Thinking Skills - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 62
About This Presentation
Title:

Thinking Skills

Description:

... (Yeti), psychic (mental) powers, universals, and sense ... Recognition of the need ... Human action is grounded (stuck) in human motives and motives ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:1010
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 63
Provided by: FadwaAlm
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Thinking Skills


1
Thinking Skills
  • Chapter 2
  • Critical Thinking

2
Critical Thinking
  • Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective
    thinking focused on deciding what to believe or
    do.
  • It involves using basic thinking skills and
    processes to analyze arguments and generate
    insight into particular meanings and
    interpretations to develop cohesive, logical
    reasoning patterns and understand assumptions and
    biases underlying particular positions and to
    attain a credible, concise, and convincing style
    of presentation.

3
Concept of Critical Thinking
  • Critical thinking has been described in different
    ways
  • the evaluation of reasoning and arguments
    (Ruggiero)
  • reasonable, reflective thinking directed at
    deciding what to believe or do (Ennis)
  • the application of standards to our judgments
    (Paul Elder)
  • What these conceptions of critical thinking have
    in common is that before we accept a judgment, we
    should be sure that it is supported by good
    reasons. If it is not, we should not accept it.

4
  • The critical thinking skills that are the most
    frequently needed in our personal and
    professional lives, fall into two categories
  • skills related to basic information that we get
    from a variety of sources, including media,
    textbooks, other people, and even our own
    observations (determining the accuracy of
    observation, determining the reliability of
    sources).
  • skills related to inferences in which we draw
    conclusions that we do not verify directly from
    information offered as evidence to support them
    (causal explanation, prediction, generalization,
    and reasoning by analogy), or inferences in which
    we deduce conclusions (conditional reasoning).

5
Goals of Critical Thinking
  • Critical thinking is considered essential for
    democratic citizenship the goal of teaching
    critical thinking is to develop people who are
    fair-minded, objective, and committed to clarity
    and accuracy.
  • Every idea (or project) has its positive points
    and negative ones. Critical thinking does not
    mean to discover the negative points only in your
    opponents idea or point of view. The goal of
    critical thinking is to bring out the truth even
    if it meant your loss.

6
Traits of Critical Thinker
  • 1. Intellectual Humility (rational modesty)
    Awareness of the limits of ones knowledge,
    including sensitivity to circumstances in which
    ones native egocentrism is likely to function
    self-deceptively sensitivity to bias and
    prejudice in, and limitations of ones view
    point.
  • 2. Intellectual Courage The willingness to
    face and assess fairly ideas, beliefs, or
    viewpoints to which we have not given a serious
    hearing, regardless of our strong negative
    reactions to them.
  • 3. Intellectual Empathy(understanding)
    (Justice) recognizing the need by imaginatively
    putting oneself in the place of others to
    genuinely understand them, this will lead to an
    intellectual justice.

7
  • 4. Intellectual good Faith (Integrity or
    reliability ) Recognition of the need to be
    true to ones own thinking, to be consistent
    (steady) in the intellectual standards one
    applies, to hold ones self to the same thorough
    standards of evidence and proof to which one
    holds ones opponents.
  • 5. Faith in Reason Confidence that in the
    long run ones own thinking and higher interests
    and those of humankind at large will be served
    best by giving the freest play to reason, by
    encouraging people to come to their own
    conclusions by developing their own rational
    abilities.

8
  • 6. Intellectual Independence Critical thinking
    is autonomous (self-directed) thinking, it is the
    willingness to tackle all viewpoints
    sympathetically (kindly) and to assess them with
    the same intellectual standards without being
    affected by ones own feelings or interests, or
    the feelings or interests of ones friends,
    community, or nation.
  • 7. Intellectual Perseverance (persistence)
    Willingness to pursue (follow) intellectual
    insights (visions) and truths despite
    difficulties, obstacles, and frustrations.
  •  

9
Skills Used in Critical Thinking
  • A wide range of skills in critical thinking have
    been identified through the literature, e.g.
  • Focusing on a question
  • Analyzing arguments
  • Judging the credibility of a source
  • Deducing and judging deductions
  • Observing and judging observation
  • Comparing, Classifying
  • Ordering, Representing
  • Summarizing, Restructuring, Predicting
  • Elaborating (explaining), Identifying
    attributes, relationships.

10
Barriers of Critical Thinking
  • 1. Lack of Information or Ignorance
  • Critical thinking involves the evaluation of
    information and its conceptualization (forming
    ideas), application, analysis and synthesis.
    Therefore, a critical thinker should have enough
    liable (right) information to be able to achieve
    his/her goal.
  • 2. Self Deception (tricking)
  • It is not easy to face our failure, many times
    we blame it on others. By deceiving ourselves we
    wont be able to analyze our mistakes and treat
    them.  
  • 3. Reliance on Expert Opinion
  • Experts have their mistakes, and we can be
    intimidated and influenced by their opinion.
    Being a critical thinker means having a cautious
    skepticism and gullibility (innocence), having an
    open mind while not allowing him/herself to be
    conned (cheated). The critical thinker is able to
    recognize as well as evaluate the adequacy and
    applicability of evidence.

11
  • 4. Bias and Prejudice and Desire
  • Human action is grounded (stuck) in human
    motives and motives are typically grounded in
    human desire and perceived interest. We routinely
    categorize, make assumptions, interpret, and
    infer from within a viewpoint we use to advance
    our personal ends and desires. We are, in a
    word, naturally prejudiced in our own favor. It
    is not enough to be taught to be ethical, and
    respectful of human rights. The mere conscious
    will to do good does not remove prejudices which
    shape our perceptions or eliminate the on-going
    drive to form them. To minimize our egocentric
    (selfish) drives, we must develop critical
    thinking in character as well. Indeed we must
    develop and refine our intellectual skills as we
    develop and refine our intellectual character, to
    embed (insert) the skills in our character and
    shape our character through the skills.

12
Evaluating Evidence
  • 1. Accuracy of Observation
  • Eyewitness accounts (explanations) are a special
    case of primary source information based on
    direct observation. In this instance, the
    conditions of observation, the use of
    observation-enhancing instruments, the persons
    expectations of what he or she is seeing, and
    when the report was recorded are all important.
  •  
  • 2. The Persons Expertise
  • The main source of information must be well
    informed and expert on the subject in question.
    If we need a medical information we should get it
    from a specialized doctor or specialized
    journal.. and so on.
  •  

13
  • 3. Disagreement or agreement among experts
  • It is a mistake to think that because someone is
    an expert in a field, his or her judgment must be
    accurate. Experts often disagree and may have
    vested interests (private) or biases. Because
    the general public lacks technical expertise, it
    has no way to determine who to believe. As a
    result, people tend to reject expert analysis and
    believe what they want to believe. A good
    critical thinker must weigh all factors and
    establish a pattern of support for or against a
    sources reliability (trustworthiness)
  • 4. Conflicts of Interest
  • The believability of fact-finding efforts is
    sharply reduced when the experts doing the
    fact-finding work are likely to benefit
    personally by providing misleading information.
    In this case, opponents and the general public
    are likely to doubt the truthfulness or accuracy
    of the expert's conclusions--even if the expert
    is acting reasonably.
  •  

14
  • 5. Reputation / Lack of credibility
    (trustworthiness)
  • Sometimes, we get information about one of the
    factors that influence credibility. We may find
    out, for example, that an individual who provides
    some important information on a current matter
    may not have given accurate information in the
    past. His past record casts some doubt on
    whether he is a reliable source for the
    information he is providing now. However, an
    error in the past is not a sufficient support for
    unreliability in the present. Also, the source
    of professional and personal reputation is
    important according to the type of information we
    are gathering.

15
Finding resources is about finding the
information you need to make decisions and create
solutions.
  • Knowing how to find information is important
    because it arms you with accurate information.
  • Our study focus here will be on three types of
    resources
  • 1- The internet.
  • 2- The library.
  • 3- Human resources.

16
1- Internet resources
  • Searching the internet for resources should not
    be confusing you just need to know what you are
    looking for, and determine the best way to find
    it.
  • First of all, you can start with
  • A. search engines

17
Examples of search engines
  • http//www.google.com
  • www.alltheweb.com
  • www.yahoo.com
  • www.bing.com
  • You can also go through many sites at one time.
    This type of search engines called meta-search
    engines.
  • Example of such sites
  • www.surfwax.com
  • Neither search engine can distinguish between
    good and bad sites. They simply list everything
    they can find which meets your search criteria.

18
B. Subject directories
  • This method of information searching is often
    useful and genuine, because the sites the
    directories list, have been chosen by qualified
    people. Thus, what believed to be poor content,
    not listed.
  • Some directories hire experts in various fields
    to write guides to their chosen subjects, and
    also to provide links to related sites.

19
Example of such subject directories
  • About.com (www.about.com) over 50,00 subjects
    with links to a million websites.
  • Academic Info (www.academicinfo.net)
    consistently maintained to add free educational
    resources (for late high school level and above)
    while weeding out outdated ones.
  • Librarians Index (www.lii.org) over 11,000
    Internet resources selected as the best by
    librarians.
  • Infomine (www.infomine.ucr.edu) aimed at
    university-level instructors and students,
    contains 115,000 Internet resources selected by
    university librarians.

20
C. Encyclopedias
  • The third way to find what are you looking for is
    searching directly the internet on a site at
    which you believe the information may be found.
  • Examples of Encyclopedias sites

Wikipedia.org a free access encyclopedia has its
information from the contribution of public
users. Xrefer.com London-based reference book
search engine searches over 50 encyclopedias,
dictionaries (in many categories), and
thesauri Encyclopedia.com Columbia Encyclopedia,
6th edition Britannica.com the first few
paragraphs of each article are free, so if you
need very basic facts, chances are you will get
them for 50 per year you can have total access
to the site Encarta.com some entire entries are
free, others are blocked to those who have not
paid 69 per year for the CD-ROM or DVD
21
D. Dictionaries
  • Dictionary.com searches a dozen dictionaries at
    one time, including American Heritage (fourth
    edition),Websters Revised Unabridged (1998),
    Princeton Universitys WordNet, and the CIA World
    Factbook.
  • M-W.com Merriam Websters older dictionaries
    searched free for access to the new eleventh
    edition, the annual fee is 14.95
    (merriam-webstercollegiate.com).

22
Practice
  • Answer (T) true or (F) false for the statements
    below.
  • ___ 1. Search engines direct you to the best
    sites about the subject you are researching.
  • ___ 2. Doing research on the Internet sometimes
    costs money.
  • ___ 3. Subject directories are created by
    computers.
  • ___ 4. Some search engines search many other
    search engines at the same time.
  • ___ 5. You can only find statistics at a library.

23
Roadblock to Good Resources
  • The main roadblock, or obstacle of conducting a
    good research is that sites with poor contents
    reside side by side with accurate and legitimate
    websites. Such sites (illegitimate, poor content)
    may make fiction posing as facts, or simply
    slipshod work, can look like real work.
  • The best way to avoid reliance on poor
    information is to be suspicious. Do not take any
    information you find on the Internet as truth
    until you can substantiate it with duplicate
    information on at least three other sites.

24
Practice
  • You are building a house and need to decide how
    to heat it. The contractor can put in a natural
    gas, or electric furnace. You want to choose the
    option that is the least expensive to operate. A
    search on the Internet yields five results. Which
    website(s) will most likely have the information
    you need to make a decision?
  • 1. www.epa.org the Environmental Protection
    Agency
  • 2. www.ashrae.org/ the Society of Heating,
    Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
  • 3. www.forestry.ext.edu educational site about
    the use of wood in home heating units
  • 4. www.electricfurnaceswebe.com retailer of
    electric powered home heating units
  • 5. www.energycodes.gov Kansas State Universitys
    Engineering Extension website

25
2- The library (print resources)
  • We need library in our searching for resources
    because internet doesnt always have everything.
  • There are three important reasons to do research
    at the library
  • A. librarians. They are trained professionals who
    know how to find what you are looking for,
    whether in the stacks or online.

26
  • B. Reliability of information. Not all of the
    information you find on the Internet is accurate.
    Anyone can publish online, and it is not always
    easy to distinguish between reliable and
    unreliable websites. Many sites containing bogus
    information appear professional and well-written.
  • On the other hand, published books (printed
    ones) that we find in the library have been
    through many layers of safety nets before they
    reach the shelves of a library. They are
    typically written, edited, proofread,
    fact-checked, published, and then selected by a
    librarian for purchase.

27
  • C. Price. The use of a library, including all of
    its electronic services, is free. Some of the
    research resources on the Internet are not. There
    are sites that give away some information, but
    charge for full access to their site. Others will
    not let you in at all unless you are a
    subscriber. Some Internet resources charge
    prohibitively high subscription prices, such as
    the Oxford English Dictionary (currently 550 per
    year). Libraries often pay these prices and
    provide full access.

28
3. Going to the experts
  • Sometimes, you cant find out what you need to
    know from a website or the library, such as
    interest rates on mortgages that change daily, in
    such cases, you need to find a person or people
    who have the information you are looking for.
  • Who are experts Experts are simply those who
    know their subjects and can be relied upon to
    supply correct information.
  • They might know about it because they have
    studied it or worked with it long enough to be
    considered highly informed.

29
Checking credentials
  • before relying on an expert, determine that the
    person has the proper credentials.
  • Ask questions about where they are getting their
    information from.
  • On what sources do they rely?
  • How are they qualified to provide you with the
    information you are looking for?

30
Practice
  • The college you will attend in the fall has a
    rule that all incoming freshman must take at
    least two courses outside their major during
    their first year at the school. After looking at
    the course catalog, you determine that you only
    have room for one such course. You need to know
    how steadfastly the college maintains this rule.
    Must you drop a course in your major, or can you
    take a required course outside your major as a
    sophomore? How will you get the information you
    need?
  • a. Write a letter to the President of the college
  • b. Check the schools website
  • c. Look it up in the brochure
  • d. Call the registrar

31
Argument and Reasoning
  • Statement and Claims
  • For the purposes of critical thinking, all
    sentences can be divided into those that can be
    true or false, and those that cannot. Only a few
    sentences cannot be true or false commands
    (Just do it!), exclamations (How beautiful!), and
    questions (Why not?).
  • The vast majority of all sentences in critical
    thinking are called statements or claims. Note
    that you dont need to know whether a statement
    is true or false, just that it has the form of
    sentences as Before he died, Elvis was thinking
    of becoming a vegetarian.

32
  • Arguments
  • An argument is a series of statements used to
    persuade someone of something. That something
    is called the conclusion or a claim. The first
    job in analyzing any argument is to identify its
    conclusion. One way to identify conclusions, or
    other parts of an argument, is to look for their
    indicators.
  •  

33
  • Propositions (offers)
  • A proposition is a statement which is either true
    or false. The proposition is the meaning of the
    statement, not the precise arrangement of words
    used to convey that meaning.
  • Premises
  • Premises (evidences) are statements that directly
    support the conclusion or to look at it another
    way, the reasons for accepting the argument.
    Premises are only premises in the context of a
    particular argument they might be conclusions in
    other arguments.  

34
I like Ahmad. Ahmad is a nice boy. So he will
receive a reward from his school, because Ahmad
is really smart boy.
35
  • You should always state the premises of the
    argument explicitly. Failing to state your
    assumptions is often viewed as suspicious, and
    will likely reduce the acceptance of your
    argument.
  • The premises of an argument are often introduced
    with words such as "Assume...", "Since...",
    "Obviously..." and "Because...." It's a good idea
    to get your opponent to agree with the premises
    of your argument before proceeding any further.
  • The word "obviously" is also often viewed with
    suspicion. It occasionally gets used to persuade
    people to accept false statements, rather than
    admit that they don't understand why something is
    'obvious'. So don't be afraid to question
    statements which people tell you are 'obvious' --
    when you've heard the explanation you can always
    say something like "You're right, now that I
    think about it that way, it is obvious."

36
  • Inference
  • Once the premises have been agreed, the argument
    proceeds via a step-by-step process called
    inference. 
  • In inference, you start with one or more
    propositions which have been accepted you then
    use those propositions to arrive at a new
    proposition. If the inference is valid, that
    proposition should also be accepted. You can use
    the new proposition for inference later on.

37
  • Conclusion
  • Hopefully you will arrive at a proposition which
    is the conclusion of the argument - the result
    you are trying to prove. The conclusion is the
    result of the final step of inference. It's only
    a conclusion in the context of a particular
    argument it could be a premise or assumption in
    another argument.
  • The conclusion is said to be affirmed(stated) on
    the basis of the premises, and the inference from
    them. Conclusions are often identified by phrases
    like "therefore..." or "...implies that.

38
I like Ahmad. Ahmad is a nice boy. So he will
receive a reward from his school, because Ahmad
is really smart boy.
39
Types of Arguments
  • 1. Deductive (logical) Argument
  • Is generally viewed as the most precise and the
    most persuasive. It is an argument in which the
    premises provide (or appear to provide) complete
    support for the conclusion.
  • A good deductive argument is known as a valid
    argument and is such that if all its premises are
    true, then its conclusion must be true. If all
    the argument is valid and actually has all true
    premises, then it is known as a sound (thorough)
    argument. If it is invalid or has one or more
    false premises, it will be unsound.

40
Example
  • 1. If you place wood in the fire, it will burn
    (i.e., if P then Q)
  • 2. This is a piece of wood (i.e., P)
  • 3. Therefore, it will burn (i.e., Q)
  • If the premises are all true, then so is the
    conclusion. In deductive terms, as an argument,
    this is both valid and sound. Yet how do we know
    that the premises are in fact true? This is
    where inductive reasoning proves useful.

41
  • 2. Inductive Argument
  • Is an argument such that the premises provide
    (or appear to provide) some degree of support
    (but less than complete support) for the
    conclusion. Induction is usually described as
    moving from the specific to the general.
    Arguments based on experience or observation is
    best expressed inductively.
  • The reasoning might go something like this 
  • Most of French class students are English.
  • John is a student in the French class.
  • 3. Therefore, John is English.

42
  • inductive generalization when we generalize form
    a number (n) of cases that we know to be true,
    and infer that the same thing will remain true in
    all future cases involving what we believe to be
    wood and fire.
  • argue causation Inductive arguments are
    evaluated according to the degree to which the
    conclusion is probably true, as distinct from
    conclusively true in deductive arguments. In
    terms of validity, an inductive argument is
    neither valid nor invalid.

43
  • Inductive arguments are evaluated according to
    the degree to which the conclusion is probably
    true, as distinct from conclusively true in
    deductive arguments. In terms of validity, an
    inductive argument is neither valid nor invalid.
  • A good inductive argument is known as a strong
    (or "cogent clear) inductive argument. It is
    such that if the premises are true, the
    conclusion is likely to be true.
  • Example
  • All of French class students are English.
  • John is a student in the French class.
  • 3. Therefore, John is English.

44
Spotting arguments
  • Spotting an argument is harder than spotting
    premises or a conclusion. Lots of people shower
    their writing with assertions, without even
    producing anything you might reasonably call an
    argument.
  • Sometimes people may state their conclusions
    first, and then justify them afterwards. This is
    valid, but it can be a little confusing.
  • A statement of the form "X because Y" can be
    re-phrased as an equivalent statement, of the
    form "Y therefore X."

45
Evaluating Arguments
  • 1. Comprehending and using language with
    accuracy, clarity and discrimination
  • The critical thinker should notice the language
    used in the argument, it should be clear and
    comprehensive. The words should be precise and
    do not imply other meanings. The critical
    thinker should also distinguish the emotional
    words used which may affect his/ her judgment. 
  • 2. Distinguishing between facts and opinions
  • It is very important to be able to distinguish
    between facts and opinions, we may argue to
    reject or accept opinions, but we cant argue
    with facts.

46
Practice
  • Label each statement as either (F) fact or (O)
    opinion.
  • ___ 1. The USA is bigger in size than the UAE.
  • ___ 2. Ice cream is the most delicious dessert.
  • ___ 3. I went to London for a vacation last year.
  • ___ 4. Putting money in the stock market is a bad
    idea.

47
  • 3. Applying integrated (unified) information
  • The critical thinker should be able to
    distinguish if his opponents arguments have
    contradictory information. At the same time he
    should check his argument and use only integrated
    information.
  • 4. The sufficiency of premises
  • Depending on the argument in question, we should
    have enough premises to reach to a certain
    conclusion. Take the following example
  • Premises 1 Fatima is a student in UAEU
  • Premises 2 Fatima is taking a thinking skills
    course
  • Conclusion Therefore, Fatima is majoring in
    Education
  • As we notice in the previous example, the
    sentences are clear, facts, integrated, yet they
    are not enough to reach to that conclusion.

48
Logical Fallacies
  • Logical fallacies are errors that occur in
    arguments.
  • Every argument makes some assumptions. A
    convincing argument makes only warranted
    assumptions, i.e., its assumptions are not
    questionable or false. So, fallacies of
    assumption make up one type of logical fallacy.

49
  • 1. The Bandwagon Fallacy (Peer Pressure)
  • The Bandwagon is a fallacy in which a threat of
    rejection by one's peers (or peer pressure) is
    substituted for evidence in an "argument.
    "Example
  • Joe "Bill, I know you think that 112. But we
    don't accept that sort of thing in our group. "
  • Bill "I was just joking. Of course I don't
    believe that."
  • Salem I like tennis, I think tennis is a good
    sport.
  • Khalid What! Tennis is for girls, only weak boys
    like tennis.
  • Ahmad I dont like anyone likes tennis. Soccer
    is for champs.
  • Salem Oh! Youre right, soccer is better. I hate
    tennis.

50
  • It should be noted that loyalty to a group and
    the need to belong can give people very strong
    reasons to conform to the views and positions of
    those groups. Further, from a practical
    standpoint we must often compromise our beliefs
    in order to belong to groups. However, this
    feeling of loyalty or the need to belong simply
    does not constitute evidence for a claim.
  • 2. Straw Man Fallacy
  • One of the characteristics of a cogent
    refutation (rejection) of an argument is that the
    argument one is refuting is not represented
    fairly and accurately. To distort or misrepresent
    an argument one is trying to refute is called the
    straw man fallacy. It doesn't matter whether the
    misrepresentation or distortion is accidental and
    due to misunderstanding the argument or is
    intentional and aimed at making it easier to
    refute. Either way, one commits the straw man
    fallacy.
  • In other words, the attacker of a straw man
    argument is refuting a position of his own
    creation, not the position of someone else. The
    refutation may appear to be a good one to someone
    unfamiliar with the original argument.

51
  • Example on the Straw man fallacy
  • Bill and Jill are arguing about cleaning out
    their closets Jill "We should clean out the
    closets. They are getting a bit messy." Bill
    "Why, we just went through those closets last
    year. Do we have to clean them out
    everyday?" Jill "I never said anything about
    cleaning them out every day. You just want too
    keep all your junk forever, which is just
    ridiculous.
  • 3. False Dilemma
  • A False Dilemma is a fallacy in which a person
    uses the following pattern of "reasoning"  
  • Either claim X is true or claim Y is true (when X
    and Y could both be false).
  • Claim Y is false.
  • Therefore claim X is true.
  • This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because if
    both claims could be false, then it cannot be
    inferred that one is true because the other is
    false.

52
Example on False Dilemma 1. Bill "Jill and I
both support having prayer in public
schools." 2. Jill "Hey, I never said that!" 3.
Bill "You're not an atheist are you
Jill? Example 2 1. Bill is dead or he is
alive. 2. Bill is not dead. 3. Therefore Bill is
alive.
53
  • 4. Appeal to Pity
  • An Appeal to Pity is a fallacy in which a person
    substitutes a claim intended to create pity for
    evidence in an argument. Example You must
    accept that 1146, after all I'm dying..."
    While you may pity me because I am dying, it
    would hardly make my claim true.
  • Example of a case in which a claim evokes pity
    and also serves as legitimate evidence
  • Professor "You missed the midterm, Bill."
  • Bill "I know. I think you should let me take the
    makeup."
  • Professor "Why?"
  • Bill "I was hit by a truck on the way to the
    midterm. Since I had to go to the emergency room
    with a broken leg, I think I am entitled to a
    makeup."
  • Professor "I'm sorry about the leg, Bill. Of
    course you can make it up."

54
  • 5. Burden of Proof (Argument from Ignorance)
  • Burden of Proof is a fallacy in which the burden
    of proof is placed on the wrong side. Another
    version occurs when a lack of evidence for side A
    is taken to be evidence for side B in cases in
    which the burden of proof actually rests on side
    B. A common name for this is an Appeal to
    Ignorance.
  • As an example, in most cases the burden of proof
    rests on those who claim something exists (such
    as Bigfoot (Yeti), psychic (mental) powers,
    universals, and sense data).
  • John "I think that some people have psychic
    powers." Edward "What is your proof?" John
    "No one has been able to prove that people do not
    have psychic powers."

55
  • 6. Personal Attack
  • A personal attack is committed when a person
    substitutes abusive (rude) remarks for evidence
    when attacking another person's claim or claims.
    This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because
    the attack is directed at the person making the
    claim and not the claim itself. The truth value
    of a claim is independent of the person making
    the claim. After all, no matter how repugnant
    (distasteful) an individual might be, he or she
    can still make true claims.  
  • In general, it is best to focus one's attention
    on the content of the claim and not on who made
    the claim. It is the content that determines the
    truth of the claim and not the characteristics of
    the person making the claim.
  • Dave says that we should pay our share of taxes
    to the company. But he is untrustworthy, so it
    must be wrong to do that.

56
  • 7. Poisoning the Well
  • This sort of "reasoning" involves trying to
    discredit (dishonor) what a person might later
    claim by presenting unfavorable information (be
    it true or false) about the person. This
    "argument" has the following form  
  • Unfavorable information (be it true or false)
    about person A is presented.
  • Therefore any claims person A makes will be
    false.
  • - Example Don't listen to him, he's fake.

57
  • 8. Diverting the Attention (Evading the Issue)
  • This type of fallacy occurs when the person does
    not have a valid proof for his/ her argument, or
    if he/she does not wish to present the
    information in hand.
  • The person diverts his opponent attention and
    moves to another topic. This diversion could be
    very smooth and involve interesting topics that
    most of times people do not notice it.

58
Rules of Presenting a Convincing Argument
  • 1. Respect your opponent and the opinions of
    others, remember always that respect generates
    respect and disrespect generates disrespect. 
  • 2. Understand your opponent opinions/ points of
    view, and identify their strengths as well as
    weaknesses. Strive to be fair-minded in
    evaluating all points of view.
  •  
  • 3. All reasoning leads somewhere or has
    implications and consequences, Trace the
    implications and consequences that follow from
    your reasoning. Search for negative as well as
    positive implications. Consider all possible
    consequences  

59
  • 4. Respecting diversity of culture, socioeconomic
    variations, take into account the feelings,
    beliefs, and thoughts of other people.
  • 5. Have a positive direction. Dont argue against
    a certain view point if you cant offer an
    alternative for it.
  •  
  • 6. Do not deny facts associated with certain
    arguments, even if these facts may weaken your
    position. Search for information that opposes
    your position as well as information that
    supports it. Make sure that all information used
    is clear, accurate, and relevant to the
    question at issue.

60
  • 7. Admit strong points in your opponent
    argument, this will increase your creditability.
    Be open-minded seriously consider other points
    of view and be willing to consider changing one's
    own position.
  • 8. Do not exaggerate in presenting your
    argument, people have short attention span. Few
    strong arguments have more affect than long,
    boring, and probably weak ones.
  • 9. Present suitable argument for your specific
    audience. Be aware of your audiences interest to
    be able to present a good argument. 
  • 10. Do not use an argument unless you believe in
    it and have sufficient evidence to do so.
    Restrict your claims to those supported by the
    data you have. Withhold judgment/argument when
    the evidence and reasons are not sufficient to do
    so.

61
Table 2 Examples of strategies students could
use toimprove their critical thinking abilities
Strategies to improve critical thinking
From Chaffee (1997)Ask yourself key questions. e.g., What is the issue?What is the evidence?What are the arguments?Are the evidence and arguments sound? Check the argument for fallaciesempirical generalizationsfalse generalizations Identify the words that cue in an argumentUse mind maps to clarify your conceptualization
62
End of Chapter 2
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com