Learning outcomes

At the end of the lectures, students will have acquired the ability to distinguish between sound (or illegitimate) uses of the most common argumentative (inductive and informal) schemas, as used both in science and in science communication.

Goals

To help the students recognize and use different types of arguments (as well as determine when they are used legitimately).

Content

The course is devoted to a presentation of the types of arguments most frequently used in an informal way, with a willingness to disambiguate their good or bad variations. Many examples of (bad) arguments from the sciences will be provided as illustrations. There will be practical moments devoted to probe the soundness of (written and oral) arguments from debates about climate change.

Teaching methods

The teaching is "ex cathedra" but involves moments devoted to problem-solving.

Assessment method

For the students enrolled in the Faculty of Science

For both sessions: oral exam (no access to personal note) with preparation time. The student will answer three randomly picked questions: (i) a theoretical question (/8); (ii) formulate a personal argument following a given schema, with an assessment of its validity (/6); (iii) identify a given argument and assess its validity (/6).


For the students enrolled in the Faculty of Computer Science

For both sessions: written exam (no access to personal note). The student will answer four questions: a theoretical question (/5); formulate a personal argument following a given schema, with an assessment of its validity (/5); (iii) identify two given arguments and assess their validity (2x /5).

Sources, references and any support material

B. Leclercq et L. Bouquiaux – Logique formelle et argumentation. Louvain-la-neuve, De Boeck Université, 3ème édition, 2017.

All the slides of the lectures will be provided on WebCampus.

Language of instruction

French