What Is Critical Thinking, Anyway? - Beliefs are expressed as statements or claims.
It is talking about the importance of critical thinking and
how it differs from regular thinking. The Republican Party
of Texas initially made a mistake by opposing the
teaching of critical thinking in their platform, but they
later clarified that they actually support the development
of critical thinking skills.
Critical thinking is described as the process of evaluating
and analyzing thinking itself. While regular thinking
involves forming opinions and making decisions, critical
thinking goes a step further by examining and evaluating
the quality of that thinking. It's like thinking about how
you think.
The passage emphasizes that critical thinking is
essential for making wise decisions and arriving at
correct conclusions. It's not about jumping to quick,
uninformed decisions, but rather about subjecting your
thoughts to rational evaluation. The goal is to consider
whether your thinking, or someone else's, follows the
criteria of good sense and logic.
The passage also mentions that critical thinking
becomes particularly important in various situations,
such as designing or evaluating something, making
proposals, diagnosing situations, or offering
explanations. It stresses the value of receiving feedback
and critically evaluating your own reasoning to improve
it.
The book being discussed is a guide to critical thinking,
focusing on the minimum criteria for good reasoning that
should be applied in any context. It aims to help readers
avoid common mistakes and improve their thinking skills,
making them smarter in a general sense, applicable to
various subjects and situations.
In summary, the passage encourages the reader to
embrace critical thinking, which involves reflecting on
and improving one's own reasoning to make better
decisions and draw more accurate conclusions. The
book serves as a guide to understanding and applying
the standards of good reasoning across different
subjects and scenarios.
1. Purpose of Critical Thinking:
- Critical thinking aims to reach correct conclusions
and make wise decisions.
- The method is evaluating thinking by rational
standards.
2. Beliefs and Claims:
- When we conclude something, we form a belief.
- Claims can be objective (independent of personal
opinions) or subjective (dependent on personal
opinions).
3. Objective vs. Subjective Claims:
- Objective claims are true or false regardless of what
people think.
- Subjective claims depend on personal opinions.
- Examples: "There is life on Mars" (objective) vs.
"Barack Obama is cool" (subjective).
4. Fact and Opinion:
- Some opinions (beliefs) can be objective, meaning
they are true or false independent of personal views.
- The distinction between fact and opinion isn't about
truth but about how opinions are formed.
5. Relativism and Moral Subjectivism:
- Relativism suggests truth depends on cultural
standards.
- Moral subjectivism is the idea that moral opinions are
subjective.
- It's emphasized that cultural belief doesn't make an
objective statement true.
6. Issues:
- An issue is a question or claim being considered.
- Some issues are objective (can be answered
independently of personal opinions), while others are
subjective.
7. Identifying Issues:
- Before critically thinking about an issue, it's crucial to
understand what the issue is.
- Some issues are purposefully unclear, and clarity is
essential to meaningful discussion.
8. Arguments:
- Arguments present reasons to accept a claim.
- Example: "A dog would keep me company; so I
should get one."
- When making decisions (e.g., getting a pet), weigh
the pros and cons by considering different arguments.
Critical thinking helps us form correct conclusions by
evaluating beliefs, distinguishing between objective and
subjective claims, and understanding the nature of
issues and arguments.
The statement you provided is explaining the concept of
arguments, premises, and conclusions in a way that
students can understand easily. Let me break it down in
simpler terms:

Imagine you're trying to decide whether to get a dog.
There are two sides to this decision - one in favor of
getting a dog and one against it.
1. Argument in Favor of Getting a Dog.
- Premise (Reason): "A dog would keep me company."
- Conclusion: "I should get a dog."
2. Argument Against Getting a Dog
- Premise (Reason): "My landlord will raise my rent."
- Conclusion: "I should not get a dog."
Now, every argument has two parts:
- Premise(s): These are the reasons given to support a
decision or opinion.
- **Conclusion:** This is the final decision or opinion
based on the given reasons.
So, when you're thinking critically about something (like
deciding whether to get a dog), you evaluate the reasons
people give on both sides. This helps you make the best
decision by considering all the arguments.
Now, let's quickly answer the provided questions:
1. What is an argument?
- An argument consists of reasons (premises) given to
support a decision or opinion (conclusion).
2. T or F: A claim is what you use to state an opinion or
a belief.
- True.
3. T or F: Critical thinking consists in attacking other
people’s ideas.
- False. Critical thinking involves evaluating and
analyzing ideas, not necessarily attacking them.
4. T or F: Whether a passage contains an argument
depends on how long it is.
- False. The length of a passage doesn't determine if it
contains an argument.
5. T or F: When a question has been asked, an issue
has been raised.
- True. Asking a question often brings up an issue that
needs consideration.
6. T or F: All arguments have a premise.
- True. An argument is built on premises, which are the
supporting reasons.
7. T or F: All arguments have a conclusion.
- True. The conclusion is the final decision or opinion
based on the given reasons.
Cognitive biases are like mental shortcuts or errors in
our thinking that can lead us to make illogical decisions
or reach incorrect conclusions. Our brains are wired to
take these shortcuts, and they can affect how we
perceive information, make judgments, and form beliefs.
For example, one common cognitive bias is the belief
bias, where we tend to evaluate an argument based on
whether we agree with its conclusion rather than its
logical validity. Another bias is confirmation bias, which
leads us to give more weight to evidence that supports
our existing beliefs.
Cognitive biases also include heuristics, which are
general rules we unconsciously follow in estimating
probabilities. An example is the availability heuristic,
where we judge the likelihood of an event based on how
often we think of similar events. This can lead to
overestimating the probability of events that are more
readily available in our minds.
The bandwagon effect is another bias, causing us to
align our thinking with that of others, even if it's incorrect.
Advertisers and politicians often use this bias to
influence public opinion by creating a sense of popularity
around a product or idea.
Other biases include the fundamental attribution error,
where we attribute others' behavior to their personality
rather than considering external factors, and in-group
bias, where we favor people who belong to our group
over those in different groups.
Critical thinking is essential to counter these biases. It
involves being skeptical of our own beliefs, questioning
arguments, and being aware of our tendency to be
influenced by biases. The goal is not to tell us what to
believe but to help us evaluate information more
objectively and make better-informed decisions. The
exercises provided are meant to practice and enhance
critical thinking skills, much like practicing a sport or
musical instrument.
RECAP
We think critically when we evaluate reasoning used in
coming to conclusions. Conclusions are beliefs; when
they are expressed using true-or-false declarative
sentences, they are claims (or statements or assertions).
A belief (or opinion or claim or statement, etc.) whose
truth is independent of whether people think it is true, is
objective. An issue is simply a question. One uses an
argument to establish a position on an issue; the position ■ Fundamental attribution error: Having one
is the conclusion of the argument. Evaluation of understanding of the behavior of people in the in-group
arguments can be skewed by emotion, wishful thinking, and another for people not in the in-group.
self-interest, confirmation bias, and other psychological ■ Obedience to authority: A tendency to comply with
impediments to objectivity. What follows is a more instructions from an authority.
complete list of ideas explored in this chapter. ■ Overconfidence effect: A cognitive bias that leads us
to overestimate what percentage of our answers on a
■ Claim: When a belief (judgment, opinion) is asserted in subject are correct.
a declarative sentence, the result is a claim, statement, ■ Better-than-average illusion: A self-deception cognitive
or assertion. bias that leads us to overestimate our own abilities
■ Objective claim vs. subjective claim: An objective claim relative to those of others.
is true or false regardless of whether people think it is ■ Truth: A claim is true if it is free from error.
true or false. Claims that lack this property are said to be ■ Knowledge: If you believe something, have an
subjective. argument beyond a reasonable doubt that it is so, and
■ “Fact vs. opinion”: People sometimes refer to true have no reason to think you are mistaken, you can claim
objective claims as “facts,” and use the word “opinion” to you know it.
designate any claim that is subjective.
■ “Factual claim”: An objective claim. Saying that a claim
is “factual” is not the same as saying it is true. A factual
claim is simply a claim whose truth does not depend on
our thinking it is true.
■ Moral subjectivism: Moral subjectivism is the idea that
moral judgments are subjective. “There is nothing either
good or bad but that thinking makes it so.”
■ Issue: A question.
■ Argument: An argument consists of two parts—one
part of which (the premise or premises) is intended to
provide a reason for accepting the other part (the
conclusion).
■ “Argument”: People sometimes use this word to refer
just to an argument’s premise.
■ Arguments and issues: The conclusion of an argument
states a position on the issue under consideration.
■ Cognitive bias: A feature of human psychology that
skews belief formation. The ones discussed in this
chapter include the following:
■ Belief bias: Evaluating reasoning by how believable its
conclusion is.
■ Confirmation bias: A tendency to attach more weight to
considerations that support our views.
■ Availability heuristic: Assigning a probability to an
event based on how easily or frequently it is thought of.
■ False consensus effect: Assuming our opinions and
those held by people around us are shared by society at
large.
■ Bandwagon effect: The tendency to align our beliefs
with those of other people.
■ Negativity bias: Attaching more weight to negative
information than to positive information.
■ Loss aversion: Being more strongly motivated to avoid
a loss than to accrue a gain.
■ In-group bias: A set of cognitive biases that make us
view people who belong to our group differently from
people who don’t.