Think Again III: How to Reason Inductively

About this course: How to Reason Inductively Think Again: How to Reason and Argue Reasoning is important. This series of four short courses will teach you how to do it well. You will learn simple but vital rules to follow in thinking about any topic at all and common and tempting mistakes to avoid in reasoning. We will discuss how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments by other people (including politicians, used car salesmen, and teachers) and how to construct arguments of your own in order to help you decide what to believe or what to do. These skills will be useful in dealing with whatever matters most to you. Courses at a Glance: All four courses in this series are offered through sessions which run every four weeks. We suggest sticking to the weekly schedule to the best of your ability. If for whatever reason you fall behind, feel free to re-enroll in the next session.We also suggest that you start each course close to the beginning of a month in order to increase the number of peers in the discussion forums who are working on the same material as you are. While each course can be taken independently, we suggest you take the four courses in order. Course 1 - Think Again I: How to Understand Arguments Course 2 - Think Again II: How to Reason Deductively Course 3 - Think Again III: How to Reason Inductively Course 4 - Think Again IV: How to Avoid Fallacies About This Course in the Series: Think Again: How to Reason Inductively Want to solve a murder mystery? What caused your computer to fail? Who can you trust in your everyday life? In this course, you will learn what distinguishes inductive arguments from deductive arguments and then how to analyze and assess five common forms of inductive arguments: generalizations from samples, applications of generalizations, inference to the best explanation, arguments from analogy, and causal reasoning. The course closes by showing how probability can be used to help us make decisions of all sorts. Suggested Readings Students who want more detailed explanations or additional exercises or who want to explore these topics in more depth should consult Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic, Ninth Edition, Concise, Chapters 8-12, by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Robert Fogelin. Course Format Each week will be divided into multiple video segments that can be viewed separately or in groups. There will be short ungraded quizzes after each segment (to check comprehension) and a longer graded quiz at the end of the course.

Who is this class for: This material is appropriate for introductory college students or advanced high school students—or, indeed, anyone who is interested. No special background is required other than knowledge of English.

Created by:  Duke University

• Taught by:  Dr. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Professor

  Philosophy

• Taught by:  Dr. Ram Neta, Professor

  Philosophy

Level Beginner Language English, Subtitles: Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Chinese (Simplified) How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. User Ratings 4.8 stars Average User Rating 4.8See what learners said Travail en cours

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Syllabus


WEEK 1


Welcome to the Course



<p>Welcome to <b>Think Again: How to Reason Inductively</b>! This course is the third in a series of four courses jointly titled <em>Think Again: How to Reason and Argue</em>. We are excited that you are taking this course, and we hope that you will take all four courses in the series, because there is a great deal of important material to learn.</p><p>In the series as a whole, you learn how to analyze and evaluate arguments and how to avoid common mistakes in reasoning. These important skills will be useful to you in deciding what to believe and what to do in all areas of your life. </p><p>The first part of this course introduces the series and the course. It also clarifies some peculiarities you may find with this course. We encourage you to watch the "<b>Introduction to the Course</b>" video first as it will help you learn more from the materials that come later. </p>


1 video, 1 reading expand

1. Video: Introduction to the Course
2. Lecture: Course Logistics (Start Here)

Inductive Arguments



<p><b>CONTENT</b>: This week begins by distinguishing inductive arguments from deductive arguments. Then we discuss four common forms of inductive argument: generalizations from samples (such as in political polls), applications of generalizations to particular cases (such as in predicting weather on a certain day), inferences to the best explanation (such as in using evidence to determine who committed a crime), and arguments from analogy (such as in identifying the use of one archaeological artifact by comparing it to other artifacts). We will expose the most common mistakes in these kinds of reasoning. Some of the "lectures" this week are a bit experimental (and perhaps weird!), as you will see. We hope that you enjoy them.<p><b>LEARNING OUTCOMES</b>: By the end of this week's material you will be able to do:<ul> <li>distinguish inductive from deductive arguments</li> <li>classify inductive arguments into five kinds</li> <li>identify and evaluate arguments that generalize from samples</li><li>identify and evaluate arguments that apply generalizations to cases</li><li>identify and evaluate inferences to the best explanation by applying standards that good explanations must meet</li><li>identify and evaluate arguments from analogy</li></ul></p><p><b>OPTIONAL READING</b>: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these kinds of inductive arguments, we recommend <em>Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition</em>, Chapters 8 and 9.</p>


9 videos, 8 practice quizzes expand

1. Video: What Is Induction?
2. Quiz pour s'exercer: What Is Induction?
3. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Which Is Better?
4. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: When to Trust Inductive Arguments
5. Video: Generalizations from Samples
6. Quiz pour s'exercer: Generalizations from Samples
7. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Inductive Generalizations
8. Video: When are Generalizations Strong?
9. Quiz pour s'exercer: When are Generalizations Strong?
10. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Large Samples
11. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Biased Samples
12. Video: Applying Generalizations
13. Quiz pour s'exercer: Applying Generalizations
14. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Applications
15. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Conflicting Reference Classes
16. Video: Another Example of Applying Generalizations (Optional)
17. Video: Inference to the Best Explanation
18. Quiz pour s'exercer: Inference to the Best Explanation
19. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Are They Inductive?
20. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Are They Expanations?
21. Video: Which Explanation Is Best?
22. Quiz pour s'exercer: Which Explanation Is Best?
23. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Which Explanation Is Better?
24. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Explanatory Virtues
25. Video: A Student Example of Inference to the Best Explanation
26. Quiz pour s'exercer: A Student Example: Inference to the Best Explanation
27. Video: Arguments from Analogy
28. Quiz pour s'exercer: Arguments from Analogy
29. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Are They Different?
30. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Legal Precedents

WEEK 2


Causal Reasoning



<p><b>CONTENT</b>: This module will focus on how to decide what causes what. Students will learn how to distinguish necessary conditions from sufficient conditions and how to use data to test hypotheses about what is and what is not a necessary condition or a sufficient condition. Then we will distinguish causation from correlation (or concomitant variation) and explain the fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc. It is sad that some diners had to die to make this lesson possible, as you will see.</p> <p><b>LEARNING OUTCOMES</b>: By the end of this week’s material you will be able to do: <ul> <li> analyze causal reasoning</li> <li>distinguish necessary from sufficient conditions</li> <li>determine what is necessary or sufficient for what</li> <li>separate causation from correlation</li> </ul> </p> <p><b>OPTIONAL READING</b>: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these topics, we recommend <em>Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition</em>, Chapter 10.</p>


9 videos, 8 practice quizzes expand

1. Video: Causal Reasoning
2. Quiz pour s'exercer: Causal Reasoning
3. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: General Rules
4. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Sufficient or Necessary?
5. Video: Negative Sufficient Condition Tests
6. Quiz pour s'exercer: Negative Sufficient Condition Tests
7. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: What Is Normal?
8. Video: Positive Sufficient Condition Tests
9. Quiz pour s'exercer: Positive Sufficient Condition Tests
10. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Adding Further Qualifications
11. Video: Negative Necessary Condition Tests
12. Quiz pour s'exercer: Negative Necessary Condition Tests
13. Video: Positive Necessary Condition Tests
14. Quiz pour s'exercer: Positive Necessary Condition Tests
15. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: From Sufficient to Necessary
16. Video: Complex Conditions
17. Quiz pour s'exercer: Complex Conditions
18. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Necessary Conjunctions
19. Video: Correlation Versus Causation
20. Quiz pour s'exercer: Correlation Versus Causation
21. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: When Does Manipulation Work?
22. Video: Causal Fallacies
23. Quiz pour s'exercer: Causal Fallacies
24. Video: A Student Example: Causal Reasoning About Chocolate

WEEK 3


Chance and Choice



<p><b>CONTENT</b>: This week will cover chance and choice—in other words, probability and decision making. Probability is useful for measuring the strength of inductive arguments and also for deciding what to believe and what to do. You will learn about the nature and kinds of probability along with four simple rules for calculating probabilities. An optional honors lecture will then explain Bayes’ theorem and the common mistake of overlooking the base rate. Next we will use probabilities to evaluate decisions by figuring their expected financial value and contrasting financial value with overall value. </p><p><b>LEARNING OUTCOMES</b>: By the end of this week’s material, you will be able to do: <ul><li> solve some classic paradoxes of probability</li><li>apply simple rules of probability</li><li>use Bayes’ theorem to calculate conditional probabilities</li><li>avoid fallacies of probability</li><li>apply probabilities to calculate expected financial values</li><li>distinguish financial value from overall value</li><li>use simple rules to aid decisions under uncertainty</li></ul></p><p><b>OPTIONAL READING</b>: If you want more examples or more detailed discussions of these topics, we recommend<em> Understanding Arguments, Ninth Edition</em>, Chapters 11 and 12


10 videos, 9 practice quizzes expand

1. Video: Why Probability Matters
2. Quiz pour s'exercer: Why Probability Matters
3. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: The Gambler's Fallacy
4. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: The Representativeness Heuristic
5. Video: What Is Probability?
6. Quiz pour s'exercer: What Is Probability?
7. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Apriori and Statistical Probability
8. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Subjective Probablilty
9. Video: Negation
10. Quiz pour s'exercer: Negation
11. Video: Conjunction
12. Quiz pour s'exercer: Conjunction
13. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Determining Independence
14. Video: Disjunction
15. Quiz pour s'exercer: Disjunction
16. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Winning the Lottery
17. Video: Series
18. Quiz pour s'exercer: Series
19. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Playing the Lottery for Ten Years
20. Video: Bayes Theorem (Optional)
21. Quiz pour s'exercer: Bayes Theorem (Optional)
22. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Trusting Doctors
23. Video: Expected Financial Value
24. Quiz pour s'exercer: Expected Financial Value
25. Video: Expected Overall Value
26. Quiz pour s'exercer: Expected Overall Value
27. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: Rationality Under Uncertainty
28. Demande de discussion: Share Your Thoughts: There's to Life than Money
29. Video: The Sausage Argument: A Student Argument About Decision Making

WEEK 4


Catch-Up and Final Quiz



<p>This week gives you time to catch up and review, because we realize that the previous weeks include a great deal of challenging material. It will also be provide enough time to take the final quiz as often as you want, with different questions each time. </p><p>We explain the answers in each exam so that you can learn more and do better when you try the exam again. You may take the quiz as many times as you want in order to learn more and do better, with different questions each time. You will be able to retake the quiz three times every eight hours. You might not need to take more than one version of the exam if you do well enough on your first try. That is up to you. However many versions you take, we hope that all of the exams will provide additional learning experiences. </p>

Graded: Final Quiz