IMPARTING CRITICAL AND ANALYTICAL

THINKING TO SHS LEARNERS:

ON KNOWLEDGE, TRUTH, AND REASONING

July 9, 2020
4:00pm – 6:00pm
Presented by Joyce Fungo

1. Introduction
1.1. Aims and Expected
Learning Outcomes from
Introduction to Philosophy
as a Core Subject
DISCUSSION OUTLINE
2. Critical and Analytical 3. Instructional Materials
Thinking
2.1. Critical Thinking
3.1. Sample Written Exercises
2.2. Knowledge, Truth, Opinion, and Guess 3.2. Online Learning Resources
2.3. Informal Fallacies
INTRODUCTION
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AIMS OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Figure 1. Screenshot from DepEd Curriculum Guide for Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
CRITICAL AND
ANALYTICAL
THINKING
2.1. CRITICAL
THINKING
WHAT IS WHY IMPART
CRITICAL CRITICAL
THINKING? THINKING?
 Education has the task of
preparing children to be
 Critical Thinking  Respect for persons
successful adults, which requires
is the correct way requires that schools
development of their self-
of assessing and teachers honour
sufficiency.
statements and students’ demands for
reasonable reasons and  Education should prepare children
reflective thinking explanations, deal with to become democratic citizens,
focused on students honestly, and which requires reasoned
deciding what to recognize the need to procedure and critical talents and
believe or do. confront students’ attitudes.
independent judgment.
(Harvey Siegel, 1988)
2.2. KNOWLEDGE,
TRUTH, OPINION,
AND GUESS
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  True is not the same as real.

 Truth as a property of linguistic expressions that

contain a claim or assertion, particularly,
propositions (i.e. declarative sentences).
 Truth is not equivalent to facts, but they are
2.2A. TRUTH intrinsically related.
 Facts are things that occur in the world.

 A proposition is true if it corresponds with the fact.

 A proposition is false if it does not correspond with

the fact.
  Propositional Knowledge (as opposed to
acquaintance and practical knowledge) as Justified
True Belief (JTB).
 S knows that p iff:
2.2B. S believes that p. (Belief condition)

KNOWLEDGE p is true. (Truth condition)

S is justified in believing p. (Justification condition)

 All conditions must be met for knowledge to obtain.

 Challenge to JTB account of knowledge: Gettier

cases.
  Opinions concerning descriptive claims.
2.2C. OPINIONS  Opinions concerning prescriptive/normative claims.
AND GUESSES  What are guesses?
 2.3. INFORMAL
FALLACIES

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WHAT ARE
FALLACIES?
 A fallacy is a defect in an argument that consists in
something other than merely false premises.
 A formal fallacy is one that may be identified
through mere inspection of the form or structure of
an argument.
 Informal fallacies are those that can be detected
only through analysis of the content of the
argument.
SOME INFORMAL FALLACIES
Fallacies of Relevance
 Straw man: Arguer distorts opponent’s argument
and then attacks the distorted argument.
 Accident: General rule is applied to a specific case
it was not intended to cover.
 Fallacy Fallacy (argumentum ad logicam): occurs
when one reasons that because the argument for
some conclusion is fallacious, the conclusion of
that argument is false.
 SOME INFORMAL FALLACIES
Fallacies of Presumption Weak Induction

 Begging the question (Petitio Prinicipii): Arguer creates  Appeal to ignorance: When the premises of an
the illusion that inadequate premises are adequate by argument state that nothing has been proved one
leaving out a key premise, by restating the conclusion way or the other about something, and the
as a premise, or by reasoning in a circle. conclusion then makes a definite assertion about
 False dichotomy: committed when a disjunctive that thing
(“either . . . or . . .”) premise presents two unlikely
alternatives as if they were the only ones available,
and the arguer then eliminates the undesirable
alternative, leaving the desirable one as the
conclusion.
INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS
 3.1.
SAMPLE
WRITTEN
EXERCISES
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 Instructions: Write “P” if the given item is a proposition
and “N” if it is not a proposition.
N
______1. The tree which is at the center of the
3.1A. SAMPLE ITEMS
FOR DETERMINING thick, dark forest.
PROPOSITIONS:
P
______2. I only know that I know nothing.
P
______3. This is not a proposition.
N
______4. Be the change that you need.
N
______5. The day the Earth stood still.
 Instructions: Write “K” if the passage satisfies all three
conditions of knowledge. Write “J” if the passage lacks the
justification condition, “T” if it lacks truth, and “B” if it lacks
belief.
T
______1. John is certain to himself that his wife is cheating
3.1B. SAMPLE ITEMS on him. He observed that she has been coming home late,
FOR IDENTIFYING emotionally distant, and in one instance, he found another
KNOWLEDGE
man’s garments in her car. After filing for annulment, he
CONDITIONS:
found out that his allegations were mistaken.
B
______2. Maria has been preaching about a new religion to
her small community. She says that this deity is legitimate
because every time she prays to this God, he responds with
blessings. Unfortunately for her followers, Maria is secretly an
atheist scamming citizens for tithes.
 Instructions: Write “D” if the given scenario demonstrates an
opinion concerning descriptive claims, and “P” if it demonstrates an
opinion concerning prescriptive claims.
D Neil is defending his position that Pluto has always been an
_____1.
asteroid, and was never a planet in the first place.
3.1C. SAMPLE ITEMS D Jen strongly believes that more than 6 million Jews were
_____2.
FOR DISTINGUISHING killed during the Holocaust, and that this number includes only
BET. DESCRIPTIVE AND those that were documented.
PRESCRIPTIVE
STATEMENTS: P Bernie believes that strong leaders should be open to the
_____3.
idea of universal health care as an alternative option to
privatization.
P Steve is certain that tree logs are better mined from top to
_____4.
bottom than bottom to top in Minecraft.
P Erika believes that the government must only tolerate
_____5.
homosexuality, but not allow them to get married.
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youtube-image-size/

3.2. ONLINE LEARNING

RESOURCES
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 YOUTUBE LEARNING
VIDEOS (BOTH FOR
TEACHER AND
LEARNER)

CRASH
COURSE
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PHILOSOPHY
YOUTUBE LEARNING VIDEOS (BOTH FOR TEACHER AND LEARNER)

TED ED PHILOSOPHY

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YOUTUBE LEARNING
VIDEOS (BOTH FOR
TEACHER AND
LEARNER)

BBC 4: A
HISTORY OF
IDEAS
YOUTUBE LEARNING VIDEOS (BOTH FOR TEACHER AND LEARNER)

WISECRACK:
8-BIT
PHILOSOPHY
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 RELIABLE SUPPLEMENTARY ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS (FOR TEACHER)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

(www.plato.stanford.edu)

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

(www.iep.utm.edu)
WORKS CITED Featured YouTube
Books Playlist and Website
Hurley, Patrick & Watson, Lori. 2017. A Concise Introduction to Logic
Thirteenth Edition. Cengage.
Mabaquiao, Napoleon. 2017. Making Life Worth Living: An Introduction to
Links
Crash Course Philosophy:
The Philosophy of the Human Person. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_CAkYt3GY&list=PLq
Siegel, Harvey. 1988. Educating Reason: Rationality, Critical Thinking, and 5rFUzhsrBXuE0wxECMeTYSV-_52fGt5
Education. New York: Routledge. Ted Ed Philosophy:

Articles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNP1x11Z2Ig&list=PLT
db-uT_-e9mHGj_nDTdkkX7JWCF2BJvJ

Cotton, Christian. 2018. “Argument from Fallacy” in Robert Arp (ed.), et.al. BBC 4: A History of Ideas:
Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYC74mJ-
Wiley Online Library. 4po&list=PLLiykcLllCgPE0q9BiMexLFj-1rq9GUwX

Wisecrack 8-Bit Philosophy:

Ennis, Robert. 2011. “Critical Thinking: Reflection and Perspective Part 1” in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVDaSgyi3xE&list=PLgh
Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, vol. 26, issue 1. L9V9QTN0jLWtG3E8tSAHOD4UHw0QDF
Hitchcock, David. Fall 2018. “Critical Thinking” in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: www.plato.stanford.edu
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL =
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: www.iep.utm.edu
<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/critical-thinking/>.