Chapter 2: Clear Thinking and Critical Thinking

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Chapter 2 Clear Thinking and Critical Thinking

• What You need to Know

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Avoiding Unclear Claims

• A claim can be unclear or confusing
• because
• It contains terms that need to be defined
• It is too vague
• It suffers from ambiguity

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Types of Definitions

• DEFINITION BY EXAMPLE
• Pointing to, naming, or describing one or
• more examples of something to which the defined
  term applies
• DEFINITION BY SYNONYM
• Giving another word or phrase that means the same
  thing
• ANALYTICAL DEFINITION
• Specifying (a) the type of thing the term applies
  to and (b) the difference between the things the
  term applies to and other things of the same type.

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Definition by Example

• Im talking about aliens you know, like E.T.
  and Stitch.
• By bad writing, I mean Danielle Steels romance
  novels and other crap like that.
• Erroneous judgments? How about electing that
  idiot Mayor.

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Definition by Synonym

• A cantankerous person is an ill-tempered one.
• Equine means horse-like.
• Promenading is strolling.
• Pusillanimous means the same thing as cowardly.

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Analytical Definition

• A mouse is a piece of computer equipment used to
  place the cursor.
• A lariat is a long, noosed rope used to catch
  horses, cattle or other livestock.
• A bee is a social gathering where people combine
  work, competition, and amusement.

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Identifying Types of Definition

• A power cord is this thing right here, dangling
  from your CPU.
• A kiwi is a fuzzy, brown, and egg-shaped fruit
  with tart green flesh.
• You know, I mean really rich people like Bill
  Gates.
• Coquettish means flirtatious.
• Imbecilic? Take a look at my little brother.
• Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet.
• A penurious person is a stingy one.

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Vagueness

• A vague statement is one whose meaning is
  indistinct, imprecise, or lacks details

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Examples of Vagueness

• Ill be home later.
• (How much later?)
• Get me a small beverage.
• (How small? What kind of beverage?)
• Type a short paper, and make sure the font is an
  acceptable size.
• (How short? What font size do you consider
  acceptable?)
• Be careful. Theres something near the big tree.
• (Whats there? Which big tree? How near is the
  thing to the tree?)

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Ambiguity

• A statement is ambiguous if it has more than one
  interpretation.

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Two Kinds of Ambiguity

• Semantic Ambiguity

• Syntactic Ambiguity

• Semantic ambiguity occurs when a word or phrase
  in the statement has more than one meaning.

• A statement suffers from syntactic ambiguity if
  it is ambiguous due to its grammar or the way the
  words are put together.

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Examples of Semantic Ambiguity

• I didnt have time to pick out a good birthday
  gift, so when I saw her, I just gave her the
  slip.
• (Did you give her an article of clothing or did
  you avoid her?)
• I went to the park, and there were bats
  everywhere.
• (Were there baseball bats or winged, nocturnal
  animals?)
• She has a strange fear of light objects.
• (Light colored objects or light weight objects?)
• The ruler was crooked.
• (A ruler as in a measuring tool or a leader? And
  crooked as in bent or corrupt?)
• You shouldnt turn on your friends.
• (You shouldnt betray them, or you shouldnt
  sexually excite them?)

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Examples of Syntactic Ambiguity

• I shot the man under the table.
• (Are you describing which man you shot or where
  you shot him?)
• I phoned my friend from work.
• (Does from work describe which friend or
  describe the place that you called him or her
  from?)
• I contacted the man with the blue laptop.
• (You used the laptop to contact him, or are you
  talking about which man you contacted?)
• People who jog frequently fall.
• (People who frequently jog fall, or People who
  jog fall frequently?)

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Identifying Types of Ambiguity

• John drew his pistol.
• I mentioned the tree next to you.
• Thinking clearly involves hard work.
• When the queen exposed herself to the troops,
  they all applauded.
• You look down sometimes.

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Fallacy of Composition

• This fallacy is the erroneous reasoning that what
  is true of the individuals that comprise a group
  must also be true of the group as a whole

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Examples of Composition

• The most popular singers of all time are Elvis
  Presley, Michael Jackson, and Luciano Pavarotti.
  If they would have been able to get together,
  they could have formed an immensely successful
  singing group!
• Listen, if we made a single team out of the five
  best basketball players in the NBA, then that
  team would be unstoppable.
• I think the best fiction authors are Stephen
  King, Danielle Steele, and Michael Crichton. If
  they collaborated on a novel, Im sure Id enjoy
  it.
• John has used Axe, Bod, and Old Spice, and he
  says each one of those colognes helps him to get
  girls. Billy is not popular with females at all,
  so I told him to use all three tonight. Im sure
  hell get lucky.

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Fallacy of Division

• This fallacy is the erroneous reasoning that what
  is true of the group is also true of the
  individuals that comprise the group.

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Examples of Division

• The LA Lakers have a very poor record right now,
  so when you tell me that Kobe Bryant, a current
  Laker, is the best player in the NBA, I have to
  laugh!
• Hey, this is a poem from the anthology thats
  celebrated as the best poetry collection ever I
  bet this poem is going to be outstanding.
• Jim loves his mothers bologna sandwiches, and on
  each one of them, she uses a piece of iceberg
  lettuce. Ill give him this piece of iceberg
  lettuce for a snack theoretically, he should
  love it.
• The state senate is just awful. Bill Smith has
  been a member of that senate for fifteen years,
  so Im thinking hed make a terrible governor.

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Name the problem Vagueness, Ambiguity,
Composition, or Division

• Were going to an outdoor theatrical production
  tonight. It will be great to see all the stars.
• I bet Brad Pitts eyes, Denzel Washingtons
  smile, plus Paul Walkers body would make one
  attractive guy!
• Dont sit close to the television for too long,
  or your eyes could become damaged.
• How could you say that John is unintelligent he
  graduated from Harvard!
• People who rollerblade quickly learn to avoid
  speed bumps.

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What Wont Be On Todays Test

• The Fallacies that we covered on Tuesday
• Identifying Vague Comparisons
• Identifying Grouping Ambiguities
• Identifying Rhetorical Definitions
• Writing Exercises

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Test Format

• All multiple choice
• Identifying subjective versus non-subjective
  claims
• Determining whether or not the passage contains
  an argument
• Identifying the issue that the primary claim in a
  passage addresses
• Identifying which type of definition is being
  given
• Semantic versus syntactic ambiguity
• Identifying the problem vagueness, ambiguity,
  composition, or division