SSH105

• An argument is a set of statements, including one premise and one conclusion

  • The premise(s) support the conclusion 
  • The conclusion is the statement being argued for
• Argument Analysis: 3 Steps

  • Identifying an argument: Is this author making an argument at all?
  • Reconstructing an argument: What argument is this author making?
  • Evaluating an argument: Is this a strong argument?
• • The Credulous Person: believes everything they hear
• • The Person of Contradiction: believes the opposite of everything they hear
• The Dogmatist: holds onto their own opinions no matter what
• • The Skeptic: doesn’t believe anything
• • Relativists: think (somehow) everyone's right
• Rational Thinkers

  • Examine arguments with an open mind
  • Change their mind when the arguments call for it
  • Give up comfortable or popular beliefs when the arguments call for it
  • Go along with popular views when the arguments call for it
  • Form beliefs on good evidence
• Critical thinking helps us

  • Get at the truth
  • Gain knowledge/believe rationally
  • Fairly and rationally evaluate both sides of controversial issues
  • Be clearer thinkers
• Three types of sentences:

  • Interrogative: questions
  • Imperative: commands
  • Declarative: statements
• • Arguments use declarative sentences
• Basic correspondence principle

  • A sentence is true = things are really that way
  • = it corresponds to the world
• • A sentence is a string of words
• • A proposition is a specific thought or idea that a sentence expresses
• • Two different sentences can express the same proposition
• • Sentences express propositions
• A proposition is true = it describes things as they actually are
• • A proposition is false = it does not describe things as they actually are
• • On the correspondence theory, truth is objective
• Learning to think critically has a number of advantages

  • State arguments and positions more clearly
  • See both sides of a debate
  • Improve our discourse and writing
• • Critical thinking helps us evaluate whether our beliefs are rational
  • It helps us know when to give up a belief and when to keep it
  • It helps us adopt better belief-forming processes to use in the future
• Believe it: it is true
• • Disbelieve it: it is false
• • Withhold belief: undecided
• • Disagreement
  • If I believe x and you disbelieve x, we disagree
• • Your belief is rational = it is supported by your evidence
• • Your belief is irrational = it is not supported by evidence
• • Motivational errors: beliefs motivated by hopes or fears
• • Wishful thinking – believing your team will win just because you want them to win
• • Paranoia – you're convinced your partner is cheating but you don't have evidence
• • Misevaluation of evidence: thinking the evidence supports something when it doesn’t
• • Hasty generalization – I saw one older woman wearing a red hat, so all older women must wear red hats
• Fallibilism: Rational belief does not equal a true belief
• • A rational belief can be false
• • An irrational belief can be true
• What is Knowledge?

  • Belief
  • Truth
  • Rationality
• Two Ways an Argument Goes Wrong:

  • A premise is false
  • The conclusion doesn’t follow from the premises
• • You can determine if an argument is valid by playing pretend
• • An argument is valid
  • = it's impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false OR
  • = the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion
• • An argument is invalid
  • = it is not valid OR
  • = it is possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false OR
  • = the premises do “not” guarantee the truth of the conclusion