The University of Zambia

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Philosophy & Applied Ethics

Institute of Distance Education

Final Examination – Deferred

PHI 1020 Critical Thinking

Time Allowed: Three (3) hours
Answer all questions in Section A and two from Section B.

SECTION A [40 Marks]

1. Which of the following can you identify with critical thinking?
A. Quarrelling about important matters
B. Attempting to win arguments
C. Strengthening your opponent’s arguments
D. Respecting everyone’s opinion

2. Which of the following is not an indicator term for arguments?

A. For
B. Since
C. Further
D. As

3. Which one of the following best describes deductive arguments?

A. They move from the general to the specific.
B. They normally have true premises.
C. Their premises are said to be strong rather than true or false.
D. The truth of the premises can guarantee the truth of the premises.

4. Which reason best explains why we should not trust advertisement claims?
A. They are too fancy
B. They are made in the popular media
C. They are dishonest
D. They have vested interest

5. The worst approach to assessing the reliability of news sources is to …

A. Judge the credibility of all sources
B. Compare the content of several news sources
C. Rely only on news sources that support your existing views
 D. Consider alternative views

6. Which one is the relation to definitions odd one out?

A. Stipulative
B. Synonymous
C. Genus and difference
D. Ostensive

7. Which of the following criteria for inference to the best explanation best fits with Occam’s
Razor?
A. Conservativeness
B. Simplicity
C. Modesty
D. Power

8. You are writing a policy brief on child stunting for an international organisation. Which
definition for ‘stunting’ are you likely to use?
A. Precising
B. Lexical
C. Stipulative
D. Theoretical
9. For each of the following statements, state whether it is true or false.
a. It is raining outside, or it is not raining outside
b. Inductive arguments are not truth-preserving.
c. If an inductive argument is strong and its premises are true, it’s impossible for its
conclusion to be false.
d. If an argument is sound, it is irrational to not accept its conclusion

10. Complete the table below which summarises deductive arguments.

Valid Sound
Premises Conclusion
(Yes/No/?) (Yes/No/?)
F F a. No
F T ? No
T F b. c.
T T ? No

SECTION B [40 Marks]

Choose and answer any two questions from the following three questions.

11. Critique the following definitions. You must use all the relevant criteria applicable where there
are more than one.

a. Abortion means the sinful act of terminating a pregnancy.

 b. A woman is a female human being.
c. Faith is when you believe in something out of ignorance.
d. “Soap” means saponified glyceride.

12. Nkandu has eaten at Hungry Hyena restaurant for the past two years every time she has visited
Lusaka from Chama, and she has been quite satisfied with her food there. On her visit to
Lusaka this month, Nkandu goes again to the Hungry Hyena, confidently expecting to enjoy her
meal there once more. Using the criteria discussed for evaluating analogical arguments, (i)
determine whether each of the following premises makes the argument weaker, the same, or
stronger (ii) State the criterion used (iii) explain why this criterion helps you reach your
judgement.
a. Suppose that on her previous trips she had been served by a fat waiter, but this time she’s
being served by a petite waitress.
b. Suppose that last month an exclusive vegan menu has replaced the old one.
c. Suppose that when she ate at the Hungry Hyena before, she had eaten fish twice, eaten beef
twice, and thrice had pork chops.
d. Suppose that she had eaten quails on all her previous visits and is served quails this time as
well.

13. In each of the following arguments, a fallacy has been committed. Identify the fallacy and
explain why you think the arguer commits this fallacy.
a. Mr. Rhodes is suffering from amnesia and has no recollection whatever of the events of the
past two weeks. We can only conclude that he did not commit the crime of murdering his
wife a week ago, as he has been accused of doing.

b. We’ve all heard the argument that too much television is the reason our students can’t read
and write. Yet many of today’s TV shows are excellent. Madam Secretary offers a look at
the personal and professional life of a secretary of state, The Big Bang Theory serves up
lots of laughs in a highbrow setting, and The Voice presents vocalists from across the
country competing with help from coaches. Today’s TV is just great!

c. Mwaka: My mother-in-law visited me whilst I was pregnant with our fifth child. We had a
fierce argument about me naming my unborn child after her. I told her I had already
decided to name the child after my own mother. Two months later I had a miscarriage. This
was the first time I was having a miscarriage. It must have been that old witch of a mother-
in-law!

d. Gay rights where just imported from the United States. We must therefore vehemently
reject gay rights in Zambia.

End of Examination