction of rebuttals and
counter-arguments. Passing this course satisfies the Critical Thinking and Composition requisite for
general education.
General Education
Passing this course satisfies the Intermediate Composition and Critical Thinking requirement for General
Education (I.3). You may find more information regarding this requirement in the San Diego State
University General Catalogue under the Communication and Critical Thinking requirements. See
http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/catalog/2015-16/026_GraduationRequirements-86.pdf.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the English Placement Test and Writing Competency requirements and
Africana Studies 120 or American Indian Studies 120 or Chicana or Chicano Studies 111B or English 100
or Linguistics 100 or Rhetoric and Writing Studies 100 or 101. Proof of completion of prerequisites
required: Test scores or verification of exemption; grade report or copy of transcript.
Outcomes: Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
 Evaluate arguments.
 Apply critical evaluation in writing.
 Identify deductive and inductive arguments.
 Identify fallacies and biases.
 Avoid the use of fallacious argumentation.
 Create carefully thought out and well-reasoned arguments with supporting evidence.
 Design counter-arguments and rebuttals.
 Conduct scholarly research.
Required Texts and Materials: Morrow, David and Anthony Weston. A Workbook for Arguments.
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2011.
Any other required readings (if any) that are not found in the textbook will be made available on Blackboard under “Course Documents”.
Students are expected to provide their own blue books, pens, and any other materials used for note taking,
essays, and test taking.
Office Hours & Contact Information: [January 20th-May 12th]:
Room 430 (TA Office) Arts & Letters, Mondays & Wednesdays from 5:00PM – 7:00PM, or by
appointment.
Email: cardwell@rohan.sdsu.edu.
TA Office Phone: (619) 594-6257 (no voicemail)
Department Phone: (619) 594-5263.
Syllabus Phil 110
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Reading and Exercises: Students are expected to be prepared for each class period. In order to
accomplish this expectation, students should do the assigned reading (if any are assigned) before each
class period. Over the course of the semester, 10 exercises will be assigned in order to assess whether or
not students are understanding the material covered in class and in the assigned readings. Exercises may
come in the form of a pop-quiz, short essay, or some form of activity or assignment to be completed by
students outside of the classroom. Exercises are graded on a pass/no-pass scale and account for a total of
10 points on the student’s overall grade.
Written Assignments: This course consists of 2 medium length essays (1-4 pages), and 1 final paper (4-6
pages). Each essay is graded on a 5 point scale.
Medium Essays are weighted 5x the base score for a total of 25 points possible each—50 points total.
Final papers are weighted 10x the base score for a total of 50 points possible.
See below for the “Grading Rubrics”
Medium Length Essays: These two essays are to demonstrate that the student has an understanding of
proper grammatical and argumentative form, and can communicate her/his own ideas in a clear, concise,
carefully considered, and well-reasoned manner. In order to demonstrate this, students will write 2 essays
that demonstrate understanding of the assigned text and in class discussion.
For the first essay, the student will support some claim with a few arguments. The student should choose
to argue for some controversial claim that others could disagree with. For example, the student may
choose to defend vegetarianism, the existence of God, women’s rights to abortion, or not smoking
cigarettes. However, students are not limited to serious claims; seemingly more trivial claims like whether
blue or black ink is better, bicycles are better than skateboards, or Apple products are better than
Microsoft products are all acceptable claims. The student is not limited to these topics, but may use one of
them if she/he desires. Students are required to use a minimum of two outside sources that support her/his
claim, but may use more if they like. This should be 1-2 pages in length. See below for grading rubric.
For the second essay, the student will object to the claim in the first essay. For example, if in the first
paper the student chose to write in defense of God’s existence, then she will oppose the claim that God
exists, and provide arguments that support this objection. The student must use a minimum of two new
outside sources that oppose her/his claim. This paper should be 2-4 pages in length. See below for grading
rubric.
Final Paper: The final paper will be due at the end of the last class period. This paper is meant to
combine the first and second essays together to create a more well-developed argument. For this paper,
the student will support some claim with a couple arguments, provide opposing objections to the claim,
and then explain why her/his support or objections are better (more convincing) than her/his opponents’
objections.
This paper must be 4-6 pages in length. This does not include the (optional) title page or work cited
page(s).
General Information about Written Assignments: All papers are to be submitted in print unless
explicitly stated otherwise by the instructor. No hand-written essays will be accepted. Students’ essays
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must have 1 inch margins on all sides, not use widows/orphans, use 12 point font size, and be double
spaced. Students may submit medium essays and the final paper late at a cost of ½ point per class period.
Keep in mind that the base score for each essay is 5 points. Thus, papers that would have received a score
of “5” that are submitted one day late will receive a score of “4.5”; papers that would have received a “4”
will receive a “3.5” if submitted one class period late, “3” if submitted 2 class periods late, “2.5” if
submitted 3 class periods late, and so on in such fashion.
Attendance: By university policy, students who must miss a class meeting due to a scheduled religious
holiday and/or participation in an SDSU sponsored event (athletics, marching band, etc.) must inform the
instructor within the first 2 weeks of classes so that any necessary accommodations may be made. Failure
to notify the instructor before 4 September alleviates the instructor’s obligation to provide any
accommodation.
Attendance, attentiveness, and participation are very important to the instructor, and while attendance
cannot count (per university policy) for any part of a student’s final grade, final grade calculations rarely
end up neatly or squarely on acceptable university grades (i.e., 4.0, 3.7, 3.3, etc.) Some value for
participation, however, may be used in computing a final grade. The instructor, therefore, will have some
“wiggle” room when assigning grades. If a student’s final average should work out numerically to be
3.69, the instructor is under no obligation to assign the nearest higher grade (i.e., 3.7 or A-). The student
fairly could be assigned 3.3 (B+) since the student didn’t make the 3.7 cutoff. Attendance, attentiveness,
and participation, then, may make a difference in a student’s final grade. If a student foresees any time
conflicts due to work, family, or personal concerns, that student is advised to withdraw and to take
another course.
Absences from Class
Within the first two weeks of class, a student who expects to be part of an official university event or
activity (such as athletics, performances, forensics, etc.) shall notify the instructors of affected courses and
provide them a schedule indicating any class days that will be missed. When possible, the instructor shall
reasonably accommodate the student's required absence from class. It is the responsibility of the student
to notify the faculty member of any changes in the schedule immediately.
Religious Observances
The University Policy File includes the following statement on Absence for Religious Observances: By
the end of the second week of classes, students should notify the instructors of affected courses of planned
absences for religious observances. Instructors shall reasonably accommodate students who notify them in
advance of planned absences for religious observances. California Education Code 89320 states: The
Trustees of the California State University shall require that each state university, in administering any
test or examination, to permit any student who is eligible to undergo the test or examination to do so,
without penalty, at a time when that activity would not violate the student's religious creed. Please notify
me by the end of the second week of classes if you plan to be absent for religious observance.
Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need
accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619)
594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student
Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and that I
cannot provide accommodations based upon disability until I have received an accommodation letter from
Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
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Grades: Scores for all assignments will be made according to the guidelines in the SDSU General
Catalogue. That is, 4.0 = A; 3.0 = B, and so on. Note that a grade of 3.0 (B) signifies that the work is
acceptable and done at the level one would expect; 2.0 (C) signifies that the work is acceptable but barely
so; 1 (D) signifies that the work is not acceptable for credit; 0 (F) indicates a failing grade. 4.0 (A)
signifies excellence and is assigned for the highest accomplishment.
The final grade is computed by averaging all assigned and graded work; once a numerical score is
determined, the instructor considers factors such as attendance, participation, effort, etc. in deciding
whether to raise (never lower) a student’s final grade above the numerical score.
Exercises: 1 point each; 10 points total.
Medium Essays: 25 points each; 50 points total.
Final Paper: 50 points.
Grand total: 110 points.
Cheating and Plagiarism: Cheating shall be defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit
for academic work by the use of dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. Examples of cheating include,
but are not limited to (a) copying, in part or in whole, from another’s test or other examination; (b)
discussing answers or ideas relating to the answers on a test or other examination without the permission
of the instructor; (c) obtaining copies of a test, an examination, or other course material without the
permission of the instructor; (d) using notes, cheat sheets, or other devices considered inappropriate under
the prescribed testing condition; (e) collaborating with another or others in work to be presented without
the permission of the instructor; (f) falsifying records, laboratory work, or other course data; (g)
submitting work previously presented in another course, if contrary to the rules of the course; (h) altering
or interfering with the grading procedures; (i) plagiarizing, as defined; and (j) knowingly and intentionally
assisting another student in any of the above.
Plagiarism shall be defined as the act of incorporating ideas, words, or specific substance of another,
whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained, and submitting same to the University as one’s own
work to fulfill academic requirements without giving credit to the appropriate source. Plagiarism shall
include but not be limited to (a) submitting work, either in part or in whole, completed by another; (b)
omitting footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or conclusions that belong to another; (c) omitting
quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof;
(d) close and lengthy paraphrasing of the writings of another; (e) submitting another person’s artistic
works, such as musical compositions, photographs, paintings, drawings, or sculptures; and (f) submitting
as one’s own work papers purchased from research companies.
Electronics Policy: The use of laptop computers or other electronic devices is allowed, but students
should be mindful that flickering screens are generally very distracting to those around them; please
refrain from using a computer or other device for activities other than note taking. No one is required to
be attentive or interested in classroom activities, but all students are expected to behave as if they were
interested in order not to disturb or to distract students who are making the effort to be attentive.
Center for Teaching and Learning website
http://go.sdsu.edu/dus/ctl/
This website has information on workshops and other helpful resources for you as teachers.
Writing Center
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http://writingcenter.sdsu.edu/
Your students can go here for assistance with their written assignments.
Library
http://library.sdsu.edu/
Your students should have access to a wide variety of articles through the library.
Other contacts
Student Health Services
http://shs.sdsu.edu/index.asp
Counseling and Psychological Services
http://studentaffairs.sdsu.edu/cps/index.html
Phone: (619) 594-5220
***** End of syllabus *****
Grading Rubrics
Medium Essays and Final Paper are graded on the 5 point scale below. Medium Essays and are weighted
5x base value (25 points each possible). The Final Paper is weighted 10x base value (50 points possible).
Grading Rubric for Medium Length Essay One
To earn 0 points: The student does not do the assignment, or does not turn the assignment with his/her
name on the paper.
To earn 1 point: The student turns in an assignment with her/his name on every page; student submits a
totally incomplete assignment; student submits a paper with the admission that she/he did not do
the assignment.
To earn 2 points: The student submits a mostly complete essay with her/his name on every page; the
student’s writing attempts to make an argument, but it is not clear what claim the student is
supporting or opposing; there are numerous grammatical and spelling errors that detract from
understanding the argument.
To earn 3 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with an argument; there are a few grammatical and spelling
errors, but not so many that it detracts from understanding the argument.
To earn 4 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with at least arguments from properly cited and scholarly
sources; there are few, if any, grammatical and spelling errors, and they do not detract from
understanding the argument.
To earn 5 points: The students submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with at least two arguments from properly cited and
scholarly sources; the students writing is original, interesting, and/or honest; there are no
grammatical or spelling errors that detract from understanding the argument.
Grading Rubric for Medium Length Essay Two
To earn 0 points: The student does not do the assignment, or does include her/his name on the paper.
To earn 1 point: The student turns in an assignment with her/his name on every page; student submits a
mostly incomplete assignment; student submits a paper with the admission that she/he made no
attempt to find objections to her/his previous argument.
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To earn 2 points: The student submits a mostly complete essay with her/his name every page; the
student’s writing attempts to make an argument, but it is not clear what claim the student is
supporting or opposing; the student attempts to create a counterargument or two to her/his
previous claim, but the counterargument is not clearly related to the student’s claim; there are
many grammatical and spelling errors that detract from understanding the argument.
To earn 3 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with an argument from at least two scholarly sources; the
student creates a counterargument or two, but the counterarguments are, in some important way,
misrepresented; there are a few grammatical and spelling errors, but not so many that it detracts
too much from understanding the arguments.
To earn 4 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with an argument from at least two scholarly sources; the
student creates a counterargument by properly representing claims from two or more scholarly
sources that are relevant to the student’s claim; there are no grammatical or spelling errors that
detract from understanding the arguments.
To earn 5 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing creates a counterargument by properly representing claims from two or more scholarly
sources that are relevant to the student’s claim; the students writing is interesting, original, and/or
honest; there are no grammatical or spelling errors that detract from understanding the arguments.
Grading Rubric for the Final Paper
To earn 0 points: The student does not do the assignment, or does not include her/his name on the paper.
To earn 1 point: The student turns in an assignment with her/his name on every page; student submits a
mostly incomplete assignment; student submits a paper with the admission that she/he made no
attempt to explain why her/his argument is better than her/his opponents’ argument.
To earn 2 points: The student submits a mostly complete essay with her/his name on every page; the
student’s writing does not clearly explain why her/his argument is better than her/his opponents’
arguments; there are many grammatical and spelling errors that detract from understanding the
argument.
To earn 3 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with an argument from at least two properly cited, scholarly
sources; the student creates a counterargument or two from properly cited, scholarly sources; the
student attempts to explain why her/his argument is better than her/his opponents’ arguments;
there are a few grammatical and spelling errors, but not so many that it detracts too much from
understanding the arguments.
To earn 4 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with an argument from at least two scholarly sources; the
student creates a counterargument by properly representing claims from two or more scholarly
sources that are relevant to the student’s claim; the student clearly identifies why/how her/his
argument is better than her/his opponents’ argument; the student identifies ways that her/his
opponents arguments are fallacious or incorrect; there are no grammatical or spelling errors that
detract from understanding the arguments.
To earn 5 points: The student submits a complete essay with her/his name on every page; ; the student’s
writing makes a claim and supports it with an argument from at least two scholarly sources; the
student’s writing creates a counterargument by properly representing claims from two or more
scholarly sources that are relevant to the student’s claim; the student clearly identifies why/how
her/his argument is better than her/his opponents’ argument; the student identifies ways that
her/his opponents arguments are fallacious or incorrect; the students writing is interesting,
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original, and/or honest; there are no grammatical or spelling errors that detract from understanding
the arguments.
Course Calendar
This Course Calendar is meant to serve as a guideline for what students should expect during each class
period. Due dates, assignments, and readings may be subject to change by the instructor. Students will be
notified of any changes made by the instructor.
Week 1
Introductions: Get to know your instructor and your neighbors. Review syllabus. Introduce course
material. Why Critical Thinking & Composition? Why study philosophy?
Reading (for Friday): Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (on Blackboard).
Reading (for following week): Introduction. Pgs. xvii-xx.
Week 2
Discussion: Rules 1-6: Identify Premises and Conclusions; Developing Ideas in a Natural Order; Start
From Reliable Premises; Be Concrete and Concise; Build on Substance, not Overtone; Use Consistent
Terms.
Reading: Ch. 2 Rules 7-11. Pgs. 38-71. Ch. 3. Arguments by Analogy. Pgs. 72-77.
Week 3
Discussion: Ch. 2: Rules 7-11: Use more than one example; Use representative examples; Background
rates; Statistics; Considering Counterexamples. Creating a Thesis (Making a Definite Claim). Arguments
as Outlines. Detailing and Meeting Objections. Getting Feedback. Modesty.
Reading: Ch. 4. Rule 13-17. Pgs. 87-105. Ch. 5. Rules: 18-21. Pgs. 106-123.
Week 4
Discussion: Accessing Love Library’s databases. Rules 13-17: Citing Sources; Finding Informed Sources;
Finding Impartial Sources; Cross-check Sources; Use the Web with Care. Rules 18-21: Causal arguments
start with correlations; Correlations may have alternative explanations; Work toward the most likely
explanation; Expect complexity.
Homework: Medium Length Essay 1
Week 5
Medium Length Essay 1 Due Monday.
Discussion: Handing back Essay 1. Peer evaluation of thesis statements. Introduction to arguments
between meat eating and vegetarianism.
Homework: Bring in a source to support/defend either vegetarianism or meat eating.
Week 6
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Discussion: Arguments for/against meat-eating. Arguments for/against vegetarianism. Evaluating
controversial claims.
Reading: Ch. 7. Extended Arguments. Rules 29-31. Pgs. 156-181.
Week 7
Discussion: Objections to vegetarianism. Considering alternatives (veganism, pescetarianism,
flexitarianism, etc.) Beginning argumentative essays.
Reading: Ch. 8. Argumentative Essays. Rules 34-36. Pgs. 182-193. Reading: Ch. 8. Rules 37-39. Pgs.
194-203.
Week 8
Movie: Food Inc.
Week 9
Discussion: Fallacies.
Homework: Bring in one example of a fallacy covered in class.
Week 10
*****Easter Break*****
Week 11
Discussion: More on fallacies.
Homework: Bring in one example of a fallacy covered in class. (Must be different than the first fallacy
you brought in). Medium Length Essay 2.
Week 12
Medium Length Essay 2 Due Monday.
Movie: Thank You for Smoking. Identify 5 fallacies as you watch the film.
Week 13
Discussion: Finish Thank You for Smoking. Discuss movie and its many fallacies. Review locating
sources. In-class work on essays. Putting together Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis.
Week 14
Discussion: Why your argument is better. Does your opponent use fallacious arguments? Group editing
and feedback.
Week 15
Group work and editing Final paper drafts.
Week 16
Finishing Details on final papers. Discussion: Course feedback. How did you like/dislike this course?
How have you changed? How has this course affected you?
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Final Paper Due at End of Final Class Period (Friday)!
Week 17 – Finals Week
Exit Exam
*****End of Calendar*****
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