PHIL 252 — Critical Thinking
A philosophy elective focused on the theory and practice of disciplined reasoning. Covers how beliefs are formed and evaluated, how arguments are constructed and assessed, formal and informal logic, and the skills needed to identify and counter misleading information.
Key Concepts
CriticalThinking, Belief, Bullshit, Argument, Cogency, Validity, ClassificationSystems, Definition, Enthymeme, CategoricalStatements, Syllogism, ImmediateInference, InformalFallacies, FallaciesOfAmbiguity, DataVisualization, Bias, Analogy, Causation, FalseCause, SelectionBiasVariants
Modules / Units
| Unit | Topic | Summary Page | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Why Critical Thinking | PHIL252-Unit1 | ingested |
| 2 | Arguments and Bullshit | PHIL252-Unit2 | ingested |
| 3 | Validity as a Truth-Preserving Method | PHIL252-Unit3 | ingested |
| 4 | Classification and Definition | PHIL252-Unit4 | ingested |
| 5 | Categorical Logic and Syllogisms | PHIL252-Unit5 | ingested |
| 6 | Fallacies of Ambiguity, Meaning, and Representation | PHIL252-Unit6 | ingested |
| 7 | Science & Causal Reasoning | PHIL252-Unit7 | ingested |
Connections to Other Courses
- ADMN 201 (overview): CriticalThinking-BusinessDecisions — how the full PHIL252 toolkit applies to business decision-making
- ADMN 201 (bias): Bias-ManagementAssumptions — cognitive bias ↔ Theory X/Y manager assumptions
- ADMN 201 (causation): Causation-RiskManagement — causal reasoning ↔ the 5-step risk management process
- ADMN 201 (false cause): FalseCause-MotivationTheories — false cause fallacies ↔ causal claims in motivation theories
- ADMN 201 (data viz): DataVisualization-FinancialRatios — misleading chart techniques ↔ financial ratio presentations
- ADMN 201 (classification): ClassificationSystems-Accounting — classification rules ↔ accounting category structure
- ADMN 201 (selection bias): SelectionBias-SecuritiesMarkets — survivorship bias ↔ fund performance data