Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have developed the conceptual and analytical tools required to critically assess the various forms of discourse encountered in their personal and professional lives.

Goals

The primary objective of this course is to introduce students to the key concepts, issues, and tools of critical thinking, focusing in particular on its dimension as a form of intellectual self-defense, namely the capacity to resist misleading, deceptive, or fallacious forms of discourse.

The course pursues a twofold aim. First, it seeks to develop and sharpen students' individual critical skills. Second, it examines the new epistemic environments in which students are increasingly required to navigate, paying particular attention to the ways in which these environments may threaten the proper exercise of critical judgment and reasoning.

Content

The course is organized into 12 thematic sessions (10 theoretical sessions and 2 sessions dedicated to a lecture-performance), according to the following structure:

  1. Critical Thinking and Sensitivity to Reasons

  2. Beliefs and Inference

  3. Reasonable Doubt and Truth

  4. Values and Expertise

  5. Logical Strength and Rhetoric

  6. Analogy and Causality

  7. Burden of Proof and Abduction

  8. Pseudoscience and Conspiracy Theories

  9. Fake News and Other Epistemic Pollutants

  10. Bias and Artificial Intelligence

  11. Lecture-Performance: "The Critical Moment" (L'Instant critique)

  12. Debriefing and Open Discussion

(These themes may be adjusted or modified depending on the actual pace and progression of the course.)

Table of contents

See "content" section.

Teaching methods

For the 10 theoretical sessions, teaching will be delivered in a lecture-based format, while still allowing ample room for discussion and interaction (depending on the size of the audience).

The lecture-performance will be offered to students (the timetable may be adjusted slightly due to organizational constraints) and will be followed by a debriefing session with the instructor and Régis Falque (performer/actor and UNamur researcher).

Assessment method

For both sessions, assessment will consist of a closed-book written examination. It will cover the material presented during the course sessions as well as the lecture-performance.

Sources, references and any support material

The course slides will be made available in their entirety in PDF format on the course WebCampus page prior to each session (and may be used as note-taking support).

A portfolio of supplementary readings, including all course sources and references, will also be provided.

Language of instruction

French