“Still I Look to Find a Reason to Believe”

“Still I Look to Find a Reason to Believe”

Philosophy 1100 Title: Critical Reasoning Instructor: Paul Dickey E-mail Address: pdickey2@mccneb.edu Website:http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/dickey.htm Quia Class Website www.quia.com Hand in Today’s Work: Syllabus Quiz Reading Assignment for Next week Chapter 3 of your text. (skip pp. 81-85 for now) Do the following Exercises: 1-3, 1-5, 1-12, 2-4, and 2-9.

Student Portfolios: Assignment #2 What is an Argument? · “collect” from your daily experience 2-3 “artifacts” that describe what an argument is and/or give examples (regarding, as you choose, ones related to life choices, relationships, job, politics, and so on). · For each, write a description or explanation of the artifact selected and its relevance to the class topic (1 paragraph) · Write a brief assessment of the relevance of your anecdotes chosen in Section One of your portfolio to that topic.

“Critical thinking is the ability to engage in reasoned discourse with intellectual standards such as clarity, accuracy, precision, and logic, and to use analytic skills with a fundamental value orientation that emphasizes intellectual humility, intellectual integrity, and fair-mindedness.” Definition of "critical thinking" from a California State Senate bill to update the State's Education code

“The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically . . . The complete education gives one not only power of concentration but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.” Martin Luther King

What is Critical Thinking? • Critical thinking is the process of assessing opinions. • We all might be entitled to our opinions, but some opinions are more reasonable than others. • Critical thinking consists of examining the views that you and others hold and the reasons to believe them. • The purpose of critical thinking is not to make you either more persuasive or a better contestant against others, but to improve your ability to understand and evaluate what you yourself believe.

Critical Thinking Involves . . . • Identifying the issue • Recognizing what positions are being taking on the issue • Understanding the arguments for and against those positions • Pursuing aggressively the most reasonable course of thought or action based on evidence and facts • Not being influenced by rhetoric or fallacies. • Your text emphasizes critical thinking as “critique thinking,” that is, thinking about thinking.

Critical Thinking All these steps can be fairly easily defined, but they cannot always be learned quickly. The ultimate goal of the entire process is a decision: What are the best reasons to accept a claim, reject it, or suspend judgment? Or, as Rod Stewart sings, analyzing the reason to believe.

Critical Thinking Is Not: • Either “Negative Thinking” or “Positive Thinking.” It is “Reality Thinking.” Negative thinking and positive thinking are based in emotion, not reason. They presuppose a result for which evidence and facts have not been demonstrated and likely will be ignored if presented. • Just being “critical of things” or “being “contentious, disagreeable, or quarrelsome” without purpose or reason.

The Critical Thinker’s “Attitude” is to: • Think logically • Find the best “reasons to believe” • Discover the best action for yourself, • Reject "intuiting" the truth & all forms of self-deception • Be fair and open-minded even with people you disagree with, • Give everyone a fair hearing, • Not be a hypercritical thinker and find fault where there is no fault or “make mountains out of molehills” by overstating small problems. • Look for common ground. The goal is not to confirm what you already believe.

For the Most Part, the Principles of Critical Thinking are Universal !!! (although often ignored and not universally applied)

Examples of Critical Thinking Principles in Judaism & Christianity • “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.” –Proverbs 14:15 • “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor be hasty and miss the way.” –Proverbs 19:2 • “The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” –Acts of the Apostles 17:11 • “Test everything. Hold to the good.” –1 Thessalonians 5:21 Source: http://www.rationalchristianity.net

Critical Thinking Principles in Islam “One should develop critical thinking ability in one's studies first: in science, mathematics, computers, and economics, whatever subject one has chosen. If you cannot develop this ability most probably you would not understand the Quran.” Dr. Mansoor Alam “A Message to Muslim Youth” http//:www.tolueislam.com

Our mission is to utilize Hip-Hop culture as a tool to facilitate critical thinking, foster social change and unity, by empowering communities through the use of media, technology, education, and leadership development; while preserving Hip-Hop culture for future generations. www.hiphopassociation.org

Will Critical Thinking Help Me On My Job? “Learning to think, really think, beneath the surface of what you see, hear or read is one of the hallmarks of the most successful people in the world of work.” Carol Carter “Critical Thinking: One of the Most Valued Job Skills” http://www.makingitcount.com/students/ Career/how_criticalthinking.asp

“Critical thinking helps us ask relevant questions, weigh evidence offered in support of arguments, interpret complex problems, and make wise decisions. This is especially important when you realize that many problems do not lend themselves to clear-cut solutions.” Robert Bacal “Applying Critical Thinking – An Essential Job Survival Skill” http://workhelp.org/content/view/215/45/

Chapter One What is Critical Thinking, Anyway?

What is a Claim? • A claim is sometimes called an assertion, an opinion, a belief, a “view”, a thought, a conviction, or perhaps, an idea. • A claim must be expressed as a statement or a complete, declarative sentence. That is, it is propositional. It cannot be a question. • What is an Objective Claim vs a Subjective Claim? An objective (but not a subjective) claim is true or false independent of what people think! But be careful.

Arguments & Subjectivism • The view that “one opinion is as good as another,” “it’s true for me though it might not be true for you” or “whatever is true is only what you think is true” is known as subjectivism. • For some things, this makes sense, e.g. Miller taste great. My grandson is cute. The waiter at the restaurant was nice. • Your text refers to these as “subjective claims” and says that “some people” (but presumably not critical thinkers may call these “opinions.”)

Subjectivism • To tell if something is subjective, ask yourself: “If Susan says “A” is true and Tiffany says “A” is not true, is it reasonable to say that they both are right? • One cannot give an argument either for or against a subjective position. • But be careful. Is it reasonable to argue that the most significant beliefs in our lives are subjective – whether God exists, whether you are living your life morally, or whom you should love?

Subjectivism • The critical thinker always prefers objectivity to subjectivism whenever it is appropriate and necessary. • A critical thinker is not subjective about issues that can be evaluated by objective standards and evidence. • However, few issues or ideas if any have no subjective component. • Even different heart specialists may prefer different techniques for no accepted medical reason. • Simon Cowell dresses well.

But there is another VERY important distinction that must be made about claims. Perhaps even more important. What is aFactual Claim? • In its clearest form, a claim asserts that something is true or false. • That is, it asserts a fact. This kind of claim is known as a “factual claim” or a “descriptive claim.”

What is aNormative Claim? • Value statements can also be claims though. In such claims, a fact is not asserted in the same sense that it was in factual claims. • For example, the claim “You should come to class” is not true or false (at least in the same way that the claim “P1100 class is held in Room 218” is). • Thus, some claims are “normative claims” or “prescriptive claims.” They express values and how one should act based on values. A value statement is a claim that asserts something is good or bad.

Now, Critical Thinking is Absolutely Relevant to Both Factual & Normative Claims • As we shall see in this class, it is necessary that we identify very clearly which kind of a claim we have before we can properly evaluate any argument for it! • Thus, please note we are taking a position against the subjectivist and saying that even moral judgments can be analyzed by the principles of critical thinking.

What is an ISSUE? Can you have a rational argument about something if you don’t’ know what you are talking about or if one person is talking about something different? So what does it mean to be talking “about” something? What is the difference between an issue and a topic?

What is an ISSUE? • Consider the following: Honda Accords are good cars to buy. They are cheap to fix. Their parts are easily found. • How many claims are there? • But what is the ISSUE? • Thus, an ISSUE is the Question we are asking. That is, we need to determine what claim we are asking about whether or not it is true. • Then, we must identify the ARGUMENT “in support of” the issue. Once the claim though is identified, we can also see that we are giving an ARGUMENT “for” that claim being true or false.

The Fundamental Principle of Critical Thinking is The Nature of an Argument • Making a claim is stating a belief or opinion -- the conclusion • An argument is presented when you give a reason or reasons that the claim is true. -- the premise(s) • Thus, an argument consists of two parts, and one part (the premise or premises) is/are the reason(s) for thinking that the conclusion is true.

An Argument is . . . • An attempt to support a claim (or conclusion) by giving reasons (or premises) for believing it. • Not to be confused with the confrontational act of attempting to persuade. • Please note: We are reserving the use of “argument” to refer to the combination of claim & premises and not using it as it often is in daily speech to refer to premises only.

Arguments & Cognitive Bias Consequently, your text discusses several “cognitive biases” that have been proposed by psychologists as explanations for why people act as they do (which is often counter to the principles of critical thinking that we will discuss.) Please observe that psychologists are primarily interested in “factual” or objective claims and issues and we as philosophers are interested in “normative” (but NOT “subjective” ones).

Examples of Cognitive Biases • Belief Bias. We tend to evaluate arguments as better if we agree with the conclusion already. • Availability Heuristics. We tend to evaluate probabilities based on how often we hear of certain outcomes. • Bandwagon Effect. We tend to try to align our judgments with others. • Negativity Bias. We tend to pay more attention to negative information. • In-group Bias. We tend to view individuals in our own group more sympathetically as those outside the group. • Overconfidence Effect. Generally speaking, a majority will consider their actions and judgments “better than average” which is logically impossible.

Truth and Knowledge What do we mean when we say something is true? What do we mean when we say we know something? What Can’t Critical Thinking Do? Questions?

“Still I Look to Find a Reason to Believe”