Reason

Day 1. Intro to reason: "The Argument Clinic". What role can reason play, in relation to sense perception? In relation to conflicts among knowledge claims? Why should we care about whether reason can fulfill its promise?
 * Reason is just another word for Argument.
 * We organize our perception/images of the world in a simpler way so that our brains can comprehend them.
 * Reason/Arguments are war.

Day 2. The many-sided nature of reason. Formal (logical and mathematical) and informal (everyday structuring of ideas) uses of reason.
 * Reason = Logic
 * There is a clear distinction between //truth// and //validity//. Truth concerns the what is the case, and validity is whether or not conclusions follow a the premises.
 * Venn Diagrams can be a useful tool in finding the truth and validity in syllogisms.

Day 3. Deductive and inductive reasoning; intro to symbolic logic. What is an argument?
 * There are two different types of reasoning: inductive reason and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning goes from the specific to the general, while deductive reasoning goes from the general to the specific.
 * Knowledge was invented by the Greeks about 2,000 years ago.
 * There are five criteria for distinguishing a good generalization from a bad generalization.

Day 4. Symbolic logic, continued. Validity and truth of arguments; relation between them. How logic is applied in everyday life and science.
 * "The validity of an argument is independent of the truth or falsity of the premises it contains."
 * Logic happens everyday and everywhere around us. Logic is the same as reason.
 * "The only situation that is possible is a valid argument with true premises and a false conclusion."

Day 5. Intro to fallacies: "Love is a fallacy". Practical uses of logic: domination and liberation. Common fallacies.
 * There are many different kinds of fallacies.
 * A fallacy is much like a bias in that, for the most part, it is wrong.
 * There is no wrong use of logic.

Day 6. Kinds of fallacies. Formal fallacies (a problem with the logical structure) and informal fallacies (a problem with the kind of support offered in the argument).
 * A fallacy is "a mistake in reasoning, especially a common kind of mistake".
 * Having too many fallacies in one's argument can lead to a lack of consistency in their argument.
 * An argument is "a set of propositions in which some assumptions provide the grounds for holding a conclusion.

Day 7. Informal logic/fallacies: cognitive biases: groupthink, bandwagon effect, confirmation bias, etc.
 * Groupthink bias occurs when a groups rushes to a decision(s) to please the rest of the group.
 * A cognitive bias occurs when there is a flaw in a person's judgment which is caused by some kind of outside factor.
 * Informal logic is what we apply in our daily lives.