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.

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Types of Definitions

• 1. Definition by example
• 2. Definition by synonym, and
• 3. Analytical definition

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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?

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Pronouns

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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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?

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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)