LR201 Reasoning and Research

3 units

Purpose: This course is designed to teach the student how to think logically, how to do research, how to avoid logical fallacies, how to recognize faulty research and how to recognize urban legends. The course will help the student avoid falling victim to scams, wishful thinking, and other errors.

Course Requirements: To accomplish the above mentioned goals the student will be required to read the lectures below, plus selections from the course text books. Then the student will be required to answer, in essay form, the questions found at the end of the lectures.

Time Requirements: LR201 Reasoning and Research is designed to be completed in one quarter.

Textbooks:

Introduction to Logic, Irving M. Copi, Carl Cohen.
The Modern Researcher, Jacques Barzun, Henry F. Graff

Books are available from Amazon.com.

All Sections Below Must Be Completed:

The Problem of Knowledge
 
Questions
Kinds of Knowledge
Rationalism vs. Empiricism
The Nature of Knowing
Logic and the Laws of Thought
Epistemological Issues
The Nature of Linguistic Meaning
The Verifiability Theory of Meaning
Truth
Scientific Method
The Problem of Induction
The Knowledge Situation
Theories of Knowledge
 
Logical Reasoning
 
Inductive Argument
Deductive Argument
Validity
Logical Falacies
 
Research
 
How the Mind Seeks Truth