Ryerson University

Fall 2018

SSH105: Critical Thinking I

Prof. K. J. Kraay

Lecture 3
 If This is Your First Time at an SSH105 Lecture, You Should:
(1) Log in to D2L and read the course outline for SSH105 carefully.

(2) Write down the quiz dates in your agenda/calendar.

(3) Buy the textbook.

(4) Read Chapters 1 and 2 and make notes on them.

(5) Print out the all three powerpoint slide shows (available on D2L) and review them
carefully. Get notes from someone who was in class if possible.

(6) Listen to the audio of the first two lectures (available on D2L).

(7) Memorize the definitions for all key terms covered so far, and practice using them
correctly.

(8) Do the Practice Exercises for Chapter 1 (“Introduction”) and Chapter 2 (“Truth and
Rationality” of the book. [Note: you can skip Questions 1-4 on page 22, and
Questions 13-14 on p.56.] And remember: solutions that are not in the book are
available online on D2L.
Announcements

•Please turn off your laptops, tablets, cell phones, etc.

•My office hours next week: Thursday, Sept. 27th, 1:00-4:30, JOR-416

•A quick poll re slide background colour: black or white?

(You can easily can print these slides without the black background.)

Three reminders:

•This course does not count towards every degree program at Ryerson. If you
are not sure whether SSH105 counts towards your degree, check the
Undergraduate Calendar for your program, or ask someone in your home
program office.

•Student Learning Groups (SLGs) are voluntary group study sessions led by
former students. You can find the complete schedule for this term on D2L.

•Unjustified absences from tutorial = a 1% reduction in your final grade.

Quiz #1

• Will happen during the start of your two-hour lecture period next week. Make sure to arrive on
time. The quiz itself will be 60 minutes long. There will be a short lecture after the quiz.

• Bring a pen and your Ryerson Student Card to the quiz.

• Memorize your section number and your TA’s name. You will be asked to write both down.

• Format: Quiz #1 will likely contain a mix of

- multiple-choice questions
- true/false questions (some which require an explanation)
-short-answer questions

• Please review the Course Outline for information about missed quizzes.
- An absence will only be excused if it is (a) legitimate; and (b) is
supported by appropriate documentation.
- All documentation must be delivered to your home program office where it will
be verified and kept in your student file.

• The quiz will cover everything from Chapters 1 and 2 in the textbook, and all the material
from the powerpoint slides for Lectures 1, 2, and 3.)

• Quizzes will be returned and discussed during your tutorial class in Week 6 (Oct 15-19).
 Policy about Missed Quizzes and Tutorials

If you miss a quiz or a tutorial for a legitimate reason, here is what you need to do:

1.Medical Considerations: In order for alternate arrangements to be made on medical grounds, a student must
provide, within three working days, (1) a Ryerson Medical Certificate and (2) an Academic Consideration Form.
Both documents must be submitted to the student’s home program department. The forms can be found here:
www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/medical.pdf.

2.Religious Observance: If a student needs accommodation due to religious observance, he or she must submit
(1) a Request for Accommodation of Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance Form and (2) an
Academic Consideration Form, within the first two weeks of classes, or, for a final examination, within two weeks
of the posting of the examination schedule. If the required absence occurs within the first two weeks of classes,
or the dates are not known well in advance as they are linked to other conditions, these forms should be
submitted with as much lead time as possible in advance of the required absence. Forms must be submitted to
the student’s home program department. The forms can be found here:
www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/relobservforminstr.pdf.

3.Compassionate Considerations: In order for alternate arrangements to be made on compassionate grounds,

the student must deliver, within three working days, an Academic Consideration Form, along with appropriate
documentation (if necessary), to the student’s home program department. This form can be found here:
www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/senate/forms/academic_consideration_document_submission.pdf.

Alternate arrangements will only be made on the basis of circumstances that are both (1) legitimate and (2)
unforeseeable. Some examples of circumstances that typically fail to meet one or both of these conditions are:
extra-curricular activities, employment obligations, multiple deadlines, and computer malfunctions.
Quick Review of Lecture 2

•the concept of ‘knowledge’ and its key ingredients

•three views about truth: realism, nihilism, and relativism

Outline for Today

•skepticism
•two realist models of truth (coherence and correspondence)
•belief, disbelief, suspension of judgment
•justification
•fallibilism
•evidence
Philosophical Skepticism:

(i) statements have ____________ , but

(ii) _____________________ most or all of them are.

Why Hold this View? René Descartes

(1596-1650)

(a)
(b)

The Matrix (1999)

Consider the following argument for skepticism:

(1) Unless I am _____________that I am not

dreaming or being deceived, all my _____ lack
_______ (they do not count as _________).
(2) I am ___________ that I am not dreaming or
being deceived.

Therefore,

(3) All my ______ lack _________ (they do not

count as _________ ).

Drawbacks:

• Requiring ______________ for a belief to count as knowledge

seems to be asking too much.
• Skepticism about ______________ . Consider: can the skeptic
really say that ____________________________
Pulling it All Together:

(1) Each of these views denies something about ____ or ________(or both):

(2) All three views appear to be _____________________________.

(3) In this course, we will generally take for granted that:

– statements/propositions in many subject areas have _______

– these are __________ , not relative to individuals or societies
– in principle, these can be ___________.

In other words, we’ll assume that _________ about truth is, at the very
least, the ________________ in most areas.
Two Realist Models of What Makes a Statement/Proposition True

• these models all assume _______ : they take for granted that
statements/propositions in many subject areas __________ ; that these are
____________, and that they can be ___________.

• There are important differences between these:

– whether a statement/proposition is true,

– whether we can tell that it is true,
– whether somebody believes it to be true,
– whether somebody actually knows that it is true,

and

- under what conditions a statement/proposition is true

(_________________). Our two models are all about this.
The Coherence Model of Truth

A proposition is true if and only if it is coherent / consistent with a system of

well-supported propositions; otherwise, it is false.

“I am in an SSH105 lecture right now”

“Ryerson students are three-headed”

Drawbacks of the Coherence Model

(1) Is coherence with a well-supported system __________ for truth?

(2) Is coherence with a well-supported system __________ for truth?

The Correspondence Model of Truth

See Feldman, p.29:

CP1: A proposition is ___ just in case it describes _________

___________. A true proposition corresponds to the facts.

A proposition is _____ just in case it ______________

__________. A false proposition does not correspond to the
facts.

A consequence of this model:

OTV: Every proposition has _____________________________

It is either true or false, but not both.

Advantages of This Model:

Drawbacks of the Correspondence Model of Truth

(1) Arguably, certain propositions _____________ , even though we tend

to think they ________________:

Consider:

Reply: there are proposals for how to understand these claims on the
correspondence model.
(2) How can we check that our whole system of beliefs corresponds to
the facts?
Belief

• Recall: knowledge involves _________________________.

• When you consider any proposition, you have exactly three options …

(a) _____it (In other words; you think that it is ____)

(b) ______it (You think that it is ____)
(c) _________ (Neither of the above)

… and these options are _______________. [See p.36]

• Belief and disbelief come in varying ________________:

Note: for now, this is about _________, not ____________.

• Other terms often used to mean “believes”: thinks, feels, holds, contends, claims, asserts,
maintains, etc.
We Are Not Using the Term “Belief” to Refer Only To:

(1) Particularly important _____________________________.

- some of our beliefs are indeed particularly important to us, but

we also believe many less momentous propositions too.

(2) Controversial claims ______________________

.
eg: “That’s just your belief”

- we do indeed have beliefs about controversial matters, but we also

believe many noncontroversial propositions too.

- so beliefs really can be known:

You all _______ that 2+2=4 … and

You all _______ that 2+2=4
Justification

• Note: Feldman uses “rational belief” to mean what I call “justified belief”.
Another equivalent term is “reasonable”. So: “r/j/r”

Evidence:

Principle of Rational/Justified/Reasonable Belief (p.42):

• If a person’s evidence concerning a proposition supports that proposition

( )
then it is r/j/r for the person to ______ the proposition.

• If the person’s evidence goes against the proposition (

) then it is r/j/r for the

person to ___________ the proposition.

• If the person’s evidence is neutral ( )

then it is r/j/r for the person to ____________________.
[This could happen in several ways.]
Strength of Evidence

Principle of Proportional Belief (p.47):

It is rational to proportion the ______________ to the strength of one’s

__________ . The stronger one’s evidence for the truth of a proposition, the
stronger one’s belief in it should be (and vice versa).

Belief:

Evidence:

Fallibilism (p.43)

The view that a belief can be rational/justified/reasonable, ____________

In other words: one can be rational /justified / reasonable in believing

something _________________________________________.
Differences in Evidence; Changes in Evidence:

(1) two people may have ____________ evidence available to them (about
some proposition) and so it may be rational for them to disagree (about
whether that proposition is true)

(2) an individual person’s evidence may _______________, and so different

beliefs may be rational for them at different times.

How Much Evidence is Needed for a Belief to be R/J/R?

In general, to be rational/justified/reasonable, beliefs have to be based on

- _________ is appropriate depends upon the context.

- _________ is enough depends on the context.

A famous example:

A good rule of thumb: ________________________________ for a belief

to be rational/justified/reasonable.
Three Ways That Beliefs can be Irrational/Unjustified/Unreasonable

(1) Motivational Errors

- being unduly influenced by what we _____ to be true or false, rather

than focusing on the relevant ________.

(2) Failing to Weigh all the Available Evidence Properly

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)
 Things You Should Do:

Before Quiz #1 (Friday, September 28th):

• Attend and participate in your one-hour tutorial.

• Consider attending an SLG session.
• Come to your TA’s office hours (or mine) if you have questions.
• Review Chapters 1 and 2.
• Review the Lecture slides from Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
• Do practice exercises in textbook for all material covered so far. Some solutions are
in the textbook; all others are on the D2L page for this course.
• Make sure you understand all terms/concepts covered so far, and that you can can
define and apply them correctly.
• Bring your Ryerson Student Card and a pen to the quiz.
• Memorize your section number and your TA’s name.

Before Lecture 5 (Friday, October 5th):

• Read all of Chapter 3 and start doing the practice exercises.

• Print out the Lecture 5 slides and bring them to the lecture.
Optional Question for Further/Deeper Reflection

• Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) contains his argument for

skepticism (in Meditation 1).

• But it also contains his response to skepticism (in Meditation 2).

• Here is a link to a simplified translation of Descartes’ Meditations.

www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/descartes1641_1.pdf

• Read Meditations 1 and 2 (pp.1-8). Do you think that Descartes successfully

proves the claim “I exist”? Why or why not?