Critical Thinking

Topic 1
Barriers to Critical Thinking
Recognizing Arguments

Barriers to Critical Thinking Why do

people find critical thinking so difficult?
Lack of relevant background information
Poor reading skills
Prejudice
Superstition
Egocentrism
Sociocentrism
Unwarranted assumptions and stereotyping
Relativistic thinking
Overpowering emotions
Face-saving
Fear of change
Self-deception
(Ref. Baasham p 11)

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Egocentrism
. The tendency to see reality as centered
on oneself. Two common forms of egocentrism
are:
Self-interested thinking: Tendency to accept
and defend beliefs that harmonize with your
own self-interest. (e.g. lecturers vs
adminstrators)
.
3

Can you detect the egocentricism in the text

below?
Kelvin: You know I really hate people who complain!
Ron: Oh?
Kelvin: Yeah. You know some people go on and on about
what they dont like and why. They just go on
complaining, as if anyone is interested. But you cannot
tell them otherwise they never give you a chance!
They really irritate me. You hope they will change the
subject, but, no, they never do. And they keep on
repeating themselves. You wonder whats wrong with
them
Ron: (sigh)

 Self-serving

bias: To see yourself better in

some respect than you actually are:
Overrating oneself.
Critical thinking requires one to be honest
about ones own abilities.
Remember that your wants and needs are
not more important than anyone else's.
Critical thinking is objective. Refers to
people who claim to be more talented or
knowledgeable than they really are!
5

THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer the following questions (Y/N?).

a) Do you consider yourself a person with some skill or
talent?
b) Are you a friendly person?
c) Do people like you?
d) Are you civic-conscious?
d) Are you informed about what happens in your
country?

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Sociocentrism
This refers to Group centered thinking.
Sociocentrism distorts critical thinking in two ways
Group Bias: the tendency to see ones own group
(e.g.nation, race) as being inherently better than
all others. People absorb this unconsciously,
usually from childhood (e.g. pride/ suspicion)
Conformism: Refers to our tendency to follow the
crowd. The desire to be a part of the in-group is an
extremely powerful motivation
7

Can you give examples of your own

to show sociocentrism ?
You

can take examples from:

social beliefs, traditions, family values,
race, gender, different generations, peer
groups, institutions etc.

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Unwarranted

Assumptions and Stereotypes

An assumption is a belief without absolute proof
or evidence.
Unwarranted Assumption: Something taken for
granted without good reason. One common type of
this is: (e.g.attraction towards another)
Stereotype: assuming that all people within a group
(e.g., sex, race) share all the same qualities; So a
particular individual who belongs to this group has the
same qualities (e.g. male dancers)
Stereotypes are arrived at through the process of
generalization, i.e. drawing conclusions about a large group
from a small sample.
9

Stereotype: Discuss the following statements.

1.Anyone

who smokes is a cool guy.

2. Girls like to date only rich guys.
3. I am going to meet my friends Italian
fiance tomorrow. I am not looking
forward to it. Italians are portrayed as
rogues and belonging to the Mafia. I
hope he is okay!

10

Relativistic Thinking
Relativism is the view that truth is a matter of
opinion.
Subjectivism: the view that truth is a matter of
individual opinion; what one thinks is true is true for
that person.
Moral Subjectivism: The view that what is morally right for
person A is what he thinks is morally right.
Cultural Relativism: the view that what is true for person A is
what person As culture or society believes to be true.
Cultural moral relativism: The view that what a culture thinks
is morally right to do, is morally right to do, in that culture.
(e.g. affects tolerance ..)

Relativism is false. Read the example given.

11

A Conversation between lecturer and student: What are

your comments? Are the students arguments
acceptable?

S: Sir, I dont understand why you gave me a D on this

paper.
L: Well, as I have commented in your paper, you state
your opinion but do not offer any reasons to back them up.
S: Do you mean you gave me a low grade because you
disagree with my opinions?
L: No, not at all Sue Ling. You received a low grade
because you didnt give reasons to support your opinion.
S: But isnt everyone entitled to his or her own opinion.?
And can anyone prove that ones opinion is right and
others wrong? So why do I have to give reasons for my
opinion when I have a right to my own opinion and no-one
can prove that I am wrong?
L: (Sigh)
(Bassham p20)
12

Wishful Thinking
Believing what you want to be true (without
evidence or despite evidence to the contrary).
This error is quite common, for example,(?)
belief in tabloid (sensational/ shocking/
scandalous)headlines
healing crystals
quack cures
communication with the dead
it wont happen to me beliefs
etc.

13

Characteristics of a Critical Thinker

Strives

for clarity and precision

Sensitive to the discussed thinking errors
Intellectually honest (admits ignorance and limits)
Welcomes criticisms of beliefs; open to revising basic
beliefs
Bases beliefs on facts, not on preference or interest.
Thinks independently (doesnt let groups control their
beliefs).
Values having true beliefs, not comfortable ones.
Intellectual perseverance; will strive for truth even
when it is hard to do.
14

Activity -Issues for discussion.

What do you think about these issues?
Healing

amulets (GOODLUCK CHARM)

Communication with the dead
Traditional medicinal cures

15

Recognizing Arguments

16

What is an argument?

People

think an argument is
a kind of shouting match!

It

is not so. In critical thinking, an argument is a

claim defended with reasons. The purpose of the
argument is an attempt to convince someone (or
even yourself) of something.
17

How does critical thinking help?

Critical thinking aids the formulating of
good arguments. It also helps evaluating
whether we should be convinced that
some claim is true or some argument is
good

18

Characteristics of a good Argument

An

argument is composed of one or more

premises and a conclusion. It is a group
of statements (of one or more premises)
intended to prove or support another
statement called the conclusion.

19

Characteristics of a good Argument

It

shows reasoning using plain language

It uses declarative sentences (claims),
i.e. a sentence that is true or false (but
not both)

20

What is a claim?
A claim

is a declarative sentence which is used

in such a way that it is either true or false (but
not both).
For example,
1.Critical Thinking is a skill that can be acquired.
2.Dinosaurs once walked this earth.

The following sentences are not claims:

3. Open the door now! (Order)
4. Please, God, help me to pass this exam.
(Request/Prayer)

21

Identify whether the following sentences are

statements or not.
Statement:

a sentence/utterance that
can be viewed as either true or false.

1.Capital punishment is wrong.

2.Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer ever.
3. We could stop at the next rest area.
4. I hope that you pass the exam.
5. If she calls, tell her I am at the meeting.
22

Definitions
Statement: a sentence/utterance that can
be viewed as either true or false.
Argument: group of statements, one or
more of which is/are intended to prove
or support another statement.

23

Definitions
Premises: statements in an argument
offered as evidence or reasons why
one should accept another statement.
The Conclusion: the statement that the
premises support/prove.

24

What is a statement?
Examples:

Red is a color. (physical statement)

Abortion is morally wrong. (moral statement)
The Matrix is a better movie than Titanic. (evaluative
statement)

The

following are not statements.

What time is it? (question)

Close the window! (command)
Oh, my goodness! (exclamation)

Statement

test:
Does it make sense to put it is true that or it is
false that in front of it? If so, it is a statement. If
not, its not.
25

Tricky statements
Rhetorical

question: a sentence that has the

grammatical form of a question but is meant to be
understood as a statement.

Dont you know smoking will kill you?

(means: Smoking will kill you.)

How am I supposed to do that?

(means: I cant do that.)

26

Tricky statements
Ought

imperative: a sentence that has the

form of a command but is a statement about
what ought to be done.
Do yoga! really means You should do yoga.
Dont throw rubbish into the drain!
This really means You should not throw rubbish
into the drain!

27

Identify whether the following sentences are

statements or not.

1 Girls with long hair are more beautiful than

those with short hair.
2 Walk on the pavement at all times.
3 It was truly great party!
4 Am I supposed to follow whatever you say?
5 Please write legibly so I can read.
6 Cant you see that pornography demeans
women?
(Adapted from Baasham pp 33)
28

Identifying Premises &

Conclusions

In identifying premises and conclusions we are

often helped by indicator words. Indicators provide
clues that premises or conclusions are being put
forward.
Premise indicators: since, for, seeing that, in as
much as, in view of the fact that, because, as, given
that
Conclusion indicators: therefore, hence, so, it
follows that, wherefore, thus, consequently, that is
why
Be careful. These indicators are sometimes absent
or sometimes misleading.
29

Tips on finding Conclusions in arguments

without indicators
1.Find

the main issues; determine the authors

position.
2.Look at the beginning and end of the text; it is
usually there.
3.Ask yourself, What is the writer/speaker trying to
prove?

30

Tips on finding Conclusions in arguments

without indicators
4.Try

putting the word therefore before

one of the statements. If it fits it is the
conclusion.
5.The because trick
e.g. The writer/speaker believes
(conclusion) because
(premise(s). (The conclusion precedes
the indicator word because)
31

Examples of arguments using

indicator words.
1.You want people to be honest with you, so be honest
with them.
2. Your life is what your thoughts make it. That is why it is
important to guard our minds from unhealthy habits of
thinking, habits that hold us back from accomplishing.
3. What is right in one place may be wrong in another,
because the only criterion for distinguishing right from
wrongis the moral system of the society in which the
act occurs.
(W.H.Shaw Business Ethics)
Can you identify the premises and conclusions in the
above sentences?
32

Is it possible to formulate arguments

without indicators?
Yes!
1.

My cat is smarter than my dog. It can survive

for a week just scavenging for food but not my
dog. Without being fed it will just starve.

2.

I cannot be responsible for all that happens to

me. There are many factors outside my control,
like the environment, other people and their
decisions, the pressures of life and so on.

Can you identify the premises and

conclusions in the above sentences?
33

Distinguishing arguments from nonarguments

How to distinguish?
The basic test is simple. It is called an
argument when:
1 It is a group of 2 or more statements
2 One of these statements (conclusion) is
claimed to be supported by the others
(premises)

34

Argumentative discourse confused

with arguments
What
is not
5 types
that an
areArgument?
confused with arguments:
reports
unsupported assertions
conditional statements
illustrations
explanations

35

What is not an Argument?(1)

1.Reports:

statements made to convey information.

More people moved to the south this year.

Oil prices dropped today, thus so did gas prices.

Notice that, even though there is a conclusion indicator, this is still

a report.

2.Unsupported

Assumptions: when someone puts

forth what they believe but does not intend for any of
their statements to support another.
People arent afraid of dying; they are afraid of not living.
People like this course because of the professor.

Notice the presence of a premise indicator, but not a premise.

36

What Is Not An Argument?(2)

3.Conditional statements: (if-then)
e.g.,: If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled.
Most common forms: If A then B; B if A.
Antecedent: usually, the part that directly follows
If
Consequent: Usually, the part that follows then.
But conditionals need not always have if or then
e.g., In the event of rain, the picnic will be
cancelled.
37

More On Conditional Statements

Conditionals

are not arguments, but they

can look like them.
Conditional:

If I were taller I would play

basketball.
Argument: I am tall, so I would make a good
basketball player.
If

Rhode Island were larger than Ohio, and

Ohio were larger than Texas, then Rhode
Island would be larger than Texas.
This

is a conditional statement; If the first two

things are true, then the third is true.
38

More On Conditional Statements

If

Bob is taller than Chris then Bob is taller than

Ann. If Bob is taller than Ann, then Bob is taller
then Lori. Thus, if Bob is taller than Chris then Bob
is taller than Lori.

This is an argument. The latter follows from the two

former statements.

Chain

arguments: consist of conditional

statements.
If A then B. If B then C. Therefore, if A then C.
e.g., If Allen moves I will be all alone. If I am all alone
then I will be sad. So if Allen moves I will be sad.

39

What Is Not An Argument?(3)

4.

llustrations: examples of a claim.

Many

wildflowers are edible. For example,

daises and day lilies are delicious in salads.
Be careful
Some arguments can look like illustrations
because they use counter examples.
Many people think that all Star Trek fans are zit
faced nerds. But that is not true. For example,
Christian Slater is a Star Trek fan and he is not a
zit faced nerd.
40

What Is Not An Argument?(4)

5.

Explanation: tries to show why something is the

case (not argue that it is the case). (Consists of
explanandum and explanans).

Usually offers up a causal explanation for something

that is already accepted as true.
Titanic sank because it struck an iceberg. (explanation)
Capital Punishment is wrong because it is murder. (argument)

Explanandum: what is explained (the event).

Explanans: the explanation (the cause).
Explanadum because Explanans.

I ski because I think it is fun. (explanation)

You should ski because it is fun. (argument)

41

Arguments vs. Explanation (1)

(how to tell the difference?)
The

Common-Knowledge Test

If it points at something that is common knowledge, it is

probably an explanation.

Most people dont present arguments for things people already

believe.

E.g.TV is very influential in society because most people

watch it.
The

Past-Event Test

If it points at a past event, it is probably an explanation.

Usually people dont argue X occurred.
E.g. The US entered WWII because of Japans attack on
Pearl Harbor.

42

Read the following & decide whether they

are arguments. Identify the premise &
conclusion.
1.

Doctor, the patient is Room 345 is dying. He is

gasping for breath.
2. If you dont do as I say, you will be punished.
3. The sea is blue because of the refraction of light.
4. The accident was not my fault! She beat the red
lights and banged into my car. It was my right of
way.
5. I hope to pass the interview. Do you think I have
a chance?
43

Try this puzzle

Suppose

you need to measure exactly 1

cup of water. All that you have in your
kitchen are two containers. The smaller
container holds 3 cups and the larger
holds 5 cups. How can you use these
two containers to measure exactly 1 cup
of water?

44

Try this puzzle

45