Mental Hiking Learning is a lot like hiking. At each step, it is important to have sure footing. In this online study module, you will take a short intellectual hike—mostly through unfamiliar areas. At each step in this hike, certain information will be presented for your study. Study carefully. Then, you will be asked to answer a question about the information you have just studied. You cannot continue to a new step until you have “gotten your footing” on the current one.

NOTE: You should take the SPIRAL Module 1 Pretest before starting here.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If you have not yet taken the SPIRAL Module 1 Pretest, return to Blackboard, complete the Pretest first, and then return here.
2. You can take as much time as you need to study carefully.
3. Take a break at any point, but complete this whole module in a single Web session.
4. Use the Backpack key at the left edge of the page to access special resources for this module.
5. Whenever you see “>>>” in the text, you can click the link to take an optional side trail to study a topic in more detail. When you are done, close the side window to return to the main path.

Credits

This SPIRAL module is an integral part of the PHL102-DL course. Portions of this presentation are based on or adapted from material originally published elsewhere.

Howard Kahane, Logic and Philosophy, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, CA, 1969.
David A. Conway and Ronald Munson, The Elements of Reasoning, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont, CA, 2000, Third edition.
Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker, Critical Thinking, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View , CA, 1995, Fourth edition.
Theodore Schick, Jr. and Lewis Vaughn, How to Think About Weird Things (Critical Thinking for a New Age),  Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, CA, 1995.
Elliott Sober, Core Questions in Philosophy,  Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005.