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Critical Thinking: Chapter 3

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Title: Critical Thinking: Chapter 3


1
Critical Thinking Chapter 3
  • Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking and Clear
    Writing

2
Organization and Focus
  • You cant write well if you are not organized!
  • Your essay should support your position or answer
    anticipated objections.

3
Organization and Focus
  • Use good examples!
  • Make your point, back it up, give an example, and
    then move on to your next point.

4
Five Good Writing Practices
  • 1. Outlining is important.
  • 2. Revising is very important.
  • 3. Have someone else read your essay and make
    suggestions.
  • 4. Read your essay out loud.
  • 5. Come back to it later.

5
The Principle of Focus
  • Make clear at the outset what issue you intend to
    address and what your position on the issue will
    be.

6
The Principle of Sticking to the Issue
  • All points you make in an essay should be
    connected to the issue under discussion.

7
The Principle of Logical Sequencing
  • Make a point before clarifying it and make sure
    your reader can discern the relationship between
    any given sentence and your ultimate goal.

8
The Principle of Completeness
  • Support fully and adequately whatever position
    you take on an issue.

9
Five Common Problems
  • 1. Define your terms! Any serious attempt to
    support or sustain a position requires a clear
    statement of what is at issue. Sometimes stating
    what is at issue involves a careful definition of
    key terms.

10
Types of Definitions
  • 1. Definition by example
  • 2. Definition by synonym, and
  • 3. Analytical definition

11
Definition by Example
  • Pointing to, naming, or describing one or more
    examples of something to which the defined term
    applies.
  • Example What I mean by setting a good example is
    not putting your feet on the table.

12
Definition by Example
  • Examples Happiness is having your own DVD
    burner.
  • A professional bureaucrat is anyone like our
    former Governor Davis, who spent a lifetime in
    government.
  • Real property? Why, your house and land are real
    property.

13
Definition by Synonym
  • Giving another word or phrase that means the same
    thing.
  • Examples Poltroonery means the same thing as
    cowardice.
  • Dacha is another word for Russian country
    house.

14
Definition by Synonym
  • Examples Hit me means the same as Give me
    another card.
  • Being an octogenarian is being in ones eighties.
  • To fledge an arrow is to fletch or feather it.

15
Analytical Definition
  • Specifying (a) the type of thing the term applies
    to and (b) the difference between the things the
    term applies to and other things of the same
    type.
  • Example A deciduous tree is a hardwood tree that
    loses its leaves during the winter.

16
Analytical Definition
  • Examples Widow refers to a woman whose husband
    has died.
  • Honor means being willing to lay down your life
    for a just cause.
  • Meat that contains larval worms is said to be
    measly.

17
Five Common Problems
  • 2. Keep your word choices simple. Good writing is
    often simple writing It avoids redundancy,
    unnecessary complexity, and wordiness.
  • Example Why write armed gunmen? Gunmen are
    automatically armed.

18
Simple Word Choices
  • Example Why write They expressed their belief
    that at that point in time it would accord with
    their desire not to delay their departure when
    all that is necessary is They said they wanted
    to leave?

19
Simple Word Choices
  • Because the world is a complicated place, the
    language we use to describe it often has to be
    correspondingly complicated. Sometimes it is
    necessary to be complicated to be clear. But, in
    general, simplicity is the best policy.

20
Five Common Problems
  • 3. Avoiding ambiguity. A claim is an ambiguous
    claim if it can be assigned more than one meaning
    and if the particular meaning it should be
    assigned is not made clear by context.

21
Avoiding Ambiguity
  • 3. Avoiding ambiguity
  • A. Semantic ambiguity is ambiguous due to a
    particular word or phrase.
  • Examples She disputed his claim.
  • Did she dispute his statement or his claim to a
    gold mine?

22
Semantic Ambiguity
  • Example My brother doesnt use glasses. What
    does glasses mean? He does not drink out of
    glasses or he does not have eye glasses? Avoid
    ambiguity by substituting an unambiguous word
    such as eyeglasses for glasses. Sometimes you
    will need several extra words.

23
Five Common Problems
  • 3. Avoiding ambiguity
  • B.Syntactic ambiguity is ambiguous because of the
    structure of the sentence rather than a word or
    phrase as with semantic ambiguity. The words are
    not confusing but the word order is.

24
Syntactic Ambiguity
  • Example He chased the girl in his car. What does
    this mean? Did he chase a girl already inside his
    car? Or did he chase a girl (perhaps in another
    car) with his car?

25
Syntactic Ambiguity
  • ExampleTheres somebody in the bed next to me.
    What does this mean? Whose bed? Are you in a dorm
    room where there are more than one bed and in
    another bed there is a body, or did you wake up
    to find someone in your bed?

26
Pronouns
  • The boys chased the girls, and they giggled a
    lot. Who giggled? Who does the pronoun they
    refer to?

27
Avoiding Ambiguity
  • The only way to eliminate syntactic ambiguity is
    to rewrite the claim. For example, he brushed
    his teeth on the carpet could be rewritten as
    he brushed his teeth while standing on the
    carpet.

28
Five Common Problems
  • 3. Avoiding ambiguity
  • C. A grouping ambiguity means whenever we refer
    to a collection of individuals, we must clearly
    show whether the reference is to the collection
    as a group or as individuals.

29
Grouping Ambiguity
  • Example Secretaries make more money than
    physicians. Individually, no as a group, yes.
    Whenever we refer to a a collection of
    individuals, we must clearly show whether the
    reference is to the collection as a group or as
    individuals.

30
Five Common Problems
  • 3. Avoiding ambiguity
  • D. The fallacy of composition means that we
    confuse when something holds true of a group of
    things individually then they will automatically
    hold true of the same things as a group.

31
The Fallacy of Composition
  • Example Sampras and Agassi are the two best
    tennis players in the United States, so they
    would make the best doubles team. Is this true?
    Just because they can play best individually does
    not mean that if you put them together they would
    be the best couples team.

32
Five Common Problems
  • 3. Avoiding ambiguity
  • E. The fallacy of division is when a person who
    thinks that what holds true for a group will
    necessarily hold true of all the individuals in
    that group.

33
The Fallacy of Division
  • Example The Eastman School of Music has an
    outstanding international reputation therefore,
    so and so, who is on the faculty of Eastman, must
    have a good reputation. Not true. Just because
    you go to a good school does not mean that every
    teacher will be good.

34
Examples of Ambiguity
  • Priestess was hooker to jury (AP headline).
  • There will be over one hundred consolation prizes
    worth over 10,000.
  • The girls played with the boys.
  • Why you want sex changes as you age.

35
Analytical Definitions
  • Adult beverage is anything that will get you
    drunk and make you act like an adolescent.

36
Analytical Definitions
  • Skiingoutdoor fun combined with knocking down
    trees with your face.
  • Dave Barry

37
Analytical Definitions
  • Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of
    existing evils, as distinguished from a liberal,
    who wishes to replace them with others.
  • Ambrose Bierce

38
Five Common Problems
  • 4. Vague claims can be confused with ambiguous
    claims, but they are different. Ambiguous claims
    can mean different things and we are unsure what
    to pick. Vague claims mean we are unsure of any
    meaning.

39
Vague Claims
  • Vagueness is not really the problem so much as an
    undesirable degree of vagueness. Even though a
    claim may be less precise than it could be, that
    does not mean it is less precise than is should
    be. It depends on what you need the information
    for.

40
Vague Claims
  • Example If you want to move your car and you ask
    the usher how long you have until the play
    begins, the reply Only a minute or two is less
    precise than is possible, but it will work. It
    means you dont have enough time. But you might
    want a more precise time if you are the lead
    actor in the film.

41
Examples of Vagueness
  • Men burn off 438 calories per hour gardening.
  • Doctor The arrhythmia you are experiencing
    indicates that you should lay off jogging for
    awhile.
  • Your satisfaction is guaranteed with our
    two-year limited guarantee.

42
Five Common Problems
  • 5. Making faulty comparisons. This is especially
    a problem with politicians and advertisers. Think
    about things like Cut by up to half. But how
    much really? Now 25 percent larger. Larger than
    what?

43
Questions for Comparisons
  • Is important information missing?
  • Is the same standard of comparison being used?
  • Are the items comparable?
  • Is the comparison expressed as an average?

44
Averages
  • Statistics are notoriously slippery partially
    because there are three different ways of talking
    about averages, the mean, the median, and the
    mode.

45
Mean Average
  • The arithmetic mean of a group of numbers is the
    number that results when their sum is divided by
    the number of members in the group.
  • Example The average grade in the class is total
    of all the grade points divided by the number of
    people in the class.

46
Median Average
  • In a group of numbers, as many numbers of the
    group are larger than the median as smaller.
  • Example The average grade in the class is the
    halfway grade, which half the class exceeded and
    half the class fell short of.

47
Mode Average
  • In a group of numbers, the mode is the number
    occurring most frequently.
  • Example The average grade in the class is the
    most common grade given.

48
Writing in a Diverse Society
  • Part of what people have to decide when listening
    to you (or reading your work) is whether or not
    you are credible. And using poor language lowers
    your credibility, just as using poor arguments
    does.

49
Writing in a Diverse Society
  • it is important to avoid writing in a manner
    that reinforces questionable assumptions and
    attitudes about people

50
Writing in a Diverse Society
  • Thinking critically is about being better able to
    think in more depth about more complex issues.
  • So much of our stereotypic use of language is a
    result of lazy thinking and easy clichés.

51
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • A loquacious person is a talkative one.

52
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • A loquacious person is a talkative one.
  • By synonym

53
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • A diode is a solid-state electronic device that
    allows the passage of an electric current in only
    one direction.

54
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • A diode is a solid-state electronic device that
    allows the passage of an electric current in only
    one direction.
  • Analytical

55
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • The oud is a stringed musical instrument shaped
    much like a guitar and played primarily in Middle
    Eastern countries.

56
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • The oud is a stringed musical instrument shaped
    much like a guitar and played primarily in Middle
    Eastern countries.
  • Analytical

57
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • Epistemologist means a philosopher or other
    intellectual who studies the nature of knowledge.

58
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • Epistemologist means a philosopher or other
    intellectual who studies the nature of knowledge.
  • Analytical

59
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • Foppish means dandy.

60
Exercises
  • For each of the following, indicate whether the
    definition given is by example, by synonym, or
    analytical.
  • Foppish means dandy.
  • Synonym

61
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • Semantic ambiguity is ambiguous due to a
    particular word or phrase.

62
Exercises
  • Semantic ambiguity is ambiguous due to a
    particular word or phrase.
  • Syntactic ambiguity is ambiguous because of the
    structure of the sentence rather than a word or
    phrase as with semantic ambiguity. The words are
    not confusing but the word order is.

63
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • People who go shopping often go broke.

64
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • People who go shopping often go broke.
  • Semantically ambiguous go broke, and
    syntactically ambiguous does often go with
    shopping or with go broke?

65
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • All snakes are not poisonous.

66
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • All snakes are not poisonous.
  • Syntactically ambiguous

67
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • He went to the store but was held up in the
    process.

68
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • He went to the store but was held up in the
    process.
  • Semantically ambiguous

69
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • The team was upset.

70
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • The team was upset.
  • Semantical ambiguity on upset and grouping
    ambiguity on team

71
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • She watched him dance with intensity.

72
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • She watched him dance with intensity.
  • Syntactically ambiguous

73
Exercises
  • Determine which of these claims are best
    classified as semantically ambiguous (and which
    of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are
    syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from
    ambiguity.
  • San Francisco (AP)A group of citizens angry
    about the lack of public restrooms downtown is
    planning a sit-in at City Hall, leaving employees
    no place to go.

74
Exercises
  • San Francisco (AP)A group of citizens angry
    about the lack of public restrooms downtown is
    planning a sit-in at City Hall, leaving employees
    no place to go.
  • Semantically and syntactically ambiguous they
    work together in this one.

75
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • During his first news conference of the year, the
    president said today that his administration was
    going to crack down even harder on international
    terrorism.

76
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • During his first news conference of the year, the
    president said today that his administration was
    going to crack down even harder on international
    terrorism.
  • Too vague to be very informative this speaks as
    much of an attitude as it does of plans to combat
    terrorism.

77
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Said at a party What did I think of the
    concert? I thought it was pretty good. You should
    have been there.

78
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Said at a party What did I think of the
    concert? I thought it was pretty good. You should
    have been there.
  • Fine, under the circumstances

79
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • My aunt lost most of her possessions when her
    house burned down last month.

80
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • My aunt lost most of her possessions when her
    house burned down last month.
  • Sufficiently precise for most contexts too
    vague, of course, if the remark is directed to an
    insurance claims agent

81
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Well, lets see. To get to the Woodward Mall, go
    down this street a couple of blocks, and turn
    right. Go through several stoplights, turn left,
    and go just a short way. You cant miss it.

82
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Well, lets see. To get to the Woodward Mall, go
    down this street a couple of blocks, and turn
    right. Go through several stoplights, turn left,
    and go just a short way. You cant miss it.
  • Hopelessly vague

83
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • I cant tell you how much I love you. You make me
    very happy.

84
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • I cant tell you how much I love you. You make me
    very happy.
  • Vagueness is not inappropriate here.

85
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Property owner, showing his property to guests
    The lot extends back to about where that large
    oak tree stands.

86
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Property owner, showing his property to guests
    The lot extends back to about where that large
    oak tree stands.
  • Precise enough

87
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Same property owner, showing his property to a
    potential buyer The lot extends back to about
    where that large oak tree stands.

88
Exercises
  • Determine whether these claims are too vague in
    the contexts that are stated or implied.
  • Same property owner, showing his property to a
    potential buyer The lot extends back to about
    where that large oak tree stands.
  • Too vague

89
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is flattering.
  • conservative (noun)

90
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is flattering.
  • conservative (noun) a person whose political
    views are guided by the wisdom embodied in
    traditional institutions

91
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is flattering.
  • politician

92
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is flattering.
  • politician one dedicated to public benefit
    through governmental service

93
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is flattering.
  • liberal

94
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is flattering.
  • liberal a person whose political philosophy is
    guided by ideas of democracy, reform, and
    progress

95
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is unflattering.
  • liberal

96
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is unflattering.
  • liberal a politician who cant keep out of your
    wallet.

97
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is unflattering.
  • conservative

98
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is unflattering.
  • conservative a politician who dictates to others
    what they can do in their bedrooms.

99
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is unflattering.
  • physicians

100
Exercises
  • For each of the following, give an analytical
    definition that is unflattering.
  • physicians people who prescribe medicines of
    which they know little, to cure diseases of which
    they know less, in human beings of whom they know
    nothing (attributed to Voltaire)
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