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Dibs Fall 2026

PHILOS 9

Principles of Critical Reasoning

Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour. Nature of arguments: how to analyze them and assess soundness of reasoning they represent. Common fallacies that often occur in arguments discussed in light of what counts as good deductive or inductive inference. Other topics include use of language in argumentation to arouse emotions as contrasted with conveying thoughts, logic of scientific experiments and hypothesis-testing in general, and some general ideas about probability and its application in making normative decisions (e.g., betting). P/NP or letter grading.

Course statistics

Predicted GPA
3.27
n = 171 · 6 terms · ± 0.040
A range
47%
of letter grades
Taken P/NP
15%
97% of those passed
D / F / W
2.3%
incl. withdrawals

Sections in Fall 2026

Not offered in Fall 2026.

Enrollment history

Final enrollment per term, averaged across that term's sections. Four years deep, summer excluded. Per-section live curves are on each section page.

  • 2922S
  • 2623S
  • 2624F
Enrolment by term: 22S 29, 23S 26, 24F 26
Peak 29 Most recent 26 in 24F 3 terms on record

Grade distribution

  • A+ 17 · 8.2%
  • A 33 · 15.9%
  • A- 30 · 14.4%
  • B+ 28 · 13.5%
  • B 22 · 10.6%
  • B- 17 · 8.2%
  • C+ 6 · 2.9%
  • C 5 · 2.4%
  • C- 9 · 4.3%
  • D+ 1 · 0.5%
  • F 3 · 1.4%
  • P 30 · 14.4%
  • NP 1 · 0.5%
  • I 6 · 2.9%

Grey bars are non-letter outcomes — P/NP, S/U, incompletes. They are excluded from the GPA entirely rather than scored, because counting a P as a 4.0 would be a fabrication.

By instructor

Instructor Predicted Raw n Terms A range
NORMORE, CALVIN G 3.34 3.35 94 3 47%
JOHNSON, MARK C 3.14 3.12 77 3 47%

“Predicted” is shrunk toward the course average, which is itself shrunk toward the department — so an instructor with a handful of students sits near the course mean rather than topping the list.

By term