Critical thinking and problem solving

Preliminaries
• The course concerns itself with the way we think. It aims at making the learners wiser
and effective in the achievement of their goal
• Thinking: any natural activity of the mind. These activities range from those for which we
are unconscious to those for which we are conscious. While the former are unplanned
the latter are planned and deliberate.
• This course is concerned with conscious, planned and deliberate thinking. Such kind of
thinking is goal directed – since people plan and deliberately think for a purpose.
• Depending on the goal of thinking we can have three categories of goal directed thinking
1. cognitive thinking – goal is knowing and understanding
2. contemplative/reflective/evaluative thinking: determines worthiness or
unworthiness of our thinking
3. deliberative thinking: goal is making choices and solving problems
Aims of critical thinking
 Critical thinking is beliefs and attitudes held sub-consciously. Such believes constitutes a people’s
worldview or rather a people’s philosophy (generally/popularly understood). Such subconscious beliefs
and attitudes are the very foundations of our lives. they include our conception of reality
(metaphysical), truth (epistemological), values (axiological)

Aim of Critical Thinking and Logic

I. To improve the way we think for effective achievement of our goals. It helps to improve our thinking
from low level thinking to high level thinking where goals are achieved effectively.
II. To nurture people who can think independently/autonomously: people who can decide the truth
and right on their own, people who do subscribe to beliefs just because they are held by others but
because they are justified and convincing.
III. To make people become wiser and better lives: this is given that we are what we think
IV. while born with capacity to think, majority don’t think correctly. This course basically aims at
training the mind to think effectively for effective achievement of our goals. This is done by way of
equipping it with appropriate thinking cannons. Logic is very key in this endeavor.
EXPECTATIONS OF THE COURSE

By the end of the course, the students is expected to be able:

i. To think effectively for effective achievement of their goals and avoidance of problems
ii. To have acquired and apply thinking canons and critical thinking skills in philosophical
thinking and in other disciplines
iii. To gain skills for responsible decisions and take control of their own life as mature
individuals, exercising freedom responsibly in post-secondary education and life
iv. Know themselves, develop intellectual and personal discipline and take charge of their
own thinking
v. To evaluate whatever comes their way and generate new ideas: they will learn to critical
read, listen and write and not just be passive receptors of massive information available in
our age
vi. To explain and use argumentation: Support knowledge claims with reasons and evidence,
and make acceptable inferences
vii. Understand and use intellectual tools: intellectual tools of analysis, intellectual tools of
evaluation and intellectual tools of transformation
viii. Enhance appropriate decision making and problem-solving skills necessary for the
complex and constantly changing world.
ix. Developed systemic / relational thinking and understand causal connections in the system
x. To attain intellectual and moral conversion i.e. passage from dependency on others’
thoughts to independent thought, that is, to rational and moral autonomy. Liberate
individuals from unexamined assumptions, dogmas and prejudices of one’s own
upbringing, society and age.
xi. To ask good question and think vigorously- a requisite to continue the advancement of
their very fields of knowledge being taught in colleges/ universities.
BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

Rationale and relatedness to critical thinking: summary

1. Philosophy is the mother of all disciplines especially critical thinking – as such critical thinking is
well nurtured in philosophy
2. It is in philosophy where the critical thinking skills and logic are primarily applied. They are also
applied in other fields albeit some modifications. Philosophers employ the thinking skills so
obtained incorporate new discoveries, and experience into our already existing worldview. The
result is a new or modified worldview and consequently new cultural practices.
3. Philosophy is the ultimate intellectual foundation of lives (cultural practices, political, social,
economic and religious practices). Theory precedes practices. the dictum that ‘we are what we
think primarily applies to philosophy and then the attitudes, choice etc which follow there after.
4. Critical thinking is one aspect of philosophy. Philosophy proceeds critically – in analyzing,
evaluating and testing the very most fundamental beliefs about everything
NB: philosophy is a typical sort of typical thought system that must be exposed, critically analyzed
and evaluated, otherwise we risk basing our lives on dead/outdated ideals/beliefs.
Meaning of philosophy
Introduction
 Philosophy is variously defined,
 None of definition captures the whole nature and scope of philosophy,
 They are complementary,
We shall consider only three definitions: etymological, general/popular and technical/professional sense of
philosophical
1. Etymological meaning and its limitations
 The term philosophy, coined by Pythagoras, is derived from two Greek terms: Philo and Sophia, meaning
love and wisdom respectively.
• Etymologically therefore, philosophy means love and pursuit of wisdom (distinguish between knowledge and
wisdom)
• In its original and broad sense, philosophy meant s a systematic study of universe and place of man in it
• In this sense, philosophy Covered every kind of knowledge. Everybody who pursued whatever kind of
knowledge was referred to as a philosopher.
• It owes to the above reason that Philosophy is referred as the mother of all disciplines
Limitations of this original and broad usage of the term philosophy
i. It is not clear what philosophy is today given that it has relinquished the task of
acquisition of factual knowledge to natural and behavioral sciences that have developed
and moved out of it
ii. The relevance of philosophy is not clear: whether wisdom is pursued for the sake of it or
it has practical bearing on lives of people
2. Philosophy in General/popular sense
 Generally/popularly known, philosophy is the sum of basic beliefs and convictions held
by a person or entertained by people of a given era as guiding principles of their lives.
 It is so called since it is the sense in which everybody can be said to have a philosophy:
this is by virtue of having some ideas concerning everything; ideas about reality, place of
man, truth, morality, beauty etc (in so long as we ask and attempt to answer questions
about reality, place of man, truth, morality, beauty)
Philosophy in popular sense (conti.)
These ideas may result from
a) our social backgrounds,
b) influenced by the literature we read or materials we watch or
c) because of some thinking on our part.
Limitations of general definition of philosophy
i. It does not distinguish philosophy from many vague, confused and
superficial beliefs.
ii. It neither distinguishes between popular (general) and professional
neither sense of philosophy.
iii.It does not describe the worker/task of a philosopher
3. professional/technical philosophy
Philosophy is rational and critical thinking about the most basic questions and beliefs about
everything
•As such, it seeks to eradicate from our perspectives every faint and vestige of irrationality
and to challenge, analyse and test our ideas and actions in light of evidence and arguments.
i. As a rational activity, philosophy seeks to eradicate from our perspectives every vestige of
irrationality. It is rational because it makes use of natural power of reasoning.
ii. In its critical aspect philosophy analyzes, tests, and challenges our ideas and actions
considering evidence and arguments.
This definition come close to what philosophy in professional/technical sense is. It also
reveals
iii. The subject matter of philosophy: implied by the phrase ‘questions and belief about
everything’. Philosophy studies being in totality, whether being in general or particular
mode of being (existence, reality)
iv. The task of a professional philosopher: continued response to basic questions and
beliefs/ideas.
Limitations rational and critical meaning of philosophy
 not everything can be grasped intellectually or reduced to an argument or
expressed in language. Non-rational means also play a role.
 Some things can be justified through an appeal to something other than or
different from reason.
 Many philosophers for instance, subscribe to foundationalism; the view
that there are inevitable ultimate presuppositions which are known with
certainty as the foundations of all our other ideas but which themselves
cannot be proved.
 The weaknesses notwithstanding, rational and critical meaning of
philosophy is a fairer conception of philosophy today
Scope of philosophy
 The breadth of what philosophy covers today is broad, and perhaps its actual
meaning can be best illustrated by the following definitions:
a) The methodical investigation of the world and our place in it, which involves a basic
assessment of reality described by a rational quest that focuses on the Truth for
accomplishing intelligence.
b) the order is concerned about inquiries of how one should live (morals); what kinds
of things exist and what are their fundamental qualities (metaphysics); what
considers certified information (epistemology); and what are the right standards of
thinking (logic)
c) Philosophy is the institution of knowledge from which all different orders infer and the
standard by which thoughts are coordinated and perceived.
Scope: philosophy studies everything in so far as it can comprehended by human mind
The Content of philosophy
 Basically, philosophy consist in asking fundamental questions and
theories in attempt to answer them
 Nature of philosophical questions and answers: they are different
from those of other disciplines in that:
a) the questions are not easily answered by giving facts
b) Answers are tentative. Partly owes to recognition of the incremental
nature of human knowledge
c) Philosophy asks and attempts to answer questions about everything.
Different from other disciplines, it studies being in totality and to
deepest level
Branches of philosophy
 While Philosophy asks and attempts to answer questions about
everything in so long as it can be comprehended by human mind.
 However, human mind cannot understand everything at once: it
must obey the principle of divide and rule.
 The philosophical questions and answers/theories are grouped
into various categories relative to particular being under
consideration.
 These categories are referred to as the branches of philosophy
 A look at each branch will show the kind of philosophical
questions thereof
Branches of phil (conti.)
1. AXIOLOGY
 Derived from Greek axios, “worthy”; logos, “science”,
axiology refers to the philosophical study of values.
 In other words, itis the general study of values and their
impact on human behavior.
 Theory of Value, the philosophical investigation of goodness
or fundamentally value.
 The importance of axiology as a field of study lies first the fact
that
a) it has given a more extensive importance to the term
value
b) it has accommodated the investigation of an assortment of
inquiries: financial, moral good, stylish, religious, political
and even logical qualities that had frequently been
considered in relative segregation.
 In Philosophy the investigation of qualities is partitioned into
two sets; Ethics and Esthetics.
a) Ethics–
 branch of philosophy concerned with the oughtness of human
action/conduct. In other words, Ethics is the philosophical study of moral
values.
 The study involves systematizing, analyzing, evaluating, applying,
defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.
 In modern times, Philosophers have divided ethical theories into three
general subject areas: meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics.
 Central questions to ethics include: i) what is the nature of the life of
excellence? ii) What is the ultimate worth of the goals you seek? iii) What
specific courses of conduct, in keeping with these goals, will help lead to
the life of excellence?
Content/branches of philosophy (cont)
b) Aesthetics-
 Branch of philosophy concerned with the study of artistic values and basic
philosophical questions about art and beauty, it is the study of Art and beauty.
It mainly deals with beauty, art, enjoyment, sensory-emotional values, perception and
matters of taste and sentiment. It includes what art consists of as well as the purpose
behind it.
 Major aesthetical questions are:- Does art consist of music, literature, and painting?
Are there criteria by means of which we can judge a work of art in an objective sense?
What is the art itself? Is it a reproduction of a vision into ultimate reality? To what extent
does the sense of appreciation of beauty contribute to the enrichment of human life? Is
art or beauty in the eye of the beholder? Does anything that appeals to you fit to be
considered art? Or does it have a specific nature? Does it accomplish a goal
2. EPISTEMOLOGY - the study of knowledge, and how and what we know. The term
“epistemology” is derived from the ancient Greek word ‘episteme’ meaning ‘knowledge’.
The word in this way signifies the philosophical investigation of knowledge its
avocation and of the group of ideas that are engaged with our investigation cases to
information or supported beliefs. As a theory of knowledge, epistemology tries to set
up the way towards claiming to know and on what sureness premise are such cases
established. In its broadest sense, epistemology is the investigation of the technique
for getting and handling information. It addresses the inquiry, “How would I realize
that I comprehend what I guarantee to know?”, “How would we legitimize our insight
claims? ”What are the wellsprings of our knowledge claims?”, It is concerned about
how we recognize what we do, what legitimizes us in accepting what we do, and what
principles of proof we should use in looking for certainties about the world and human
experience.
3. METAPHYSICS (the study of existence and the nature
of reality) is the branch of philosophy liable for the
investigation of existence. As a term, mysticism is gotten from
two antiquated Greek words ‘meta’ which implies past and
‘physicea’ which alludes to material substance or objects of
understanding. Metaphysics means the study of the essence
of being beyond the physical entities. The word metaphysics
was coined by Aristotle, a student of Plato when he undertook
the task of categorizing the works and writings of his teacher.
Branches of philosophy (conti.)
Branches of metaphysics
i) Ontology: (derived from two Greek terms logos (theory or study) and ont (being). Thus,
ontology is a theory of being in general. It is an attempt to discover and justifiably answer
questions about what there is, what essential features and properties of being are, what are
primary constituents of being, how different beings are related to one another. Ontology is
general metaphysics (metaphusicageneralis) in so far as it deals with the questions of being in
general and not any specific being.
ii) Rational cosmology: this is philosophical contemplation of nature to work out general
principles underlying the universe (cosmos is Greek term for nature of universe). It
attempts to explain the constituent stuff, the basic structure, and the movement of the natural
world. As such, it deals with the metaphysical composition of material beings, problem of
motion, time and space and theories concerning matter (atomism, dynamism, mechanism,
and hylomorphism) as well as problems of matter such as causality of material being.
iii) Philosophical Anthropology :( anthropology: anthropos (man) and logos (study, theory or
discourse)
It is a comprehensive study of human nature. It considers each human being as
complex/multifaceted (biological, psychological, cultural, social and religious) in contrast to
simplicity of God and traditional rationalists’ view of man as exclusively rational being. It deals
with problem of man, both his constitution and manifestation. As such we have:
iv) Rational theology or natural theology (Theos is a Greek term for God)
Rational theology is a theory concerning what can be known about God without relying on
revelation. It is a philosophical consideration of the problem of God and its related problems:
harmless agnosticism, light dismissals of the relevance of the God-question and outright atheism
and problem of evil. As such, rational theology attempts to prove true theistic beliefs by use of
natural human reason, unaided by revelation and grace, as opposed to supernatural theology
(revealed theology). Examples of rational theology are traditional arguments for God’s existence:
ontological argument, cosmological argument, teleological argument, moral argument and
argument from design
Branches of philosophy (conti.)
4. LOGIC (the study of good reasoning, by valid inference and
demonstration).The term logic comes from the Greek word logos
meaning “reason”, Aristotle, the founder of the science, designates it
as analytic and the Epicureans use the term canonic. By and large
Logic is the investigation of the techniques and standards used to
clarify right from inaccurate thinking. In its broadest sense, Logic
manages the investigation of the evidential connection between the
premises and conclusions.
Other branches
 Applied philosophy
 History of philosophy
METHODS OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Analysis: breaking down the whole into its components parts. listing of
the most important characteristics of the thing to be analyzed, that is,
outlining what constitutes the essence of a thing (breaking down the
whole into its component parts)
• It is a method by which concepts are clarified through classification of a
word or entity by placing it in a large class called the genre and then
differentiating it from other members of that class.

2.. Synthesis: Synthesis is to relate the thing to be known to something

already familiar. Essentially, it is the attempt to reveal the thing to be
known as part of some larger whole, e.g. an established philosophical rule,
policy or standard.
Methods of philosophy
3. Dialectic
•This is the method originally associated with Socrates (467-399 B.C.).
But it was later adopted and developed by George Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel (1770-1831). For Socrates, dialectic method consists in clarifying
phenomena or the words and terms that reflect them through
discussion of their central concepts. In this dialectic, he acted out as a
“mid-wife” of ideas. He does not seek to impose his views in the
process but through question and answer method, he seeks to evoke
independent positions of his students and followers on selected issues.
That method was so effective that it has become one of the classic
techniques of education.
Methods (conti.)
Hegel, a German philosopher considered dialectic as a method
through which ideas develop. When beginning with an idea
(“thesis”) its opposite (“antithesis”) develops until a middle
ground (“Synthesis”) is reached. This becomes a fresh thesis.
b) Other Methods of doing Philosophy

•Observational Skills and Methods

•c) Meta-theoretical Methods
•- Discovering ignorance
•- Discovering limits of knowledge.
Value/ relevance of philosophy
Introduction:
What is the relevance/importance of philosophy?
Quite a bit of what is found out in philosophy can be applied in basically every
undertaking throughout everyday life. This is both in light of the fact that way of
thinking addresses endless subjects and particularly, on the grounds that a large
number of its techniques are usable in any field.
1.General Uses of Philosophy
a) General Problem Solving: searching defining problem
b) Communication Skills: Philosophy contributes uniquely to the main task of philosophy
today is to seek, define and clarify problems as well as proposing solutions to them. It helps
one to analyze concepts, definitions, arguments, and problems. e development of expressive
and communicative powers. For instance, skills in presenting ideas through well-constructed
systematic arguments
Value of philosophy (conti)
c) Persuasive Powers: out of ability to support claims with evidence
d) Writing Skill: Philosophy teaches interpretive writing through its examination of
challenging texts, comparative writing, through emphasis on fairness to alternative
positions, argumentative writing through detailed portrayal of concrete examples
e) Understanding other disciplines: evaluates methods of other
disciplines
f) discovery of values and meaning of things and experience. Philosophy has the
task of formulating reasonable standards and goals. Our choices, decisions and
actions are based on such values and meanings,
Value of Phil (conti)
• Helps in integration and harmonization of experience.
• Helps in clarification and justification of belief
• helps us to seek answers to some of most complex and troubling
questions of human existence such as death and destiny of man
(metaphysical questions),
Demonstrating philosophical foundation of
our lives
 Philosophy is a dynamite. It is a set of powerful ideas which affect the lives of real people. It is
such powerful set of ideas which move the world either in right or wrong direction. It is at the
foundation of many choices, actions, commissions and omissions made by people. All the wars
are fought on basis of philosophy – they are attempts to replace one philosophy with another.
 As such, it must be critically analyzed for proper understanding and clarity and critically
evaluated in order to determine its worthiness or unworthiness as intellectual foundation of
our lives. In
 case it is found wanting on basis of criteria, new philosophy need be critically created making
sure that it meets the objective criteria as much as possible. The new philosophy thus created
must be continually evaluated as new data (scientific) is made available lest people find
themselves basing their lives on dead ideas (outdated philosophical beliefs)
NB:
Religion, as part of culture (especially religious practices) is informed by a philosophy. Philosophy
and religion are related as a theory and praxis respectively.
 Culture – peoples way of life. It is a set of beliefs and practices of a given people. These
constitute the culture’s two main components: material (tangible) and spiritual (intellectual).
 The spiritual/intellectual aspect constitutes a worldview/philosophy of a people. It is the
foundation of the material aspect of culture (the tangible part)
 Culture, as a man-made tool for the adaptation and survival in prevailing environmental
conditions, is dynamic.
 Dynamic nature of culture, presupposes dynamics in philosophy. People’s philosophy
change/are modified as new discoveries and experiences are critically and creatively
incorporated into already existing beliefs.
 People need revise their beliefs on basis of objective criteria for acceptability of
philosophical theories. Such criteria include: internal consistency, external consistency,
comprehensiveness, practicality, psychological acceptance. It is akin to the standards of
thinking (intellectual tools of evaluation)