Jagdish Hattiangadi
jagdish@yorku.ca

This is an introductory course of lectures and tutorials on sound reasoning. The primary texts are chosen from Plato’s dialogues, which cover the subject in two ways. The first component is reading some Socratic dialogues as examples of critical thinking. Plato’s Socrates contrasted his way of reasoning with that of the sophists. We will cover critical thinking first. Its study and learning how to practice it is one of the main objectives of the course. We will also introduce ourselves to humanities and social science subjects. We will cover all three by reading Plato’s Socrates. When we study early Socrates, we will study his style of argument to acquaint ourselves with critical thinking. In the middle section of the course, we will study Plato’s philosophy, a subject in the humanities. Then, we will study parts of Plato’s Republic, where he raises interesting questions that are also studied in political science. At the end of the course, we will take up some fallacies to study using a different textbook available on Kindle.

Technical requirements for taking the course: There are meetings scheduled for this course through video conferencing. Anyone taking the course must be prepared to also appear on video (e.g., for tutorial/seminar discussion, remote proctoring, etc.). In addition to stable, higher-speed Internet connection, you will need a computer with webcam and microphone to participate in the course. A smart device like a tablet or smart phone with these features is not adequate.

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 remote teaching and learning... Lectures and discussion, M, W, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. by Zoom.

Virtual office hours, electronic and telephone consultations only: My office hour by appointment is before class 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 me an e-mail at jagdish@yorku.ca to make an appointment.

1. Plato: Collected Works, ed. and tr. Benjamin Jowett (e-book in our Library) or any collection of Plato’s dialogues with Stephanus pages marked.
2. Michael LaBossiere, 42 Fallacies. (Kindle electronic purchase from Amazon.ca.)

60% for the e-class Moodle discussion, required twice each week.

20% on the midterm paper, topic is to be announced.

20% Final paper due on or before the last day of the class scheduled in this course.

In this course, all work should be completed by you and you alone. As such, you are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, to help you complete any of your work in this course (e.g., tests, papers, assignments, presentations, essay outlines, presentation scripts, etc.). If you do not know whether an online resource or tool can be used in this course, please contact me for guidance. Any use of generative AI in this course 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 discussions will be held twice a week via Zoom on the days and times indicated on e-class. The topics and material will be listed in e-class so that you read and comment twice before each session when we get to the Zoom discussions – one being 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 issues by posting at least once 24 hours before the time set up for Zoom. The Zoom or class discussions are synchronous, meaning we will be in the meeting all together. The e-class Moodle posts are not synchronous. You can post any time at your convenience, provided your comments are recorded before class and your primary comment precedes the Zoom meeting by at least 24 hours.

• An appreciation of reasoning in the humanities (philosophy) and social science (political science)
• A critical appreciation of how to argue skilfully.
• Familiarity with essential forms of argument and fallacies to recognize and avoid.
• An improved ability to read and write in a critical manner

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 half the participation marks. The comments on another’s primary comment is worth anther 30% of the participation mark. Class (Zoom) discussions are worth 20% of the participation mark,

Mid-term Paper: This is a paper submitted to Turnitin on the topic to be announced.

The final paper: It is posted to Turnitin before a course grade can be earned.

Late penalties for both papers are 2% per day late or part thereof.