Critical thinking Notes
Chapter 1:
What is critical thinking?
Reasoned thinking aimed to be reflective and help make decisions
What is knowledge?
Justified true belief
Justified
Has enough of the right kind of evidence
If you remove any of the three aspects of knowledge, then there is no longer knowledge
Lucky, Unlucky, In Denial
Use examples
Three different reasons for believing something
Emotional, Pragmatic, Epistemic
Only epistemic is used In critical thinking
Epistemic thinking is based on facts, evidence, etc
Chapter 2
Three attitudes towards truth
Realism, relativism, nihilism
Only realism is accepted in critical thinking
Nihilism -> truth does not exist
Relativism -> we make the truth, don’t have to look for something we can make
Realism -> there is a truth
Mistakes to avoid
Back of the chapters in the textbook
Memorize them
On the quiz, give a definition
Propositions and Assertions
A proposition is a little piece of information
“It is sunny outside”
Assertion is that it is true that is it sunny outside
Proposition is that it is sunny
Assertions are truth claims
Assertion test
1. Guess what is being asserted
2. Suppose the assertion you want to test is negative
3. Ask yourself, can the whole sentence still be true
4. Outcome: if the sentence cannot be true the assertion you tested is being asserted
5. If the sentence can still be true, the assertion you’ve tested is not being asserted
Three Special cases to break down assertions
Conjunctions
Sentence with “and” in it
Both parts of the sentence are being asserted together
The “and” connects the two conjuncts
Disjunctions
Either ___________ Or __________
The blanks are called disjuncts
“either I’m going to the park or the movies”
Conditional
If _______ then _______
If _________, ___________
“if it is nice, then I’m going for a picnic”
Antecedent and consequence
There is only one assertion in a conditional sentence
IF it is nice, THEN I’m going for a picnic, the entire thing
What is critical thinking?
Reasoned thinking aimed to be reflective and help make decisions
What is knowledge?
Justified true belief
Justified
Has enough of the right kind of evidence
If you remove any of the three aspects of knowledge, then there is no longer knowledge
Lucky, Unlucky, In Denial
Use examples
Three different reasons for believing something
Emotional, Pragmatic, Epistemic
Only epistemic is used In critical thinking
Epistemic thinking is based on facts, evidence, etc
Chapter 2
Three attitudes towards truth
Realism, relativism, nihilism
Only realism is accepted in critical thinking
Nihilism -> truth does not exist
Relativism -> we make the truth, don’t have to look for something we can make
Realism -> there is a truth
Mistakes to avoid
Back of the chapters in the textbook
Memorize them
On the quiz, give a definition
Propositions and Assertions
A proposition is a little piece of information
“It is sunny outside”
Assertion is that it is true that is it sunny outside
Proposition is that it is sunny
Assertions are truth claims
Assertion test
1. Guess what is being asserted
2. Suppose the assertion you want to test is negative
3. Ask yourself, can the whole sentence still be true
4. Outcome: if the sentence cannot be true the assertion you tested is being asserted
5. If the sentence can still be true, the assertion you’ve tested is not being asserted
Three Special cases to break down assertions
Conjunctions
Sentence with “and” in it
Both parts of the sentence are being asserted together
The “and” connects the two conjuncts
Disjunctions
Either ___________ Or __________
The blanks are called disjuncts
“either I’m going to the park or the movies”
Conditional
If _______ then _______
If _________, ___________
“if it is nice, then I’m going for a picnic”
Antecedent and consequence
There is only one assertion in a conditional sentence
IF it is nice, THEN I’m going for a picnic, the entire thing