Preamble / Objectives (Optional):
A course in logical reasoning should impart to the students the necessary skills to engage in reasoning
through real world cases. With this aim in mind, the course will introduce the models of correct reasoning,
both deductive and ampliative, and also dwell on their respective strengths and shortcomings. It will
supplement this with an overview of commonly encountered fallacies and biases. The skills developed
during the course will be put to use to evaluate real world cases of public reasoning, including diagnosing
fake news and echo chambers.
Course Content/ Syllabus:
Basic concepts: epistemology, arguments, truth, validity, soundness, strength; Language: words and
meanings, intension and extension of terms, definitional techniques; Deductive reasoning: propositional
logic, categorical reasoning; Inductive reasoning: generalization, analogies, inference to the best
explanation; Fallacies: formal, informal, biases; Philosophy and critical thinking: moral reasoning, public
reasoning, epistemology of fake news and echo chambers.
Books (In case UG compulsory courses, please give it as “Text books” and “Reference books”. Otherwise
give it as “References”.
Texts: (Format: Authors, Book Title in Italics font, Volume/Series, Edition Number, Publisher, Year.)
1. L. Vaughn, The Power of Critical Thinking, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005
References: (Format: Authors, Book Title in Italics font, Volume/Series, Edition Number, Publisher, Year.)
1. C. Howson and P. Urbach, Scientific Reasoning, Open Court, 2006
2. I. M. Copi, Symbolic Logic, Prentice-Hall of India, 2012
3. P. Lipton, Inference to the Best Explanation, Routledge, 2004
