Critical Thinking: An Introduction



Overview

When we think critically, we suspend unreflective ways of forming beliefs or making decisions and instead use reasoning to make up our mind about the matter in question. On this course, we will look at different kinds of reasoning and the standards appropriate to each. We will discuss both reasoning about factual claims and reasoning about how to act. We will distinguish reasoning where conclusions must be true if the premises are true from reasoning where conclusions are only supported by premises to some degree.

You will learn how to construct stronger arguments yourself as well as how to analyse and assess arguments which others present to you. You will also be given guidelines that will help you decide to what extent to trust a person, organisation, website or publication defending a certain position.

The skills taught on this course will help you engage more confidently with new information and conflicting viewpoints in both everyday and academic contexts.

Programme details

Course starts Tuesday 29 September 2026

This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Tuesdays, 2.00-4.00pm.

Week 1: What is critical thinking? What is the difference between reasoning and other ways of forming beliefs or making decisions?

Week 2: What is a logical argument? What is rhetoric?

Week 3: Two types of good argument: The distinction between deductive validity and inductive strength.

Week 4: Deductive validity and logical form. A very short introduction to propositional logic.

Week 5: When do arguments rely on hidden premises? More on argument reconstruction.

Week 6: Inductive generalisations and reasoning about causes.

Week 7: Inference to the best explanation and Bayesian reasoning.

Week 8: Practical reasoning: Reasoning about what to do.

Week 9: When is it appropriate to believe what others tell you? What is the significance of expertise?

Week 10: Putting it all together: We analyse and assess longer passages of reasoning.

Digital Certification

Academic credit

Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)

Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.

Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.

Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.

If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.

Digital certificate of completion 

Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course fee (with no assessment) £315.00
Assessment and Accreditation fee £60.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Andrea Lechler

Andrea Lechler holds a degree in Computational Linguistics, an MSc in Artificial Intelligence, and an MA and PhD in Philosophy. She has extensive experience of teaching philosophy for Oxford Lifelong Learning and other institutions.

Course aims

  • To help students improve their critical thinking skills.    
  • To help students reflect on how people reason and how they try to persuade others of their views.
  • To make students familiar with the principles underlying different types of good reasoning as well as common mistakes in reasoning.
  • To present some guidelines for identifying trustworthy sources of information.

Teaching methods

The tutor will present the course content in an interactive way using plenty of examples and exercises. Students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in class discussions and group work. To consolidate their understanding of the subject, they will be assigned further exercises as homework.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have been given the opportunity to have learnt how to:

  • be able to pick out and analyse passages of reasoning in texts and conversations;
  • understand the most important ways of assessing the cogency of such reasoning;
  • know how to assess the reliability of possible sources of information.

Assessment methods

Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.

Assessment

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first set of exercises is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work, which is a larger set of exercises due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

Application

How to enrol

Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.

How to register for accreditation and assessment

To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. 

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.

If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support