1. Critical Thinking Bassham and Thill
Chapter 1
Introduction to Critical Thinking
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2. Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education
Critical Thinking
“Critical” here does not mean “negative.”
Critical thinking is thinking that involves/exercises skilled judgment or observation.
A good critical thinker has the cognitive skills and intellectual dispositions needed to effectively identify, analyze and evaluate arguments* and truth claims.
*note: “arguments,” as we shall use it in this class, does not mean “disagreements.”
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

3. Critical Thinking Standards
Clarity: that which is true can be expressed clearly. Clarity in expression is a sign of intelligence. Obscurity in expression is a sign that one really doesn’t understand the idea one is expressing.
Precision: close attention to detail. Specific definitions and specific questions.
“Is abortion wrong?” is vague. “Should abortion be legal?,” “Is having an abortion ever moral?” are more specific questions.
Accuracy: making sure your information and beliefs are true. One can’t reason correctly with false information.
Relevance: statements are about the way the world is; what makes something true is the way the world is. A relevant point restricts itself to the “piece of the world” in question. Irrelevance can distract people from the point but never helps to truly prove the point. A lawyer putting on his shirt wrong does not entail that his client is guilty (see Lincoln Example, p. 5).
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

4. Critical Thinking Standards
Consistency: non-contradiction. Critical thinking avoids:
Practical inconsistency/hypocrisy: saying one thing and doing another.
Logical inconsistency/irrationality: believing two things that can’t be simultaneously true.
Logical Correctness: sound reasoning/valid inferences. Deriving that—and only that—which can be justifiably derived from statements/premises.
Completeness: good critical thinking is never done hastily; explore the issue.
Fairness: open-minded, impartial, non-biased. Don’t dismiss something just because it’s new or it’s contrary to something you already believe.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

5. The Benefits of Critical Thinking
In the workplace
Specifically—at work—critical thinking will allow you to do your job better.
The fact that college is aimed at teaching you how to live is why it is ok that more than half of college grads don’t find a job that utilizes their major.
Most jobs skills can be—and will be—taught “on site” anyway. Employers are more concerned with hiring someone who can reason efficiently (so they can figure out the best way to handle whatever the job throws at them), not someone who has been taught a specific skill.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

6. The Benefits of Critical Thinking
In life
Specifically—in life—critical thinking helps us…
…avoid bad personal decisions.
…make informed political decisions.
…attain personal enrichment.
As Socrates said: the unexamined life is not worth living.
A lack of critical thinking promoted centuries of erroneous assumptions (e.g., the earth is flat, the earth is the center of the universe).
…behave morally.
A lack of critical thinking promoted centuries of oppressions (e.g., the assumptions behind slavery, Communism, and the subjugation of women).
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

7. Barriers to Critical Thinking
Egocentrism
The tendency to see reality as centered on oneself.
Self-Interested Thinking: supporting conclusions because they are in your interest/to your benefit.
Critical thinking is objective.
Self-Serving Bias: the tendency to overrate oneself.
Critical thinking requires one to be honest about their abilities.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

8. Barriers to Critical Thinking
Sociocentrism
Group centered thinking
Group Bias: the tendency to see one’s own group (e.g., nation) as being inherently better than all others.
Conformism: allowing beliefs to be shaped by outside forces such as:
Groups (peer pressure)
Authority (parents, teachers, boss)
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

9. Barriers to Critical Thinking
Unwarranted Assumptions and Stereotypes
Assumption: a belief without absolute proof.
Unwarranted Assumption: a belief without “good reason.”
Stereotype: assuming that all people within a group (e.g., sex, race) share all the same qualities; assuming that a particular individual that belongs to a group has certain qualities simply because they belong to that group.
Hasty Generalization (type of stereotype): drawing conclusions about a large group from a small sample.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

10. Relativistic Thinking
Relativism is the view that truth is a matter of opinion.
Subjectivism: the view that truth is a matter of individual opinion; what one thinks is true is true for that person.
Moral Subjectivism: The view that what is morally right for person A is what they think is morally right.
E.g. We must care for our parents.
Cultural Relativism: the view that what is true for person A is what person A’s culture or society believes to be true.
Cultural moral relativism: The view that what a culture thinks is morally right to do, is morally right to do, in that culture.
Conformism?
However, relativism is false.
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More on Relativism
The fact that it is hard to discover what is true—even if it is impossible to discover what is true—does not mean that there is no truth or that truth is determined by opinion/consensus.
We probably won’t be able to discover whether or nor God exists; but whether he does or not is not determined by opinion/consensus.
Something is true if it accurately describes the way the world is; opinion and consensus do not determine the way the world is.
Given that we can’t prove our beliefs true, we should be more open to critically evaluating them and hearing the arguments of others.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

12. Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education
Wishful Thinking
Wishful Thinking: believing what you want to be true (without evidence or despite evidence to the contrary).
This error is quite common
belief in tabloid headlines
healing crystals
quick cures
communication with the dead
“it won’t happen to me” beliefs
etc.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

13. Characteristics of a Critical Thinker
Strives for clarity and precision
Sensitive to the discussed “thinking errors”
Intellectually honest (admits ignorance and limits)
Welcomes criticisms of beliefs; open to revising basic beliefs
Bases beliefs on facts, not on preference or interest.
Thinks independently (doesn’t let groups control their beliefs).
Values having true beliefs, not comfortable ones.
Intellectual perseverance; will strive for truth even when it is hard to do.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education

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Tutorial
Exercise 1.1, pg 1.
Exercise 1.5, pg 24.
Lecture Notes © 2008 McGraw Hill Higher Education