Some argue that all students should take courses in basic logic. At Otago University any student, from any degree course, can take ‘Critical Thinking’. If it’s a good course,¹ as I suspect it is, they should.

Plato and Aristotle (Source: wikipedia)

In an earlier advisory essay I wrote that one thing all students should get out of university is to be self-learners. Another would be critical thinking. It ought to be part of every student’s repertoire.

At Otago University, PHIL 105, Critical Thinking, has the interesting honour of being the only course in the university that can be accredited to any degree course. (I’d be keen to hear readers suggest any others that could perhaps be made available to all degrees,² or if a similar practice exists in other universities.)

The description of PHIL 105 reads:

This paper aims to educate students in clear thinking and rational argument. Topics covered include: how to sort out good arguments from bad ones; techniques for testing the validity of an argument; common fallacies of argument; and the distinction between science and pseudoscience.

Or, from the prescription:

The ideas of reason, truth and argument. What are the limits of argument? Common fallacies of reasoning. Traditional logic and its limitations. Modern logic. Non-deductive reasoning.

Dr Maclaurin (Head of the department of Philosophy) teaches the course with Associate Professor Heather Dyke.

I imagine it’s a great course to teach. You’d get a chance to dissect and smack down your favourite pieces of illogic! According to Assoc. Prof., interviewed by Mr. Bertram for D-Scene:

’Bullsh*t detection is what we teach.’

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