Truth, critical thinking and validity

Question 1

What are the four branches of philosophy?

Answer 1

1. Metaphysics
2. Ethics
3. Epistemology
4. Logic

Question 2

Metaphysics is

Answer 2

what is there/what exists

Question 3

Epistemology is

Answer 3

the study of knowldege/rationality

Question 4

Logic is

Answer 4

Study of rules of inference

Question 5

Ethics is

Answer 5

What is good, what is flourishing?

Question 6

Aristotle quote on what is truth

Answer 6

“Truth is saying of what is, that it is, and of what is not, that it is not”

Question 7

what is truth

Answer 7

A correspondence to reality: a statement is true if and only if it corresponds to reality

Question 8

Beliefs

Answer 8

Beliefs are our map of reality which we want to be as accurate as possible so we can navigate successfully because it accurately reflects reality.

Question 9

To think critically is to

Answer 9

think logically and rationally with a motivation to arrive at truth

Question 10

We think critically to get to truth so that

Answer 10

our beliefs can be true

Question 11

Argument is

Answer 11

a sequence of statement and conclusion intended to establish the truth of a statement

Question 12

Rhetoric

Answer 12

reliant on emotional power of certain words and phrases, lacks reasons

Question 13

Standard form looks like

Answer 13

Premise 1
Premise 2
Conclusion

Question 14

Principle of charity

Answer 14

when interpreting someone’s statement you should assume and convey the best possible (but rational) interpretation

Question 15

Danger of principle of charity

Answer 15

If it’s a bad argument you might be inclined to not assess/accept it as bad (due to this principle). However, you should.

Question 16

Reason why the principle of charity should be applied

Answer 16

If someone offers an argument for a claim, and you reconstruct it to look like a bad argument, you are no closer to knowing whether that claim is true or false. But if you reconstruct an argument to look like a good argument, then you are in a position to assess whether this argument is good evidence for the claim being advanced. You might still reject the claim, but now at least you have better reasons (e.g. the evidence provided is poor) to reject it than you would with the bad reconstruction.

Question 17

Valid argument

Answer 17

Premises guarantee the conclusion

Question 18

Sound argument

Answer 18

Valid arguments with true premises (concerns structure AND content). Conclusion does not have to be true.

Question 19

No invalid argument is sound, not all valid arguments are sound. T or F?

Answer 19

True

Question 20

Fallacy

Answer 20

An error in reasoning

Question 21

Fallacious arguments can lead to true conclusions, but they don’t give us a good reason to think the conclusion is true. T or F?

Answer 21

True

Question 22

Formal fallacies

Answer 22

Concern structure of argument

Question 23

Informal fallacies

Answer 23

Concern content of argument