• Soft Skills

The Course Critical Thinking aims to provide in an innovative manner the methodological tools necessary to reason and argue in a sound way under conditions of risk and uncertainty in science and technology. The tools used will be those belonging to logic, philosophy, argumentation, and psychology of thought applied to uncertain reasoning. The course contents will be presented and discussed interactively with the students. The Course is intended to give students a chance to critically reflect on cultural, social, and ethical impacts of science and technology. 

(Knowledge and understanding)

Students will:

- be acquainted with different forms of scientific reasoning

- acquire methodological skills in order to deal with risk and uncertainty

(Applying knowledge and understanding)

Students will:

- foster their ability to solve problems and cope with uncertainty

- apply critical thinking to wicked problems

- integrate their technical knowledge with humanistic, cognitive and ethical perspectives on science and technology

(Making judgements)

Students will be able to:

- use methods and imagine scenarios in order to deal with (severe) uncertainty 

- enhance creativity in thinking and reasoning

(Communication)

Students will learn how to

- improve their skills in a writing an academic paper

- make academic presentations

- evaluate different forms of (risk) communication

(Lifelong learning skills)

Students will

- be ready to evaluate and take decisions under conditions of uncertainty

- be better prepared to their future professional life in a socially responsible way

- be able to propose innovation solutions to complex and uncertain problems.  

The course will cover different topics both from a theoretical and a more practical point of view.

The list of topics includes:

- scientific reasoning: deduction, induction, and abduction

- elements of logic and argumentation

- probabilistic reasoning: biases and paradoxes

- risk theory

- risk perception

- risk communication

- risk and moral argumentation

- decision making under severe uncertainty

- technological innovation and uncertainty

- scenario planning

- sustainability and scientific values

No prerequisite is required.

An individual final essay 

Students are required to develop an argumentative thesis in a written essay in which the specific claims are justified by the use of critical thinking and the relevant literature. 

Students are required to read and carefully study the suggested bibliography and to apply it to case-studies.

Collective presentations

Students are encouraged to give collective presentations in order to reduce the length of the individual final essay (this option is available only for some study programs). All detailed information and the pdfs of the scientific papers that we will be used will be made available.

The individual final essay will be evaluated considering the following criteria:

1) originality of the main thesis

2) knowledge of the scientific and technological background

3) argumentative skills

4) ability to integrate technical knowledge with critical reflection

5) compliance with academic standards