Critical

Reading,
Writing, and
Thinking

WEEK 17
 Critical
Thinking
and Logic
 CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC
⬗ Logic is the study of the criteria used in evaluating inferences or
arguments.
⬗ An inference is a process of reasoning in which a new belief is formed
on the basis of or in virtue of evidence or proof supposedly provided
by other beliefs.
⬗ An argument is a collection of statements or propositions, some of
which are intended to provide support or evidence in favor of one of
the others.

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 CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC

⬗ The premises of an argument are those statements or

propositions in it that are intended to provide the support or
evidence.
⬗ The conclusion of an argument is that statement or
proposition for which the premises are intended to provide
support (in short, it is the point the argument is trying to
make)

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INDUCTIVE LOGIC
AND DEDUCTIVE
LOGIC

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 INDUCTIVE LOGIC AND
DEDUCTIVE LOGIC
⬗ An argument is deductive if the author intends it to be so
strong that it is impossible for the premises to be true and
the conclusion to be false, or in other words, that the
conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.

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 INDUCTIVE LOGIC AND
DEDUCTIVE LOGIC
⬗ An argument is inductive if the author intends it only to be so
strong that it is improbable that the premises could be true and
the conclusion false, or in other words, that the conclusion is
likely if the premises are true.

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 VALIDITY AND SOUNDNESS

⬗ To test whether an argument is valid, you should first

imagine that the premises are true—whether or not they
actually are—and then ask yourself, without appealing to
any other knowledge you have, could you still imagine the
conclusion being false? If you can, the argument is invalid.
If you can't, then the argument is valid.

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 VALIDITY AND SOUNDNESS

⬗ Note that validity does not have to do with the actual truth or
falsity of the premises. It only has to do with what would follow
from them if they were true. A valid argument can have false
premises. For example:
All toasters are items made of gold.
All items made of gold are time-travel devices.
Therefore, all toasters are time-travel devices.

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 VALIDITY AND SOUNDNESS

⬗ An invalid argument may have true or false

premises, and a true or false conclusion. A valid
argument may have false premises with either a true
or a false conclusion.

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 ARGUMENT FORM
⬗ The validity of a deductive argument is determined entirely by its
form. Consider these arguments.
All tigers are mammals.
No mammals are creatures with scales.
Therefore, no tigers are creatures with scales.

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 ARGUMENT FORM
All spider monkeys are elephants.
No elephants are animals.
Therefore, no spider monkeys are animals.

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 SOME LOGICAL PITFALLS
1. Begging the Question
An argument begs the question when it makes use of a premise that no one
who didn't already accept the conclusion would believe.
Example: God exists, because it says that God exists in the Bible, and
everything in the Bible is the true word of God.

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 SOME LOGICAL PITFALLS
2. The Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy
This fallacy is committed when something is concluded to be true simply
because it hasn't been proven to be false, or is concluded to be false just
because it hasn't been proven to be true
Example: No one has even proven that there is life after death. Therefore,
there is no life after death.

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 SOME LOGICAL PITFALLS
3. The Wishful Thinking Fallacy
This fallacy is committed when someone concludes that something must be true in
virtue of what he or she wants to be true (or doesn't want to be false) instead of
what the evidence suggests.

Example: The idea of life in a universe without God would be frightening and
depressing, and very difficult to accept. Therefore, God must exist

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 SOME LOGICAL PITFALLS

4. The "Ad Hominem" Fallacy

This fallacy is committed when an argument or position is rejected not in virtue of
its logical merits, but rather in virtue of the character, personality, background or
motivation of the person giving the argument or holding the position. However, a
position can be true, and an argument can be sound, no matter how deplorable the
person is. Who holds a belief has nothing to do with whether or not it's true.

“Accordingly, you did not have a stable job since 2000, and the
ones who you have worked with are not even providing you
with a good reference, so how could you deny that you did
not steal?”
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 OPINION AND FACT

⬗ An opinion is something that someone believes to be true.

⬗ A fact is something that is true.

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Thank you!
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