PHIL 9 - Critical Thinking and Writing

    Recent Professors
    Randy Ramal, Erik Kostiuk, Lori Ann Walker, David Lane, Jose Guzman, Eric Fossum, Eric Lape, Randy Haney and 1 more
    Recent Semesters
    Fall 2026, Summer 2026, Spring 2026, Winter 2026, Fall 2025
    Class Size
    25 students
    Credits
    3
    Prerequisite
    ( ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A ) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A .
    Fall 2026 Sections
    View Fall 2026 sections of PHIL 9
    Transfers To
    UC and CSUCal-GETC Area 1B · IGETC Area 1B · CSU GE Area A3
    Description
    This course aims to help students from diverse backgrounds develop good writing skills through learning and applying critical thinking tools in their everyday lives. The critical thinking tools that will be learned in this course include rules from both formal and informal logic, rules for identifying impartial sources to conduct informed research, and rules for writing argumentative essays on topics of interest to students. Among other topics of interest, students are invited to research and write on topics that identify explicit and implicit biases in everyday thinking and speaking, to explore images and discursive forms of representation that help overcome these biases, and to employ research that guides them into forming clear, coherent, and equitable arguments. This course is equivalent to English 1C for transfer and there is a requirement that students write a minimum of 6000 words throughout the semester. This requirement is easily achievable based on a variety of writing assignments included in the course.
    Usually Held
    Mon Wed 9:45am–11:10am, Tue Thu 1:15pm–2:40pm, Tue Thu 11:30am–12:55pm