Critical thinking Flashcards
What is critical thinking? (3)
- The ability to apply the methods of logical reasoning / argumentation
- Scepticism about the value of conventional ideas
- A dedication to accepting answers that are supported by sound arguments
Critical thinking involves scepticism about the value of conventional ideas, what does this involve? (2)
◦ The refusal to accept mere opinion
◦ The capacity to resist one’s own cognitive biases
What is logical reasoning? (3)
- When we make claims, we need to back these up with reasons to support them.
- When we do this, we are providing an argument for the claim we are making.
- Logical reasoning involves giving good reasons to accept our arguments
What is the structure of an argument? (2x2)
- Any argument will be made up of two sorts of claims:
◦ 1. The conclusion: this is the claim you are giving reasons in support of.
‣ The conclusion is not always given at the end of an argument
‣ It can be the first statement.
◦ 2. The premise(s): these are the reasons you are giving to support your argument.
‣ E.g.
* P1: Business Ethics is a humanities course
* C: I don’t need to study for Business Ethics
Why is the structure of an argument important? (1x3)
- Because arguments come in lots of shapes & sizes, make implicit (unspoken) assumptions, etc. it is sometimes helpful to formalise them
- i.e. lay them out systematically.
- This helps us to see the relationship between the conclusion and premises (structure of the argument) more clearly.
- If we want to refute an argument, this also helps us to see where its problems lie
How are deductive arguments made VALID? (2)
- VALID arguments are those which provide premises which if true, guarantee the truth of the conclusion
◦ The conclusion follows from the premises
◦ The premises entail the conclusion
- If we assume the truth of the premises, then the conclusion would have to be true.
◦ THIS IS HOW TO “TEST” AN ARGUMENT FOR VALIDITY
How does one make arguments valid? (2)
- To make an argument valid - identify & include any hidden/ missing/ suppressed premises
—> To link the other premises to the conclusion as directly as possible
- Sound arguments are valid arguments with true premises
Proving arguments to be unsound/ testing for soundness
How is this done? (2)
- When presenting counter arguments - need to show opponents argument is unsound
◦ 1. Show premise are not true
◦ 2. By showing argument is invalid
What are the fallacies of critical thinking? (11)
- Appeal to ignorance
- False dichotomy
- Affirming the consequent
- Equivocation
- Straw man fallacy
- Circular reasoning/ begging the question
- Appeal to authority
- Ad populum
- Ad hominem
- Hasty generalisation
- Slippery slope
Fallacies:
* False dichotomy =
◦ Presents a situation as though there are only two possibilities, when in fact there are other alternatives
Fallacies
* Affirming the consequent =
◦ Confirming something actually happens & stating it’s true
Fallacies
* Equivocation =
◦ Sliding between two meanings of a word as if the word has the same meaning in each instance
Fallacies
* Straw man fallacy =
◦ Present the weakest possible version of an opponents position, through deliberate misinterpretation - defeat this version of the view and ask that their view be accepted as a result
Fallacies
* Circular reasoning/ begging the question =
◦ Rephrasing the conclusion of your argument and using it as a premise.
Fallacies
* Appeal to authority =
◦The reason given to believe the conclusion is that some respected person or group
of people believe it to be the case.
Fallacies
* Ad populum =
◦ Using the reason that a large number of people do or believe the conclusion as a reason for it
◦ Ad= appeal
Fallacies
* Ad hominem =
◦ Discrediting a view by showing that some deeply disrespected person or group has or had that view
Fallacies
* Hasty generalisation =
◦ Draws a sweeping conclusion based on too little evidence
Fallacies
* Slippery slope =
◦A small event is predicted to have dire consequences, but there is no good reason to think that those dire consequences would necessarily occur.
Pneumonic to remember the fallacies:
What are moral arguments? (1x2)
- One of the premises is a normative moral claim: a moral standard or judgment, a statement about what “ought to be” the case.
= The other premises(s) are descriptive: statement(s) about what “is” the case.
= The conclusion is normative.
How are moral arguments made sound? (3)
- The argument must be valid AND
- The premises must be true:
= The descriptive premise(s) must be true - AND moral standard must be consistent:
‣ Does not conflict with any other moral standards
‣ Is applicable to all similar acts, by all other people, in all similar circumstances
[Empirical claim: uses your senses]
How do you prove that an argument is unsound? (3)
◦ 1. Show that a descriptive premise is false
◦ 2. Show that the moral standard is inconsistent:
‣ Conflicts with any other moral standards; or
‣ Is not applicable to all similar acts, by all people, in all similar circumstances.
‣ Any of the above can be done using a counterexample, which can be a
◦ 3. Show that the argument is not valid (i.e. assuming the premises are true and consistent, the conclusion could be false) thought experiment (hypothetical scenario)
There are 3 other ways of analysing the soundness of an argument. What are these?
- If possible, refer to the relevant fallacy (common error of reasoning)
- Analyse the strongest version of the opponent’s argument (practise interpretative charity)
- If there are multiple flaws, choose the weakest point (in essay, point out flaws)
What are inductive arguments? (2)
- Inductive arguments with true premises do not guarantee truth of their conclusions.
- Good inductive arguments with true premises, can only show that truth of conclusion is likely.
‣ E.g.
* Appeal to authority
* Appeal to evidence
* Statistical inference
* Causal inference
What is SCEPTICISM?
- Thinking systems
SCEPTICISM
* We have two basic ways, or systems, of thinking: (2)
◦1. Intuitive thinking
= Used for quick judgments and decisions
= Very useful for many tasks in everyday life
= Uses shortcuts (heuristics, or “rules of thumb”)
= Prone to mistakes when it overrides our slow, logical thinking system * (cognitive biases)
◦2. Slow, logical thinking
= Methodical and deliberate thinking
= Appropriate for more complicated decisions than executing everyday tasks
= Critical thinking = part of slow thinking
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
What are all the types? (9)
- Confirmation bias
- Affect heuristic
- Hindsight bias
- Self-serving bias
- Familiarity heuristic
- Halo effect
- Bias blindspot
- Framing effect
- Availability heuristic
What is the pneumonic to remember to the cognitive biases & heuristics?
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦ Confirmation bias =
‣ A tendency to accept arguments & views which confirm to views we hold
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦ Affect heuristic = (2)
‣ Using how you feel about something to steer your judgment.
‣ This is a helpful rule of thumb when deciding things like what to eat but bad for moral reasoning.
e.g eating unusual foods or sex kinks, using feelings to steer moral judgement
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦ Hindsight bias =
‣ Judging past actions inaccurately because of the benefit of present knowledge
e.g “It was so smart of her to make that investment
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦Self-serving bias =
‣ Tendency to attribute successes to internal (personal) factors, & failures to external factors
e.g blaming your negative traits on your childhood, attribute positive traits to your own doing
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦ Familiarity heuristic =
‣ Substituting difficult questions with the question “what am I familiar with.”
e.g strong believe in two parent households
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦Halo effect = (2)
‣ The tendency to like or dislike everything about someone– including things you have not observed
e.g positive first impression affects how you feel towards the person there after
‣ Using first impressions as decisive in your appraisal of someone.
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦ Bias blindspot =
‣ Failure to recognise one’s own vulnerability to biases.
e.g good at critising others
- COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS
◦ Framing effect =
‣ The way information is presented (or “framed”) distorting our judgment
e.g Liking these notes because of the aesthetic, “90% survival effect” vs “10% mortality rate”
HOW TO AVOID COGNITIVE BIASES: (2)
- Notice which kind of decisions require you to activate your system 2 thinking
‣ E.g. question assumptions, write arguments for both sides, pros & cons lists
- Be on your guard, and keep an eye out for confounding factors we’ve gone through
e.g To write lists, forcing thinking to slow down, thinking logically. Listening to others
