CRITICAL THINKING

The Thinker, Auguste Rodin, 1879-1889

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

Critical thinking =df. The careful, deliberate determination of whether we should accept, reject, or suspend judgement about a claim and of the degree of confidence with which we should accept or reject it.
The ability to think critically is vitally important; in fact our lives depend on it. The way we conduct our lives depends on what we believe to be true on what claims we accept. The more carefully we evaluate a claim and the more fully we separate issues that are relevant to it from those that are not, the more critical is our thinking.

GOALS OF CRITICAL THINKING

Thinking critically is not about attacking other people. What is critiqued is the ideas of people, not the people themselves who hold the ideas. The goal of philosophy is knowledge through a disinterested search for truth, not winning or simply appearing to defeat another in argument. Critical thinking helps both ourselves and others when it helps us recognize that a position, theory, or idea is incomplete or unclear, insufficiently supported, or in some other way unconvincing, and thus helps us to arrive at the truth which is the goal of knowledge seekers.

BASIC CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Knowing when someone is taking a position on an issue, which means knowing
what the issue is, and what the persons claim is about it.

Knowing what considerations are relevant to the issue. Knowing whether the reasoning (if any) underlying the persons claims is good reasoning. Knowing whether, everything considered, we should accept, reject, or suspend judgment on what the person claimed. Being levelheaded and objective and not being influenced by extraneous factors.

ISSUES I
An issue can be considered by two or more individuals, or by a single individual.
Debating correct foreign policy is a group issue. Deciding where to attend college is an issue which a single person can consider.

What makes something an issue is its being a matter of controversy, and hence an issue has an uncertain truth value relative to the person or persons for whom the matter is uncertain.
There is an independent truth about the existence of life elsewhere in the universe, but it is a debated subject between scientists. So it is an issue because we dont know the truth value of the claim that life exists elsewhere.

ISSUES II
Issues can be posed as questions or as whether statements; Has religion had a positive impact on history? is an issue which can be rephrased as whether religion has made useful contributions to civilization. Issues are different from topics of conversation; baseball or traveling in the Alps can be topics of conversation, but neither is an issue. An issue is not a psychological problem, not something a person has (or has got); rather it is something a person raises or addresses or tries to resolve.

ISSUES III
Ideally, an issue should be focused on one clear and precise question. A worthwhile discussion focuses on a single topic and then on a particular question at issue, otherwise the ensuing argument will tend to be disorganized and incoherent.

WHAT IS A CLAIM?
A claim =df. A statement that is either true or false. A claim is such that it must always have a truth value, either true or false (even if we dont know which one it is.) So a claim is a statement which makes an assertion about reality which either is the case (true) or is not the case (false). Thus, making a claim is taking a position on an issue!

CLAIMS AND LANGUAGE

Not every kind of linguistic construction is a claim, since not every kind of linguistic construction that we use and understand is a statement that makes an assertion about reality that is either true or false.
For instance, asking what time it is is not a claim. Neither is saying hello to someone, expressing a regret about something, or requesting a favor.

Although such instances involve reality, they do not make assertions about reality, and so are not statements which have truth values. Since a claim must always have a truth value, these instances of language use are not claims.

EXAMPLES OF CLAIMS
We are now in a room in Kettler Hall at IPFW. We are now on the moon. Philosophy 120 at IPFW is history of ancient philosophy. Philosophy 120 at IPFW is critical thinking. The universe has three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. The universe has ten dimensions of space and one dimension of time. Picasso is a greater painter than Rembrandt.* Rembrandt is a greater painter than Picasso.*

ARGUMENTS AND THEIR PARTS I

An argument =df. An attempt to support a claim representing a certain position on an issue by providing other claims that serve as a reason or reasons for believing it. The conclusion (of an argument) = df. The claim (position on an issue) one is attempting to support, or the claim for which one is arguing. The premises (of an argument) = df. The claims that serve as reasons for believing the conclusion.

ARGUMENTS AND THEIR PARTS II

Thus an argument is a set of claims that involves the relations of claims to one another. The relations between an arguments claims are that the premises support the conclusion or that the conclusion follows from the premises. The recognition, construction, evaluation, and, where necessary, criticism of arguments is a crucial part of critical thinking.

TWO MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ARGUMENTS

1. Arguments are attempts to persuade
While arguments may be used for this purpose not all arguments attempt to persuade and not all attempts to persuade are arguments. The better view is that arguments are attempts to prove or establish or support some claim.

2. Arguments are attempts to explain.

Arguments and explanations do have a superficial resemblance but their purposes are different. An argument attempts to establish that some claim is true whereas an explanation attempts to specify either how something works or what caused or brought it about.

RECOGNIZING ARGUMENTS
Identifying arguments can help to identify issues. An argument always has a conclusion which we can sometimes identify by the presence of conclusion indicator words like thus or therefore or so. An argument always has at least one premise which we can sometimes identify by the presence of premise indicator words like because or since or for. Sometimes the conclusion or a premise may be implied rather than overtly stated.

IDENTIFYING ISSUES I
Thinking critically means rationally determining whether or not to accept, reject, or suspend judgment on a claim, and for a person to think critically it must first be determined that he/she is focusing on the correct claim which means identifying the issue. An issue =df. Any matter of controversy or uncertainty, whether in dispute, in doubt, or simply under consideration. Issue is used to identify the focus of a debate, discussion, or dispute and is often introduced by the word whether whether or not students are better now than five years ago is an issue.

IDENTIFYING ISSUES II
Sometimes arguments address issues which are related but which are not the same even though the disputing parties may think they are! Here we need to think critically in order to see that the issues are not the same.
Identifying the conclusions of any arguments given may provide important clues as to the real underlying issue.

When people are finally discussing the same issue we still need critical thinking to evaluate the issue being discussed. Sometimes people purposely confuse issues in order to draw attention away from a claim they dont want to deal with or to make it look as though they have proved a point when in fact they havent.

FACTUAL ISSUES I
A fact =df. A claim that is either true [the stronger sense] or for which there is excellent evidence or justification [the weaker sense]. A fact in the stronger sense is something that is the case.
Its a fact that [in this stronger sense] means the same thing as Its true that. A fact in the stronger sense is not subject to revision.

A fact in the weaker sense is something that is taken to be the case for excellent reason(s).
However, if these reasons are later thought to fall short, then a fact in the weaker sense can be revised or replaced by a fact or facts for which there is better justification.

FACTUAL ISSUES II
An issue is factual if:
there are established methods for settling an issue, and it is the case that if two people disagree about the issue at least one of them must be wrong.

Two points to remember:

Saying that an issue is nonfactual does not mean it is uncontroversial or unimportant or not worth arguing. Some issues may pass one criteria but fail the other; the dividing line between factual and nonfactual is not totally clear and distinct.

Examples:
Factual issue: Whether it is noon in Singapore. Nonfactual issue: Whether under God should be in the Pledge of Allegiance.

FACTUAL CLAIMS
A claim is a factual claim if it concerns a factual issue. Note that calling it a factual claim does not mean that it is true! Examples:
Factual claim (true): Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Factual claim (false): Earth is the fourth planet from the sun. Nonfactual claim (probably true): Mozart was a greater musician than Madonna or Barry Manilow. Nonfactual claim (probably false): Things go better with Coke.

TWO BIG MISTAKES

One mistake is believing that, when it comes to nonfactual issues, all opinions are equally reasonable. Another mistake is to fail to see the distinction between factual and nonfactual issues and claims.
One version of this mistake is subjectivism, the view that, just as two people can be correct in their differing opinions on nonfactual issues, they can also be correct in their differing opinions on factual issues. Another version is relativism, the view that two different cultures can be correct in their differing opinions on the same factual issue.

OPINIONS
An opinion =df. A claim that somebody believes to be true. The term opinion refers only to belief in a claim; something is true in my opinion when I simply judge it to be true. Some opinions are true and others are not.
For instance, my opinion that I am here now is true, and stating that I am here now states a fact. My opinion that I am on Mars now is false, and my stating that I am on Mars now says something false.

RIGHTS AND KNOWLEDGE I

Everyone has a right to his or her opinion states a moral law that we take freedom of thought to be something to which we are morally entitled. But while it is true that everyone is so entitled to an opinion, it is not true that all opinions are equal. Some opinions are better than others, namely
Those opinions which are true or which are statements of fact, and Those opinions which are better supported.

ARGUMENTS AND RHETORIC

Argument attempts to prove a point while rhetoric aims at persuasion, the attempt to win others to a point of view. The two are not antithetical, but one must be aware of the danger of irrational seduction by the rhetorical elements of a presentation or position. One especially needs to be sensitive to the psychological or rhetorical power of words so as to avoid being manipulated by them. So part of critical thinking is recognizing the rhetorical force of language and trying not to be influenced by it.

TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE

Moore & Parker treat X is true as just another way of saying I agree that X, thus punting the issue of truth to Phil. 110 (where we examine theories of truth.) With regard to knowledge they say that we know such and such is true if
1. 2. we believe it is true we have evidence that shows that it is true beyond any reasonable doubt we have no reason to think we are mistaken.

3.

For instance, I can be said to know that I am now in this room because
1. 2. 3. I believe I am now in this room I have good evidence that I am in the room through my senses and through the fact that others agree with me, and there is no good reason to think that we are mistaken due to something like dreaming or hallucinations.

THINKING AND FEELING

Critical thinking is about applying reason to making decisions, but thinking does not exclude feeling. Feelings, with thinking, are an essential aspect of our humanity, and feelings and emotions can cause or influence decisions we make. However, it is critical that we exercise carefully our capacity to reason to consider relevant facts and cogent arguments if we are going to be good, intelligent thinkers.