Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking provides students with the essential tools to analyze, evaluate, and construct sound arguments in academic, professional, and everyday contexts. Through a combination of lectures, practical exercises, debates, and case studies, students learn to recognize fallacies, avoid reasoning errors, and improve their persuasive communication. The course integrates insights from informal logic, argumentation theory, and cognitive science, and includes hands-on activities using generative AI to enhance analytical and rhetorical skills. By the end of the course, students will be able to think more clearly, argue more effectively, and critically assess information in a world increasingly shaped by digital media and complex communication.
Important Notice on Course Suitability and Activities:
Some Summer School courses are designed for students with prior academic background in a specific discipline and may be unsuitable for participants without that preparation.
In addition, certain courses include discipline-standard practical activities (for example, laboratory work with biological specimens, dissections, use of clinical or forensic material, field sampling, or other hands-on procedures) that may be unfamiliar or unsettling for some participants.
Students are responsible for reading the course descriptor carefully and ensuring (i) that they meet any stated academic expectations or prerequisites, and (ii) that they are comfortable participating in the methods and activities described.
If you are unsure about suitability, please contact the course lecturer(s) before enrolling.
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From Monday to Friday
From 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The course will be evaluated on the basis of diary exercises and on the qualification of 3 weekly Assignments (A):
A1) Exercises on deductive/inductive & related arguments.
A2) Writing a short argument.
A3) Group class debate activity.
A4) General participation
The grading formula is: A1 (20%) + A2 (30%) +A3 (50%, as a result of several sums of related exercises, to be detailed in class)
Academic integrity notice: any form of plagiarism in work submitted for this course will be treated as a serious academic offence and may result in an automatic fail grade.
- Douglas, M. (1996). Thought styles: critical essays on good taste. UK: Sage.
- Groarke, L. (2017) Informal Logic, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
- Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2006). How we reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Kahneman, D., & Egan, P. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow (Vol. 1). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Moore, B. N., Parker, R., & Rosenstand, N. (2011). Critical thinking. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Swatridge, C. (2014). Oxford guide to effective argumentation and critical thinking, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Douglas, M. (1996). Thought styles: critical essays on good taste. UK: Sage.
- Groarke, L. (2017) Informal Logic, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
- Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2006). How we reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Kahneman, D., & Egan, P. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow (Vol. 1). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Moore, B. N., Parker, R., & Rosenstand, N. (2011). Critical thinking. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Walton, D. (2005). Fundamentals of critical argumentation. Cambridge University Press.
- Swatridge, C. (2014). Oxford guide to effective argumentation and critical thinking, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Vallverdú, J. & Müller, V. (2018). Blended Cognition. Germany: Springer.
- van Eemeren, F. H. , Garssen B., & Krabbe, E.C.W. (2014). Handbook of Argumentation Theory, Berlin: Springer Verlag.
- Voss, Chris (2016) Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It. USA: Harper Press.
- Vallverdú, J. & Müller, V. (2018). Blended Cognition. Germany: Springer.
- van Eemeren, F. H. , Garssen B., & Krabbe, E.C.W. (2014). Handbook of Argumentation Theory, Berlin: Springer Verlag.
- Voss, Chris (2016) Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It. USA: Harper Press.
- Walton, D. (2005). Fundamentals of critical argumentation. Cambridge University Press.
Prof. Dr. Jordi Vallverdú, B. Phil, B. Mus, M.Sci, Ph.D., is an esteemed ICREA Academia Research Professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). With an academic background that spans Philosophy, Music, and the History of Science, his interdisciplinary expertise focuses on cognitive and epistemic aspects within the Philosophy of Computing, Philosophy of Sciences, Cognition, Ethics, and Philosophy of AI.
Over the years, Dr. Vallverdú has enriched his research through international academic stays, including at the Glaxo-Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, Harvard University’s JFK School, and Kyoto University’s Nishidalab as part of the prestigious JSPS Grant. In 2019, he was awarded the Best Presentation Award at the Huawei Neuro-Inspired, Cognitive, and Unconventional Computing Workshop in Kazan, Russia. His current research is supported by ICREA, where he focuses on Deep Learning and Causality.
A prolific scholar, Dr. Vallverdú has authored or co-authored over 150 academic publications, including 19 books, 47 book chapters, and 106 peer-reviewed articles. His work has earned high visibility, with notable metrics across multiple academic platforms: 2204 citations, an h-index of 24, and i10-index of 55 on Google Scholar. His contributions are also highly regarded on Scopus and DLBP Compute Database.
As a dedicated educator, Dr. Vallverdú reaches a global audience through his three massive open online courses (MOOCs) on Coursera, with over 200,000 students from around the world. His impact on the fields of AI, cognitive science, and epistemology continues to shape both academic thought and practical advancements in artificial intelligence.
- E-mail: jordi.vallverdu@uab.cat
- Department of Philosophy