For all Philosophy Courses Except Critical Thinking and Logic Courses:

1. Familiarity with the philosophical positions and the arguments for those positions as presented in the readings.
2. Familiarity with strengths and weaknesses of the positions and arguments covered.
3. Familiarity with key concepts and distinctions from the material covered.
4. The ability to express yourself clearly in English (both written and spoken) on the philosophical topics covered.
5. The ability to develop arguments relevant to the philosophical issues covered. Ultimately, this ability would hopefully include developing arguments which take the discussion beyond its current state.
6. The ability to analyse and evaluate arguments about the philosophical issues covered. This includes being able to recognise key terms or concepts and key premises or claims on which an argument relies.
7. The ability to recognise problems of inconsistency.
8. The ability to recognise fallacious reasoning.
9. The ability to assess the probability of truthfulness of key premises or claims.
10. The ability to construct a sustained argument. (In a sustained argument one builds a case, step by step, for a position using reason or arguments to bring one’s audience to the conclusion one wishes to establish. One does not simply provide a “running commentary” that amounts to a list of points of agreement and disagreement with source material.)
11. The ability to think for oneself on the topic covered.
12. The ability to think independently and creatively, while also being careful and logical
13. A love for thinking.