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PHI2043S > Critical thinking > Flashcards

Critical thinking Flashcards

1
Q

What is critical thinking? (3)

A
  • 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
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2
Q

Critical thinking involves scepticism about the value of conventional ideas, what does this involve? (2)

A

◦ The refusal to accept mere opinion

◦ The capacity to resist one’s own cognitive biases

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3
Q

What is logical reasoning? (3)

A
  • 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
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4
Q

What is the structure of an argument? (2x2)

A
  • 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

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5
Q

Why is the structure of an argument important? (1x3)

A
  • Because arguments come in lots of shapes & sizes, make implicit (unspoken) assumptions, etc. it is sometimes helpful to formalise them
  1. i.e. lay them out systematically.
  2. This helps us to see the relationship between the conclusion and premises (structure of the argument) more clearly.
  3. If we want to refute an argument, this also helps us to see where its problems lie
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6
Q

How are deductive arguments made VALID? (2)

A
  1. 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

  1. 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
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7
Q

How does one make arguments valid? (2)

A
  • 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
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8
Q

Proving arguments to be unsound/ testing for soundness

How is this done? (2)

A
  • When presenting counter arguments - need to show opponents argument is unsound
    ◦ 1. Show premise are not true
    ◦ 2. By showing argument is invalid
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9
Q

What are the fallacies of critical thinking? (11)

A
  1. Appeal to ignorance
  2. False dichotomy
  3. Affirming the consequent
  4. Equivocation
  5. Straw man fallacy
  6. Circular reasoning/ begging the question
  7. Appeal to authority
  8. Ad populum
  9. Ad hominem
  10. Hasty generalisation
  11. Slippery slope
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10
Q

Fallacies:
* False dichotomy =

A

◦ Presents a situation as though there are only two possibilities, when in fact there are other alternatives

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11
Q

Fallacies
* Affirming the consequent =

A

◦ Confirming something actually happens & stating it’s true

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12
Q

Fallacies
* Equivocation =

A

◦ Sliding between two meanings of a word as if the word has the same meaning in each instance

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13
Q

Fallacies
* Straw man fallacy =

A

◦ 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

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14
Q

Fallacies
* Circular reasoning/ begging the question =

A

◦ Rephrasing the conclusion of your argument and using it as a premise.

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15
Q

Fallacies
* Appeal to authority =

A

◦The reason given to believe the conclusion is that some respected person or group

of people believe it to be the case.

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16
Q

Fallacies
* Ad populum =

A

◦ Using the reason that a large number of people do or believe the conclusion as a reason for it
◦ Ad= appeal

17
Q

Fallacies
* Ad hominem =

A

◦ Discrediting a view by showing that some deeply disrespected person or group has or had that view

18
Q

Fallacies
* Hasty generalisation =

A

◦ Draws a sweeping conclusion based on too little evidence

19
Q

Fallacies
* Slippery slope =

A

◦A small event is predicted to have dire consequences, but there is no good reason to think that those dire consequences would necessarily occur.

20
Q

Pneumonic to remember the fallacies:

A
21
Q

What are moral arguments? (1x2)

A
  • 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.

22
Q

How are moral arguments made sound? (3)

A
  1. The argument must be valid AND
  2. The premises must be true:
    = The descriptive premise(s) must be true
  3. 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]

23
Q

How do you prove that an argument is unsound? (3)

A

◦ 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)

24
Q

There are 3 other ways of analysing the soundness of an argument. What are these?

A
  1. If possible, refer to the relevant fallacy (common error of reasoning)
  2. Analyse the strongest version of the opponent’s argument (practise interpretative charity)
  3. If there are multiple flaws, choose the weakest point (in essay, point out flaws)
25
Q

What are inductive arguments? (2)

A
  1. Inductive arguments with true premises do not guarantee truth of their conclusions.
  2. 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

26
Q

What is SCEPTICISM?

A
  • Thinking systems
27
Q

SCEPTICISM
* We have two basic ways, or systems, of thinking: (2)

A

◦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

28
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

What are all the types? (9)

A
  1. Confirmation bias
  2. Affect heuristic
  3. Hindsight bias
  4. Self-serving bias
  5. Familiarity heuristic
  6. Halo effect
  7. Bias blindspot
  8. Framing effect
  9. Availability heuristic
29
Q

What is the pneumonic to remember to the cognitive biases & heuristics?

A
30
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦ Confirmation bias =

A

‣ A tendency to accept arguments & views which confirm to views we hold

31
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦ Affect heuristic = (2)

A

‣ 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

32
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦ Hindsight bias =

A

‣ Judging past actions inaccurately because of the benefit of present knowledge

e.g “It was so smart of her to make that investment

33
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦Self-serving bias =

A

‣ 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

34
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦ Familiarity heuristic =

A

‣ Substituting difficult questions with the question “what am I familiar with.”

e.g strong believe in two parent households

35
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦Halo effect = (2)

A

‣ 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.

36
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦ Bias blindspot =

A

‣ Failure to recognise one’s own vulnerability to biases.

e.g good at critising others

37
Q
  • COGNITIVE BIAS & HEURISTICS

◦ Framing effect =

A

‣ 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”

38
Q

HOW TO AVOID COGNITIVE BIASES: (2)

A
  1. 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

  1. 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

PHI2043S (4 decks)

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