SSH 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Critical Thinking
16 Mar 2016
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Critical thinking demands that we have acceptable and sufficient reasons for our beliefs and decisions. Ideally, our reasons should be true and they should support our beliefs and decisions. It turns out that these two conditions are totally independent of one another. An argument is invalid if and only if it not valid. Sometimes, an argument is invalid because the author left out some parts or elements of his or her reasoning: i. e. , aristotle is a cop, so he likes donuts. We call these missing parts: missing premises. Principle of charity: when evaluating someone"s arguments, try to turn it into a valid argument. Simply add a conditional (i. e. , an if-then" sentence) whose antecedent is the existing premise(s) and whose consequent is the arguments conclusion: i. e. , aristotle is a cop, and if aristotle is a cop, then aristotle loves donuts so, Now argument is valid, we can now focus whether the premises is true.
