Professor Jagdish Hattiangadi
jagdish@yorku.ca

Virtual office hours, electronic and telephone consultations: My office hour by prior appointment only is
after class at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays for an hour. It can also be at a mutually convenient time in person or by
telephone or Zoom, as required. Please send e-mail requests to jagdish@yorku.ca for an appointment.

This is an introductory course of lectures combined with tutorials, on good
reasoning or critical thinking. The texts are chosen from Plato’s dialogues which will cover the subject in
three ways: in the first third of the course we will read and discuss of some Socratic dialogues as examples
of critical thinking; Plato’s Socrates contrasted his way of reasoning with that of the sophists, who were
experts at persuasion, and we will study some depictions of sophistry by way of contrast. In the next
segment of the course, we will study how Plato found a difficulty in the Socratic method and invented a
philosophy to bolster the Socratic method. In the last part of the course, we will study how Plato applied his
philosophy to invent early forms of social and political science, asking questions to which we seek answers
in the social sciences.

Technical requirements for taking the course: Computerized access to e-class to post comments on
forums at least four times a week..
Here are some useful links for computing information, resources and help:
Student Guide to Moodle
Zoom@YorkU Best Practices
Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide
Computing for Students Website
Student Guide to eLearning at York University
To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]
Times and locations: Please note that this is a course that depends on asynchronous electronic discussion
prior to class. Lectures and discussion, M. W. 2:30 – 5:20 p.m. in CLH F.

Plato: Collected Works, ed. John Cooper, or any edition of the dialogues to be studied that are available in
the York University Libraries, or online.

Recommended but not required reading:
Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method: A practitioner’s handbook.

100% of the grade is reserved for your discussions in class and the two comments on forums in
e-class that are required twice each session.
An optional 20% may be chosen by a student for a combined final paper and oral examination to
follow. Students choose this option by handing in a paper on a topic TBA on time. The earned
grade for the class discussion will be reduced to 80% of the course grade, and the final paper
mark will add up to 20% to the final course grade.
In this course, all work presented as your own should be completed by you and you
alone. As such, you are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as
ChatGPT, or Google Gemini to help you complete any of your assignments in this course
(e.g., tests, papers, presentations, essay outlines, comments on material, etc.) If you do
not know whether an online resource or tool can be used in this course, please contact
the instructor for guidance. Any material produced by generative AI and presented as
your own will be considered a breach of the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty. For
more information, please review AI Technology & Academic Integrity: Information for
Students.

Lectures and discussion will be held twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 pm
in Curtis Lecture Hall, F. The topics and material will be listed on e-class so that you read and comment on
the topics twice on a forum before we get to class discussions and my remarks. One of your posts is a
primary comment on the topic and at least one comment on another person’s primary comment. Your
reading of the material and two comments always precede the discussion of topics, by posting at least once
24 hours before class and the second before 11:00 a.m., of the day of the class. After 11:00 a.m., the forum
will be locked for discussion and comments. You can speak in class to further the discussion.

• An improved ability to read a text as a critical thinker.
• An appreciation of reasoning in a humanities (philosophy) and a social science (political science)
• An understanding of how to argue critically and skilfully.
• Reading a text to accurately assess its theses and arguments.
• A familiarity with techniques sometimes used that are to be avoided in academic argument.

Course policies:
Senate Policy on Academic Honesty will govern all your work, including discussions
Moodle (e-class) discussion: There are three components to the discussions., First there are primary
comments on the material worth 40% the participation marks. The comments on another’s comment is
worth another 40% of the participation mark. Class discussion in person is reserved 20% of the participation
mark.
Mid-term Paper: There is no midterm exam or assignment.
The final paper: There is no mandatory final exam or assignment.
Late penalties for class discussion to be announced.