Critical Thinking Exam One

the relationship between logic and critical thinking

• Logic: to distinguish good and bad reasoning  

• Critical thinking: to determine the truth-value of beliefs (statements, propositions, claims).  

• critical thinking is broader than logic

distinguish good and bad logic or reasoning

• Logic test: if we assume the truth of the premises, do we have a good reason to believe the conclusion is true? 

• bad logic is flawed or invalid reasoning to reach a conclusion

truth value

status of being true or false

(Example: Today is Monday (actually 1/29/2026). Truth value is false)

Today is Thursday (1/29/20206) Truth value is true

what does it mean to put an argument into standard form, and be able to

do that.

Identify premises and the conclusion, remove extraneous words, add implicit premises if necessary, and state each as a declarative sentence.

• Original: "Since light takes time to reach our eyes, all that we see really exists in the past" (Louis Pojman).

• Standard Form:

  • P1: Light takes time to reach our eyes.

  • P2: If light takes time to reach our eyes, then all that we see really exists in the past.

  • C: Therefore, all that we see really exists in the past.

what is a statement

an assertion that something is or is not the case (ex: today is Thursday)

• So statements, or claims, are the kinds of things that are either true or false. They assert that some state of affairs is or is not actual

what is an argument

A group of statements in which some of them (the premises) are intended to support another of them (the conclusion).

Vaughn’s view on the relation between being a critical thinker, on the

one hand, and being hyper-critical, emotionally cold, or creatively

constrained, on the other

• A critical thinker and a hyper-critical person have altogether different aims 

• Critical thinking doesn’t stifle but, rather, complements our feelings and emotions (Critical thinking helps guide our emotions/feelings and make sense of them) 

• Critical thinking doesn’t suppress but, instead, complements creativity  

the two main components of an argument and their roles

1. premise- A statement (reason) given in support of another statement

2. conclusion- The statement that the premises are intended to support

explain the Ownership of Belief Argument

critical thinking is necessary to lead a meaningful, worthwhile, life 

• Our beliefs --> our choices and actions --> our lives 

• Our lives are defined by our choices and actions, and those choices and actions are defined by our beliefs  

state three or four premise-indicator terms

• because

• given that

• as

• being that

• for

• un view of the fact

state three or four conclusion-indicator terms

• therefore

• which implies

• so

• thus

• consequently

• ergo

what is the first major step to determine whether a passage contains

an argument?

try to identify a conclusion

• Start this search by looking for indicator words 

• If there are no indicator words, and even if they are, ask yourself whether someone is trying to prove or persuade you (or someone else) to believe that a statement is true. If so, it probably is an argument. 

distinguish statements and non-statements. [Ex. 1.2, p. 21]

review on practice sheet

analyze a short passage by (1) discerning whether it contains an

argument and, if it does, (2) identifying its premises and conclusion and any

premise and conclusion indicators. (Ex. 1.3, 1.4, 1.7, pp. 21-23, 25-26]

review on practice sheet