Fundamental Themes of Philosophy

Objectives

At the end of the semester, students should be able to:

1. Identify an argument, its structure and possible hidden assumptions;

2. Apply the main inference rules in the domain of logic;

3. Evaluate the validity of deductive arguments and the strength of inductive arguments;

4. Identify formal and informal fallacies;

5. Evaluate critically the main argumentative schemes that are used in everyday contexts;

6. Evaluate, on the basis of philosophical analyses of knowledge, the grounds of knowledge claims;

7. Apply the results of the philosophical reflection on epistemic justification to practical contexts.

Program

PART I – LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING

1. Conceptions of philosophy.

2. Logic, informal logic and critical thinking.

3. Notions of Aristotelian logic: the logical square; the theory of immediate inferences; syllogisms.

4. Notions of symbolic logic: connectives and truth tables; symbolization; the justification of inferences.

5. The nature of causal reasoning and inductive rules (Mill).

6. Formal and informal fallacies.

7. Argumentative schemes in the everyday discourse.

8. Critical reasoning in action: identification, analysis and evaluation of arguments.

9. Critical thinking and philosophy for children.

PART II - EPISTEMOLOGY

1. The analysis of knowledge.

2. Three historical milestones of epistemology: Descartes, Hume and Kant.

3. Sources of knowledge: perception, memory, reason and testimony.

4. Theories of justification: foundationalism; coherentism; contextualism.

5. The problem of skepticism.

6. The problem of moral knowledge.

Teaching Methodologies

Theoretical classes complemented by theoretical-practical classes.

Discussion of the taught contents.

Critical analysis of argumentative texts and passages.

To solve problems and exercises.

To read texts that complement the theorethical classes.

Bibliography

DESCARTES, R., Discurso do Método & As Paixões da Alma, Lisboa, Liv. Sá da Costa, 1984.

FORBES, G., Modern Logic, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1984.

HUME, D., Investigação sobre o Entendimento Humano, Lisboa, Ed. 70, 1989.

LIPMAN, M., Thinking in Education, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

LIPMAN, M., A Descoberta de Aristóteles Maia, Lisboa, Sociedade Portuguesa de Filosofia/Centro Português de Filosofia para Crianças, 1994.

MOORE, B. e PARKER, R., Critical Thinking, London, McGraw-Hill, 2007.

MOSER, P., MULDER, D. e TROUT, J., The Theory of Knowledge, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001.

NOLT, J. e ROHATYN, D., Lógica, S. Paulo, McGraw-Hill, 1991.

O’BRIEN, D., Introdução à Teoria do Conhecimento, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2013.

THIRY, P., Noções de Lógica, Lisboa, Edições 70, 2010.

WALTON, D., Lógica Informal, S. Paulo, Martins Fontes, 1989.

WALTON, D., Reed, C. e Macagno, F., Argumentation Schemes, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.