What leads Us to How We

Answer Important Questions

Like

What foods should I eat?

Should I go to college, and if so, to what
college should I go?
For which candidate should I vote?
Who should I date?
Should I get married?
Do I believe in God, and if so which one?
What type of work should I do?
How important is having lots of money?

We Have Guidance from

Experience (pleasures and pains)

Tradition and Culture (nurture)
Faith - Not having the certainty that a claim is
true, but acting as though it is)
Intuition - gut feeling, instinct, something that
is pre-critical and powerful
Biology (nature)
Psychology The mind and all its biases
Scientific Method observation, hypothesis
formation and testing, provisional conclusions
Logic, Reason, and Critical Thinking

Psychological Barriers
- Belief Bias and Confirmation Bias You tend
to believe claims that are similar to or are
confirmed by claims you already believe.
Laughing at something that isnt that funny
said by someone who usually says things
that are funny Comedy Club Effect.
I tend to think Rush Limbaugh usually makes
stupid conclusions, and so when I hear a
Rush Limbaugh conclusion, Im already
inclined to think its stupid before I hear it.

More Psychological Barriers

Availability Heuristic We hear something over and over and so we start to
think differently about it.
Ex: IS has been in the news repeatedly, and so it makes us think there is more
of an immediate danger than there really is.
-False Consensus Effect Everybody around me thinks a certain way, so
probably everyone else in the world thinks this way too. (Everyone around
here hates Obama, just like everyone else in the US)
-Bandwagon Effect We have a desire to align our thinking with those around
us. (Best-selling product)
-Negativity Bias We weigh negatives more than we weigh positives. 1000
people will say nice things to us and one person will say a negative thing. We
will focus on the negative more than we will focus on all the positive things.
(Tell your girlfriend how beautiful, smart, and amazing she is, but all she
needs is a nose job and shell be perfect)
- In-Group Bias Those who arent a member of our group are inferior, or wrong,
or somehow not as good as we are. (If one of the members of my family loses
his job, it is an injustice. But if someone else loses there job, it is probably
because they were a slacker, or not very good at what they were doing.)

What is Critical Thinking?

Typically, critical thinking is an activity that
involves using reason.
This leads to another question:
What is Reason?

What is Reason?
-First and foremost, reason has a
commitment to the principle of noncontradiction (PNC)
-The PNC says a claim and its denial cannot
both be true. If we find an instance
where someone believes a claim is both
true and false, or that an argument leads
to or implies a claim that is both true and
false, we call this a contradiction.
- Reason uses our cognitive and
observational abilities to detect
contradictions or inconsistencies.

Examples of Contradiction
Detection
Morality If an action contradicts my values
it is immoral
Politics If a politician says they want to do
one thing, but then they vote for another,
they contradict themselves.
Ex: Republicans want to shrink the role of
government, except where it comes to the
military and morality.
Ex: Democrats believe that govt can be a force
for good, but they want govt to leave your
morality and private life alone.

Examples of Contradiction
Detection Continued..
-Romance Your girlfriend says she doesnt want to
change you but she is always buying you clothes
you dont like.
- Your boyfriend says he is just friends with his ex,
but they really seem to enjoy talking to one another
on the phone.
Law If evidence leads to a claim that contradicts the
plaintiffs accusation, we let the accused go free.
Religion You may be skeptical of someone elses
different religious views, but when they show
skepticism toward your religious views you become
uncomfortable and defensive.

THE VALUE OF FORMAL LOGIC

In math, we attempt to capture a process of
reasoning that helps us arrive at numeric
conclusions.
In language, logicians want to capture a
process of reasoning that leads to
contradiction detection.
Natural language vs formal language.
Does language follow a process, just like math

The Logical Structure of Language

Logicians believe language has several basic
operations:
1. Conjunction the and this AND that
I am 6 feet tall and I am male
2. Disjunction the either or
Either I am drunk or I am sober
3. Negation This is not that
He is not very attractive
4. The Conditional If then
If I am attractive, then Im tall

Propositional Symbolic Logic

In Math, we use symbols to represent
mathematic concepts and processes. In Logic
we do the same thing:
Math: 7+5=12 is represented x+y=z
Logic:
Conjunction: I am tall and male = T ^M
Disjuntion: Either I am drunk or sober = D v S
Negation: Hes not attractive = A
Conditional: If I am Attractive, then Im Tall =
AT

Categorical Symbolic Logic

An earlier logic developed by Aristotle made use of
categorical claims:
All men are mortal
Some men are happy
All bachelors are unmarried men
These may be roughly translated into propositional
logic:
If you are a man, you are mortal.

Anatomy of the conditional

A conditional statement is made up of an
antecedent and a consequent, which are also the
sufficient and necessary condition, respectively.
If you are human, you are mortal. If X, then Y
Antecedent that which comes before.
Consequent that which comes after.

Necessary vs Sufficient
Condition
Sufficient Condition:
All we need to know in order to know something
else.
If we know this (x) it is all we need to know in order
to know that (y)
Necessary Condition:
That which follows of necessity (y) (either from
category or cause) from something else (x).
A condition (y) that must be present in order for
something else (x)to be true

Examples of Necessary and

Sufficient Condition Classification
Which is the correct placement of the
necessary and the sufficient condition?
A. If one is thin, they are emaciated.
B. If one is emaciated, they are thin.
Definition emaciation means extremely
thin, usually in a very unhealthy way, such
as through starvation.

Correct Answer is B
Reasoning from sufficient condition
If all we know about you is that you are
emaciated, that is all we need to know to
conclude that you are thin.
However, if all we know about you is that
you are thin, we cannot conclude that you
are also emaciated, because there are many
different ways to be thin.

Correct Answer is B
Reasoning from necessary condition:
Since emaciation is a sub-category of
thinness, thinness will be a necessary
condition of emaciation.
If you are emaciated, it is also true of
necessity that you must also be thin.

Examples of Necessary and

Sufficient Condition - Cause
Which is the correct placement of the
necessary and the sufficient condition?
A. If the car has gas in it, it will start.
B. If the car starts, it has gas in it.

Correct Answer is B
If a car has gas in the gas tank, but there is
no motor, or no starter, or something else
along the line isnt working, the car wont
start, so having gas in the tank cannot be a
sufficient condition for the car starting.
If however, the car starts, among many
other things, it had to have gas in it. So
having gas in the tank is a necessary, but
not sufficient condition for the car starting.

Necessary But Not

Sufficient
1. If you are healthy wealthy and good looking, you will flourish
Vs
2. If you flourish you will be healthy wealthy and good looking
1. If you think you are happy, you are happy
Vs
2. If you are happy, you will think you are happy
1. If you envision your success, you will be successful
Vs
2. If you are successful, you envisioned your success

Defining an Argument
Moore and Parker An attempt to support or
prove a claim by providing reasons or
considerations for accepting it. One group
of claims, the premises, intend to support or
give reasons for believing another group of
claims, the conclusion.
Monty Python A connected series of
statements intended to establish a definite
proposition.

Anatomy of an Argument
An argument contains the following:
Issue A point or claim that may be wondered about or
debated.
Should we have stricter gun control policies?
Claim A statement that is either true or false
Claims of fact this is the way the world is
There are 30 people in this room.
Claims of Aesthetic Value this is beautiful
Lady Gagas music is wonderful
Claims of Moral or Ethical Value this is right or
wrong
What Chris Brown did to Rihanna was wrong

Anatomy of an Argument
Continued
Premise A claim that is offered as a reason
for believing another claim or a claim that
implies another claim.
Conclusion A claim that is said to be
supported by another claim. The main claim
in the argument that all the other claims
intend to lead you to believe.

Deductive Arguments
A deductive argument is a series of
statements structured in such a way that if
the premises are true, the conclusion will
necessarily be true.
Example:
All men are mortal
Socrates is a Man
Socrates is mortal

All A are B
x is an A
x is a B

Success Criteria of an Argument

(From Chapter 2)

To determine if an argument is successful, we look at two

criteria, its form and its content.
The form is the logical structure of the argument. If the
form is good, we call this validity. If the form is good and
the content is good, we call this soundness.
Validity An argument structured such that if the premises
will be true, the conclusion will also be true. (notice this is
essentially the same definition as a good deductive
argument)
Soundness A valid argument that has all true premises.

Examples of Validity and

Soundness
All men are mortal
Socrates is a man
Socrates is mortal

All A are B
x is an A
x is a B

This is valid because structurally, everything

that is in category A will also be in category
B, and if we find something that belongs to
category A, it must also belong to category
B.
This is sound because the premises are all
true.

What is Wrong?
All women are nuns
Lady Gaga is a woman
Lady Gaga is a nun

All A are B
x is an A
x is a B

Is this argument valid? (does it have a good

structure)
Is this argument sound? (does it have a good
structure and are the premises true?

Valid Argument Forms

Modus
Ponens
AB
A
B
Ponens
Put it there

Modus Tolens
AB
Not B
Not A
Tolens
Take it away

Hypothetical
Syllogism
AB
BC
AC
Aka chain
argument

Invalid Argument Forms

Affirming the
Consequent
AB
B
A

Denying the
Antecedent
AB
Not A
Not B

Undistribute
d Middle
AC
BC
AB

Examples of Valid and Invalid

Argument Forms
Modus Ponens
If one is emaciated, they are thin AB
This person is emaciated
A
This person is thin
B
Affirming the Consequent
If one is emaciated, they are thin AB
This person is thin
B
This person is emaciated
A

Undistributed Middle
All cats are mammals
All dogs are mammals
All cats are dogs

AC
B C
A B

Argument Strategies
Convert arguments into a standard valid form, paying
attention to the placement of necessary and sufficient
condition.
If gay people can get married, traditional marriage is harmed.
If we have stricter gun control, not as many children will die.
If the DP deters crime, we should practice the DP.
If violent media makes us do violent things, we should censor
violent media.

Argument Strategies Continued

Determine if the premise is true by figuring out if
there is a situation where the antecedent is true, but
the consequent is false.
If gay people can get married, traditional marriage is harmed.
If we have stricter gun control, not as many children will die.
If the DP deters crime, we should practice the DP.
If violent media makes us do violent things, we should censor
violent media.