Critical Thinking Exam Study Guide

Critical Thinking Exam Study Guide

Critical Thinking (Ans- The systematic evaluation or formulation of beliefs or statements by rational standards

Assertion (Statement) (Ans- A declarative sentence that is intended to make a claim of some sort.I.e. I am taller than you

Premise (Ans- A statement that is offered in a support of a conclusion

Conclusion (Ans- A statement that is held to be support by a premise or premises.

Argument (Ans- Set of statements; on of which (conclusion) is taken to be supported by the remaining statements (the conclusion)

Inference (Ans- The move from a premise(s) to a conclusion(s)

Conclusion Indicators (Ans- Thus, therefore, we may conclude, so, it follows that, entails, consequently

Premise indicators (Ans- Since, because, for, as, given that, in as much as, for the reason that

Deductively Valid (Ans- If it is impossible for the premises to be true, while the conclusion is false. (conclusion would have to be true too)

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Deductively Sound (Ans- Only if the argument is deductively valid, and all premises are true.

Inductive Strength (Ans- An argument is this only if the conclusion is probably true, given the premises.

Explanation (Ans- tells us how or why something is the case

Category 1 (Impediment to critical thinking) (Ans- Obstacles that arise because of how we think. Self-Interested thinking (accepting a claim because it coincides with our interests) and Group-Thinking (peer pressure, and stereotyping)

Category 2 (Impediment to critical thinking) (Ans- Obstacles that arise because of what we think. Issues because of our views about truth and knowledge

Relativsim (Ans- The view that propositions have a truth-value, but this depends upon some person or social group

Subjective Relativism (Ans- The view that truth-value solely depends upon what some subject believes

Socia Relativism (Ans- The view that truth-value of a proposition depends upon societies.

Skepticism (Ans- The view that propositions have truth-values, but we know what very few, or none, of them are. (we know a lot less than we think)

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