Today’s Quote
Use soft words and
hard arguments English Proverb
Parts of an Argument I Claim: an
expressed opinion or conclusion e.g. “CSI” is an
excellent TV show”
Parts of an Argument II Claim Evidence:
observable or previously accepted statements e.g. It has good
acting, good writing and good production.
Parts of an Argument III Claim Evidence Reasoning: constructs a reasonable
and rational link between the evidence and the claim. e.g. Good acting, writing and
production are the key elements of a good TV drama.
Listen UP! Decide if the statement
you hear is an argument or not.
Foundations of Critical Thinking Questioning Habit Perspective Taking Clarifying Meaning
and Assumptions Evaluating Support Engaging in
Critical Inferences and Comparison
Characteristics of Critical Thinking Clarity: could you illustrate what you
mean? Accuracy: could we find out if that is
true? Precision: could you be more specific?
Characteristics of Critical Thinking Relevance: how does that help us with
this issue? Depth: what factors make this a difficult
problem? Breadth: what other points of view need
to be considered?
Characteristics of Critical Thinking
Logic: does what you say follow from the evidence?
Significance: how important is this factor in the overall discussion?
Fairness: have we represented various positions honestly?
Characteristics of Critical Thinking Clarity Accuracy Precision Relevance Depth
Breadth Logic Significance Fairness
Application Work with a partner to take either
the list just discussed or the attributes listed in chapter 10 of the Debater’s Guide and prioritize your top three. Be able to offer arguments for your choices.
Induction vs. Deduction Deduction
Major Premise• Categorical truth
Minor • Puts specific case in a
category Conclusion
• Necessarily follows from premises
Reasons from “known” to “known”
Induction Series of minor
premises that lead to a probable general conclusion
Reasons from what is “known” to what is probable.
Induction
Information
Conclusion
Next Time Quiz on readings so far and readings
due that day. Discussion of Chapt. 3 in CT Discussion of what makes up a good
debate topic and hearing some of your suggestions.