This course provides systematic methods of identification and analysis of arguments in persuasive discourse in the public spheres, and offers instruments for critical evaluation of logical reasoning. Upon introduction, we shall discuss the constitutive elements of arguments (premises, warrants and conclusions), as well as their classic forms and common structures. We shall first analyze simple arguments, and move forward to complex forms of argumentative sequences.  We will continue to identifying various types of arguments in rhetorical messages (such as generalization or analogy) and discuss their logical, stylistic and figurative dimensions. Next, we will examine “rhetorical fallacies”, among which are irrelevance (such as referring to public opinion as a mode of reasoning), emotional appeals (such as fear or pity), and arguments based on heuristics (such as multiple justifications as indication of veracity). Lastly, we will explore authority based arguments, such as constructing source credibility (rhetorical ethos), relying on external authorities (ad-Verecundiam), and personal attacks (ad-Hominem). Students will practice different kinds of critical instruments, in order to layout systematic criteria for the evaluation of veracity, validity and relevance of arguments in different contexts, alongside with modalities of refutation and counter-argumentation as instruments of critical thinking. In addition to methodological instruments, the course introduces and discusses key notions in argumentation theory and informal logic, and principal conceptual frameworks in the current scientific discourse on argumentation.