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Critical thinking 5 steps
Being curious and thinking creatively
Separating the thinker from the position
Knowing oneself enough to avoid biases and errors of thought
Having intellectual honesty, humility, and charity
Understanding arguments, reasons, and evidence
Propositions
Statements that are true or false.
Non-propositions
Sentences that are not statements about matters of fact (or fiction). They do not make a claim that can be true or false.
Simple propositions
These have no internal logical structure, meaning they are true or false on their own.
Complex propositions
Has internal logical structure, meaning they are composed of simple propositions.
What are conclusion indicators?
Therefore
So
It follows that
Hence
Thus
Entails that
We may conclude that
Implies that
Wherefore
As a result
What are premise indicators?
Because
For
Given that
In that
As
Since
As indicated by
Premise
This claims, evidence, ideas, and so forth intended to support the conclusion.
Conclusions
This claims that the whole argument is intended to support or demonstrate or prove.
Deduction
arguments where the premises guarantee or necessitate the conclusion
— mathematical arguments, logical arguments, arguments from definition
Induction
arguments where the premises make the conclusion probable
— analogies, authority, causal inferences, scientific reasoning, extrapolations, etc.
Abduction
Arguments where the best available explanation is chosen as the correct explanation.
Truth
A true proposition accurately represents reality.
Validity
If the premises were true, the conclusion would necessarily have to be true also. This doesn't require that the same premises have to be true. Rather, it just means that if they were true, the conclusion would have to be true too.
Soundness
A deductive argument is sound if it has a valid structure and all its premises are true. (If an argument is deductive but has either an invalid structure or at least one false premise, then it is an unsound argument.)
Sound Argument
All True Premises + Valid Structure =
Truth v2
Propositions are true if they accurately represent what is the case, otherwise they are false.
Strength
In an inductive argument, the truth of the premises would make the conclusion probably true.
Cogency
This inductive argument is strong and all its premises are true. (If an argument is inductive but either is weak or has at least one false premise, then it is an uncogent argument.)
Cogent Argument
All True Premises + Strong Inductive Support
Formal Fallacy
This fallacy has a problem with their structure. Any argument that has the form of a formal fallacy is invalid.
Informal Fallacy
This fallacy has a problem with their content.
Cognitive Bias
The way we naturally categorize and make sense of the world around us.
Alief
An automatic belief-like attitude that can explain how our instinctual responses can conflict with our reasoned-out beliefs.
Heuristic
A rule of thumb, a ready strategy, or a shortcut.
Algorithm Bubble
The curated and personalized version of online reality that a website shows you when you log on.
Availability Heuristic
A process where in the mind generalizes based on what is available to it rather than on what is objectively true.
ad hominem fallacy
is committed when one attacks the person making an argument rather than the argument itself.
genetic fallacy
is committed when one argues that the origin of an idea is a reason for rejecting (or accepting) that idea.
straw figure fallacy
is committed when one misrepresents another’s argument then attacks the misrepresented (weaker) argument rather than the actual (stronger) argument.
red herring fallacy
is committed when one introduces an irrelevant topic.
appeal to authority fallacy
is committed when one appeals to an unqualified authority in support of one’s claim.
appeal to force fallacy
is committed when one uses a threat to compel agreement with one’s claim.
appeal to popularity fallacy
is committed when one appeals to the popularity of a belief as a reason to affirm its truth.
appeal to consequences fallacy
is committed when one appeals to the bad (or good) consequences of accepting a claim as a reason to reject (or accept) it as true.
fallacy of equivocation
is committed when one’s argument mistakenly uses the same word in two different senses.
appeal to ignorance fallacy
is committed when someone reasons from our lack of knowledge that a claim is false (or true) to the assertion the claim is true (or false).
slippery slope fallacy
is committed when someone argues, without sufficient reason, one event will lead to a series of events ultimately ending in some further (usually disastrous) event.
Texas Sharpshooter fallacy
is committed when one selectively uses, or “cherry-picks,” only the evidence supporting their desired conclusion.
post hoc fallacy
is committed when someone claims some event causes another just because the first event (the alleged cause) occurs before the second event (the alleged effect).
hasty generalization fallacy
is committed when someone generalizes too quickly about a group of people, things, or events.
“level” or “layer”
of an argument map is one horizontal row of a carefully drawn argument map.
Main Conclusion
Final conclusion of the argument
Main Premise
One among the set of premises that directly support the main conclusion
Sub-Inference
An inference from a premise to another premise
sub-premise
A premise in a sub-inference
sub-conclusion
A conclusion in a sub-inference