05/02/10 - Week 4 - Critical Thinking (RT 2)

MB A25 / Enzo Rossi - critical thinking

But before we started mark.edwards@newport.ac.uk spoke about international study opportunities (student exchange).

Constructing Arguments

Premises & Conclusions

P1 - fact 1
P2 - fact 2

C1 - conclusions (therefore a should statement)

You dont want/desire smelly clothes
smoke makes clothes smell

you should not smoke (have a reason not to)

Valid/invalid and sound/unsound

this is not always straighforward logic as we shall see.

soundness means facts (premises) are correct.

valid means conclusion can be correctly drawn from the premises.

there are 4 combinations therefore: valid/sound, invalid/sound, valid/unsound, invalid/unsound

soundness plus validity gives the truth

necessary and sufficient conditions

X is necessary for Y means If Y then X

X is sufficient for Y means if X then Y

smoke is necessary for fire (if all fire has smoke)
fie is sufficient for smoke

causation and correlation

correlation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causation

References

R. van den Brink-Budgen (2000). Critical Thinking for Students. Oxford: How To Books.
J. Moon (2008). Critical Thinking. New York: Routledge.
M. Murrray & N. Kujundzic (2005). Critical Reflection. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
V.R. Ruggiero (1998). The Art of Thinking. New York: Longman.