Study 1 + 2 Flashcards
What is critical thinking?
Thinking that critiques
What is the purpose of critical thinking?
To come to correct conclusions
Beliefs are propositional? T / F
True. Propositional means a belief can be expressed in a declarative sentence (a sentence that is either true or false)
Beliefs are the same as
judgements and opinions
What happens when we express a belief in a declarative sentence?
The result is a statement or claim or assertion (for our purposes these are the same thing)
Objective claim
Whether it is true or false is independent of whether people think it is true or false.
Example: There is life on Mars. Is an objective claim, because whether or not life exists there doesn’t depend on whether people think it does. If everyone suddenly believed there was life on Mars, that doesn’t mean that suddenly there would be life on Mars.
Are objective claims true or false?
Both
Example: Portland, Oregon is closer to the north pole than to the equator is a true objective claim.
Portland Oregon is closer to the equator than the North Pole is a false objective claim.
What is a subjective claim
Whether a subjective claim is true or false is not independent of whether people think it is true or false.
Examples: Rice vinegar is too sweet. Is rice vinegar too sweet? it depends on what you think.
Can a statement contain both objective and subjective elements?
Yes.
Example: Somebody stole our nifty concrete lawn duck.
Whether the lawn duck is concrete is objective. whether it is nifty is subjective.
Are all factual opinions true?
No.
If it’s stated as a fact its still a factual opinion, even if its false.
What is relativism
The idea that truth is relative to the standards of a given culture
What is Moral Subjectivism
The idea that moral opinions are subjective. If you think something is morally wrong, you don’t need to consider any further truth.
What is an issue?
A question
What is an argument?
It presents a consideration for accepting a claim.
2 Parts: Premise and conclusion
What is cognitive bias?
Unconscious features of human psychology affecting belief information
What is belief bias?
The tendency to evaluate reasoning by the believability of its conclusion
What is confirmation bias?
The tendency to attach more weight to evidence that supports our view point
What is availability heuristic?
Unconsciously assigning a probability to a type of event on the basis of how often one thinks of events of that type
What is the false consensus affect
The inclination we may have to assume that our attitudes and those held by people around us are shared by society at large
What is the bandwagon affect?
The tendency to align one’s thinking with that of other people.
What is negativity bias?
Weighing negative information more heavily than positive information
What is loss aversion
That people are more motivated to avoid a loss than make a gain
What is in-group bias
its easier to form a negative opinion of people who don’t belong in our club or group
What is fundamental attribution error
the tendency to not appreciate that others’ behavior is as much constrained by events and circumstances as our own
What is a fact?
a true objective claim
What is a true objective claim?
a fact
What is an opinion?
any claim that is subjective
What is knowledge?
If you believe something, have an argument beyond a reasonable doubt that it is so, and have no reason to think you are mistaken, you can claim you know it.
What is truth?
a claim is true if it is free from error
Deductive arguments
if true, proves or demonstrates its conclusion
When is an argument valid?
When it isn’t possible for the premise to be true and the conclusion false:
Joe was born before George. Joe is older than George.
Can a valid argument be false?
Yes.
Joe was born before George. joe is older than George.
Argument is valid, but if Joe wasn’t born before George, none of it is true.
What is a sound argument?
When the premises of a valid argument are true.
Difference between sound and valid
valid is when the premises if the premises WERE true. Sound is if the premises ARE true.
What is an inductive argument?
Doesn’t demonstrate its conclusion, it supports it
Example: After 2pm traffic slows to a crawl on the bay bridge. Therefore, it probably does the same thing on the Golden Gate Bridge.
The fact that traffic slows on the Bay bridge does not demonstrate or prove that it does it on the golden gate bridge.
Strong vs weak
The more support the premises provide for the conclusion of an INDUCTIVE argment, the stronger the argument. The less support, the weaker
Beyond a reasonable doubt
not as strong as beyond any possible doubt, which is required for deductive demonstration.
If the conclusion of an argument is true by definition given the premise it is a…
Valid deductive argument
Valid argument form
If juan is blah, then juan is bleh. Juan is not bleh, therefore juan is not blah.
this is a valid argument
What is the best practice when there is an unclear unstated premise?
Attribute to the speaker an unstated premise that is at least believable, everything considered.
Deductive arguments are compared as
Validity (when it isn’t possible for premise to be true and conclusion false) and soundness (when a valid arguments premises actually are true). Sound arguments also HAVE to be valid
Inductive compared as
Strength and weakness
IBE - Inference to the Best Explanation,
Also known as abduction
Concludes that something exists or holds true or is a fact because it best explains something we have observed or otherwise know.
Example: Neither the dog nor my husband is home, and the dog’s leash is gone. My best explanation is that my husband is out walking the dog. Therefore, my husband is out walking the dog.
If…Then.. sentences
are not arguments
List of facts
Not an argument
because statements
can be an argument or not
Not an argument:
Mike is in his swimsuit because he was swimming.
Argument:
Mike was swimming because he’s in his swimsuit
Aristotle’s 3 ways of persuasion
Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Ethos
Being persuaded by a speakers Experience, attributes, background
Pathos
Being persuaded by the speaker by connecting on a Personal level
Logos
Using Logic to persuade
What is the least effective or Aristotle’s 3 ways of persuasion?
Logos / Logic
What do arrows mean when bracketing argument?
Therefore
How to label counterclaims
crossing lines in the therefore arrow
counter claim = arguments against its conclusion
rhetoric
has no premises
What are the two fundamental types of reasoning?
Deductive and inductive
