Welcome to university!

You’re not in High School any more.

Now you get to THINK

Critical ThinkingAn Introduction

"What are the moral convictions most fondly held

by barbarous and semi-barbarous people?

They are the convictions that authorityis the soundest basis of belief;

that merit attaches to readiness to believe;that the doubting disposition is a bad one,

and skepticism is a sin.“

Thomas Henry Huxley(1825-1895)

“The civilized man has a moral obligation to be skeptical,

to demand the credentials of all statements that claim to be

facts."

Bergan Evans(1904-1978)

“A university’s essential character is that of being a center of free

inquiry and criticism -- a thing not to be sacrificed for

anything else.”

Richard Hofstadter(1916-1970)

EPISTEMOLOGY

1st big word for the day…

KnowledgeCertain

• Mathematical• Deductive• Rational• Analytic• Definitional• Proof

Probable

• Scientific• Inductive• Empirical• Synthetic• Experimental• Evidence

2nd (not so big) word of the day

ARGUMENT

Argument?

Argument

A conclusion supported by one or more premises

A syllogism: the perfect argument

P1: Socrates is a man

P2: All men are mortal

•• • Socrates is mortal

The Death of SocratesSocrates was sentenced to death for corrupting the

youth of Athens and for failing to worship the official gods of Athens. His real crime? Critical thinking.

CRITICAL THINKING

Usually involves questioning the premises to test the validity of the conclusion.

It is usually in the premises that errors occur.

If a premise is wrong, the conclusion must be treated as questionable…especially if the

argument seems valid

Where is the error?

P1: Boris is a dwarf

P2: All dwarves are dangerous

•• • Boris is dangerous

Empirical evidence challenges the conclusion

WHERE’S THE ERROR?(This one’s easy)

P1: My teacher said that Sydney is the capital city of Australia.

P2: Teachers are always right.

•• • Sydney is Australia’s capital

If the conclusion is wrong, look at the premises…

One more definition:

LOGICAL FALLACY

Logical Fallacies: Errors in reasoning

75% of heroin addicts first smoked marijuana

Marijuana should therefore be illegal to prevent heroin addiction

Right?

There is a logical fallacy at work here

100 % of heroin addicts first drank milk.

Should milk therefore be illegal?

Correlation ≠ Causation

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

At the university level…

• You do not succeed by repeating what you have learned

• You are expected to synthesise ideas from what you have learned

• You excel by building on what came before and bringing something original to the party

• We are not here to TEACH you. We are here to help you teach yourselves

Paradigm Shift

University requires that you use the tools you acquired in high school.

You will be confronted with much information.

You must accept or reject it through critical analysis.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are now in charge of your own education

A few words from perhaps the greatest teacher of all time:

“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. “Socrates

“The unexamined life is not worth living. “Socrates

And final words for freshmen everywhere

Come mothers and fathersThroughout the land

And don’t criticizeWhat you cant understand.

Your sons and your daughtersAre beyond your command;

Your old road isRapidly agin’.

Please get out of the new oneIf you can’t lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin’.Bob Dylan

THANK YOU!

Have a great year!