Logic studies the methods and principles for distinguishing good arguments from bad. When are the reasons given to support some claim genuinely good reasons for accepting that claim? When is the reasoning fallacious? Our goal is to develop certain basic ways to answer these questions. We begin with the basic concepts for identifying arguments and recognizing their overall structure. What supports what in a given argument? We then discuss how emotional language, ambiguity, and vagueness may distort our discerning whether an argument gives good reasons. We then present three basic criteria for evaluating arguments, the ARG criteria: In a good argument, the premises are acceptable, relevant to the conclusion, and constitute grounds adequate for accepting the conclusion. We shall discuss each of these criteria in detail, including looking at certain families of arguments, conductive, analogy, categorical syllogism, and propositional arguments.

Course work will consist of a half-period quiz, two full-period examinations, a final examination, homework, and a written term composition developed over the course of the semester. Most, if not all, of the homework will be done on-line.

The text is Trudy Govier, A Practical Study of Argument Seventh Edition (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010), ISBN: 978-0-495-60340-5. The list price for the text is $127.95. It is available for $114.99 at Cengagebrain.com. The price for an etextbook is $61.49. Individual eChapters may be purchased for $9.49 each. We shall use material from ten of the chapters in the book. To purchase on-line, visit www.ichapters.com.