Łukasz Perlikowski - Blog/Personal Academic Website

Critical Thinking

The purpose of the Critical Thinking workshop is twofold. On the one hand, it equips students with the skills related to analyzing the content in public discourse. Therefore, it consists of assessing the credibility of sources and applying the rules of argumentation for detecting the fallacies. On the other hand, students shall practice their reasoning skills, which will aid them in expressing and defending their lines of argumentation. During the course, we are trying to curb the tools from AI by using them as elements of conversation rather than merely a demonstration of knowledge.

Logic

The logic course aims to present students with crucial elements of logical thinking and fundamental laws of logic. The course is dedicated to beginners and intermediates who want to understand the essence of rationality from its rudiments. Since we are focused on formal logic, it might be of interest to a variety of disciplines in which logic finds its application.

Argumentation and Public Debate

The main goal of the Argumentation and Public Debate course is to prepare students for public speech situations. Hence, the assignment is a participation in an Oxford-style debate where students are focused on the topics revolving around relevant moral, legal, and political dilemmas. An important side-effect of these debates is making students aware of the pluralism of beliefs, ideas, and convictions, which teaches respect for each other and politeness in discussions.

Political Philosophy in Practice

Supposing that students are familiar with basic political philosophy stances, I am focusing on utilizing their argumentative potential to solve some challenging cases in ethics, politics, and all kinds of normative thinking. The central part of the workshop consists of studying thought experiments. With that being assumed, we are particularly interested in studying lines of argumentation, principles, and systems of thinking. The course is a combination of critical thinking and political philosophy.

Political Decision-Making

I focus on tracing decision-making processes and their legal and institutional framework in these classes. Moreover, students study game theory, scenario method, and other analytical tools to deliver a comprehensive view of the subject matter. It is to reach a tactical and a strategic level of reflection on political decisions.

Political Theory

This course aims to acquaint students with the predominant approaches in contemporary political theories. During the classes, various paradigms are presented for the most adequate analytical framework to analyze political issues. We examine both the predictive powers of theories and their explanatory potential.

Global Issues

Discussing global issues, we are focusing on the most current and vibrant manifestations of globalization as a macro-process. The content of the classes is studied in the form of podcast sessions where students can play the role of podcaster or an expert. It will allow students to combine prominent theories and analytical skills in analysing the most recent international relations and geopolitics cases.

Contemporary Just War Theory

This workshop delves into the moral dimensions of military conflicts, utilizing just war theory as a framework. Students will engage in significant discussions regarding ius ad bellum, ius in bellum, and ius post bellum. The course is designed to equip students with an analytical structure to develop their arguments. A roundtable session simulating a professional academic conference will be part of the curriculum. Participants must write a concise argumentative essay based on a central thesis. Each paper will undergo review by two peers from the class. Students present their arguments, defend their viewpoints, and address critiques during the roundtable discussion.