Chapter 1. Introducing Critical Thinking and Philosophical Inquiry
§4 Critical Thinking Basics
4.1 Statements [Claims]
An assertion that something is or is not the case.
A statement that is either true or false.
The strength of your belief should depend on the quality of the reasons in favor of the statement.
Claims / Statements
- “Seattle is the capital of Washington.”
- “Cotton candy is the best flavor for ice cream.”
- “Hydrogen has one proton.”
- “Extraterrestrial organisms exist.”
- A triangle has three sides.
- 7 + 5 = 12
- Sacramento is the capital of California.
- Tony’s birthday is August 17th.
- Objects fall to the center of the earth at 9.81 m/s².
4.2 Non-statements
Questions, commands, requests, greetings, exclamations are not statements, since they do not assert that something is or is not the case.
Value Judgments:
- Rap music is better than punk rock.
- Cotton candy is the best flavoring ice cream.
- The U.S. should have played better in the World Cup.
- Lady Gaga is the greatest singer ever.
- You should have painted that wall blue.
Non-statements
- “Is Seattle the capital of Washington?”
- “Eat only cotton candy ice cream!”
- “Good morning.”
- “Wow”
4.3 Arguments
When concerning oneself with critical thinking, the term ‘argument’ means something quite specific, not just any disagreement or fight. For something to count as an argument it must have two parts: A group of statements in which some of them (the premises) are intended to support another of them (the conclusion).
Concurrently, An argument can have only one conclusion, whereas it must have at minimum one premise (though there is no maximum limit on supporting premises).
The logical link between premises and a conclusion is called ‘inference‘, and is surprisingly intuitive if the logic is well thought out and explicit.
4.4 Argument Identification
Some premise indicator words:
because, since, in view of the fact, given that, as indicated by, for the reason that, due to the fact that, this is implied by.
Some conclusion indicator words:
therefore, thus, so, accordingly, as a result, consequently, it follows that, we can conclude that, ergo, hence.
4.5 Arguments v. Explanations
An argument gives reasons for believing that something is the case.
An explanation tells us why or how something is the case.
Example
Let’s see how two statements of the form “X because Y” do not both have to be arguments.
“There is a lot of smoke in here because there is a fire out there.”
[CAUSE → EXPLANATION]
“There is a fire out there because there is a lot of smoke in here.”
[EVIDENCE → ARGUMENT]
