Critical Thinking Week 4: Language PDF

Critical Thinking Week 4: Language Presented by Dr. Shaimaa Galal Assistant Professor Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence – Cairo University [email protected] The Need for Precision “My father is a...

Critical Thinking Week 4: Language Presented by Dr. Shaimaa Galal Assistant Professor Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence – Cairo University [email protected] The Need for Precision “My father is a painter” 4-2 The Need for Precision “My father is a painter” Without precision, one cannot be correctly understood. Lack of understanding or misunderstanding hinders discussion, dialogue, and debate. In fact, misunderstandings are quite often the causes of disagreements. 4-3  The Need for Precision (Example) Suppose that both you and I know that Bob committed a certain crime and that his trial has not occurred yet. I might say: (1) “Bob is guilty” Now (1) can mean two things: (a) He committed the crime. (b) He has been convicted of the crime. If I mean (a), but you think I mean (b) we will say we disagree about whether (1) is true, when in fact we share the same beliefs (we both think he did it and know that he hasn’t been convicted yet). But not until I clarify what I mean by (1) will this fact become evident. But when you can’t be understood, it is not the other person’s fault. If others can’t understand you, you need to be more precise! 4-4 Ways to be un-precise Vagueness Borderline cases Overgenerality Too general; too many things fit the description of the answer and thus the answer is not useful. Ambiguity A word is ambiguous when it has more than one common definition. 4-5 Vagueness A word (or group of words) is vague when its meaning is inexact. Usually you can tell a word is vague when there are borderline cases. Examples: minimal pay, middle-aged, indecent, vehicle..etc. 4-6 Vagueness For “middle age”, there are clear cut cases: 20 is not middle aged, 80 is not middle aged, what about 45? 33? 56? In some venues it is appropriate, but usually try to avoid it, especially in argumentation. 4-7 Overgenerality 4-8 Overgenerality An overgenerality is a statement that provides too much information to be useful (in a given context). They will not be vague (i.e., they won’t give rise to borderline cases), but will not be useful. Context is relevant: “Human” is an alright answer to a question about your chess opponent (which could be a computer). 4-9 Ambiguity A word or expression is ambiguous if it has two or more meanings and the context does not make clear which meaning is intended. “Ambi” means “both”; a word that is ambiguous has two meanings, but can’t “mean” both at the same time. 4-10 Ambiguity Semantic Ambiguities: Ambiguities that result from uncertainty about the meanings of an individual word or phrase e.g., Joe went to the bank. (What kind of bank? Financial Institution? A slope that boarders a river? A blood bank?) 4-11 Ambiguity Syntactical Ambiguities: ambiguity due to sentence structure or faulty grammar. “Dog for sale. Eats anything and is especially fond of children.” “Dog for sale. Good appetite, and loves playing with children.” 4-12 Types of Disputes Verbal Dispute Factual Dispute 4-13 Types of Disputes Verbal Dispute: occurs when people appear to disagree on an issue, but in actuality have simply not resolved the ambiguity of a key term. A disagreement about “The Suspect is Guilty.” Steve: Of course, he is guilty! (Steve thinks “guilty” means “the suspect has committed the crime”) Mary: No, he is not guilty yet! (Mary thinks, “guilty” means “the judge has convicted the suspect of being guilty”) They agree about the facts (they both know that the suspect has probably committed the crime and that the judge has not announced any verdict yet), they just are using a different definition of the word “guilty.” 4-14 Types of Disputes Factual Dispute: Disagreements where people actually disagree about the facts. Example O.J. killed Anna Nicole! No he didn’t! 4-15 Precise Definitions 4-16 Precise Definitions There are different types of Definitions: Stipulate Definitions Persuasive Definitions Lexical Definitions Precising Definitions 4-17 Types are Reasons for Defining Stipulative definitions: When you create a definition for a new word (or use an existing word in a new way, and set forth that new use), you have stipulated a new definition. Persuasive Definitions: Defining a term to convince someone of something (usually using emotional appeal) 4-18 Types are Reasons for Defining Lexical Definitions: state the conventional, dictionary meaning (derived from how it is commonly used). Precising Definitions: taking a vague word/phrase and clarifying what you mean by it (in a certain context) (i.e., taking a vague word and making it more precise). 4-19 Precise Definitions There are strategies for defining: Ostensive Definitions Enumerative Definitions Definitions by Subclass Etymological Definitions Synonymous Definitions Definition by Genus and Difference 4-20 Strategies for Defining Ostensive Definitions: physically identifying the definition of a word/term. Examples: These are parentheses: ( ) { } Door means this 4-21 Strategies for Defining Enumerative Definitions: listing examples of individual things that “fit” the definition: Example: “Bible-belt state” means Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and the like. Such definitions are very useful but can be misleading; someone might identify a commonality in your examples you didn’t foresee. “oh, bible-belt State” means “Southern states west of the Mississippi.” 4-22 Strategies for Defining Definition by Subclass: listing examples of classes or categories that “fit” the definition. Mammal means gorilla, horse, lion, whale, human, etc. Such definitions are very useful but can be misleading for the same reasons as above. 4-23 Strategies for Defining Etymological Definitions: definitions that articulate the history of a word’s use or its origins. 4-24 Strategies for Defining Synonymous Definitions: defining a term by giving a synonym for which the definition is known. “Loquacious means talkative.” These are helpful but sometimes imprecise; e.g., “rob” and “steal” are synonyms, but have slightly different definitions. Definition by Genus and Difference: defining a term by identifying its class and then differentiating it from other members in the class. Calf is young cow; i.e., a cow (genus) that is young (difference). 4-25 This Week’s Readings Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction 5th Edition Chapter 4 Questions??