UGRC 150 Critical Thinking and Practical Reasoning Lecture 1 PDF

UGRC 150: CRITICAL THINKING AND PRACTICAL REASONING Main Campus, 2023 LECTURE 1: THOUGHTS AS OBJECTS OF SCRUTINY Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi Senior Lecturer Dept of Philosophy and Classics, (Arts, Humanities, U.G)...

UGRC 150: CRITICAL THINKING AND PRACTICAL REASONING Main Campus, 2023 LECTURE 1: THOUGHTS AS OBJECTS OF SCRUTINY Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi Senior Lecturer Dept of Philosophy and Classics, (Arts, Humanities, U.G) Jan-April, 2023 [email protected]  Introduction: Critical Thinking Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 2 ( 2023)  A working definition Critical Thinking is the careful, deliberate determination of whether we should accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim and a determination of the degree of confidence with which to accept or reject it. The critical thinker is concerned about how well a belief or claim is supported by reasons(premises). Critical thinking helps to expose fallacies or errors in our reasoning. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 3 ( 2023)  Critical Thinking cont’d The critical thinker analyses (breaks- down into constituent parts) statements and arguments and then evaluates (judges) them to distinguish good (correct) from bad (incorrect) reasoning. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 4 ( 2023)  Critical Thinking cont’d The critical thinker does not ask questions, analyze or evaluate just for the sake of it. The aim is to respond to (solve) practical problems of existence. If not, then the whole act of thinking critically would be worthless. Thus, the course is Critical Thinking and Practical Reasoning. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 5 ( 2023)  Critical Thinking cont’d The course will equip you with concepts, methods, tools, principles and techniques for establishing and distinguishing logical truth (linguistic certainties) from empirical truth (observation-based contingencies). Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 6 ( 2023)  Pause to think! Critically assess the following: 1. Witness at the law court: “Jail that bachelor because with my own eyes I saw him beat his wife mercilessly. I have video evidence….” 2. Question to the rain-maker: “So will it rain tomorrow?” Rain-maker: “it will either rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow.” 3. Security officer to the boss: “She is the last person who left the office yesterday so she stole the laptop.” 4. “She is moral because she leads a morally upright life”. 5. As soon as she entered the room the lights went off. So, she caused the light-off. 6. My bachelor friend gave up his bachelors to fix bachelors. 7. The traffic was intense yesterday and the day before on that stretch, so I am not going by that route today because it will certainly be the same today. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 7 ( 2023)  Critical Thinking as topic-neutral ❖ Notice therefore that Critical Thinking is topic-neutral. That is, it transcends disciplines; cuts across disciplines; applies to all academic disciplines; every aspect of everyday life e.g. medicine, law, politics, religion, culture, military, … etc. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 8 ( 2023)  Why should we be critical thinkers? A critical thinker… 1. makes better decisions because s/he is less gullible 2. is clear about why s/he believes what s/he believes (not merely following the crowd) 3. is an effective communicator because s/he is trained to present a point of view in a clear, structured, reasoned way that convinces others; s/he can anticipate queries 4. is an invaluable problem-solver because s/he accommodates other views; examines, assesses and evaluates issues on merit. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 9 ( 2023)  Critical Thinking Skills Open mindedness Inquiring mind - (question-asking) Analytic skills Evaluative skills Communicative skills Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 10 ( 2023)  Course objectives The course aims at equipping you with concepts/tools/skills for: ✓Effective speaking; ✓Sound reasoning/analysis; ✓Conceptual clarity; ✓Recognizing, diagnosing and solving problems for the work environment and everyday life Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 11 ( 2023)  UNIT 1: SENTENCE-SHAPED THOUGHT Introduction Humans are beings that think. Our thoughts are often captured or expressed in language. Since we may never know a person’s thought exactly, we depend on what a person says to determine what s/he had in mind. So “sentence shaped thought” means our thought shaped into sentence. UNIT 1 seeks to get students to understand the need and how to subject our thoughts (and that of others) to scrutiny(study). Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 12 ( 2023)  Pause and note! As a critical thinker, say what you mean and mean what you say. For “out of the abundance of the heart (mind), the mouth speaks”. Notice the infinite regress associated with saying that you did not mean what you said. Why should I trust what you are saying now if you did not mean what you said earlier? You will only end up telling me you did not mean what you just said. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 13 ( 2023)  Unit 1: objectives At the end of Unit 1, the student will be able to ✓ distinguish a declarative from an imperative and an interrogative ✓ recognize sentence fragments and emotive expressions ✓ understand why declaratives alone have ‘truth-value’ ✓ identify the three (3) types of declaratives (statements): factual statements, value judgments and definitions ✓ distinction between sentences and statements ✓ implicit(covert) and explicit (overt) meanings of expressions (why some interrogatives are actually imperatives) Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 14 ( 2023)  Unit 1 : Topics 1. Types of sentence-shaped thought - Interrogative; imperative; declarative 2. Recognizing sentence fragment and emotive expression 3. Types of declaratives - Factual statement; value judgment; definition 4. Distinguishing a sentence from a statement Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 15 ( 2023)  Unit 1: Reading list and activity Read Unit 1 of Recommended Text – pages 4-12 Study the slides posted in resources and announcements Note open date for assessment one (week three) Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 16 ( 2023)  UNIT 1 (topic one): Interrogatives Types of sentences that express our thoughts: 1. Interrogatives-(questions) are sentences expressed to seek information. Examples: 1. Is she your mother? 2. Did Kojo travel? 3. Which group are you in? 4. Is it raining at Legon? 5. Where is the Teaching Assistant? Note: Interrogatives are neither true nor false. So, they do not have a truth-value; they are not truth bearers. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 17 ( 2023)  Imperatives 2. Imperatives-(command, request, directive, instruction): Refer to sentences expressed to get someone to perform an action. Examples: 1. Take off your cap. 2. Raise your hand 3. Pass me the cheque book 4. Could you direct me to the library? NB: notice that E.g. 4 is explicitly interrogative but implicitly imperative. The speaker politely requests someone to perform an action. Imperatives have no truth-value; are not truth bearers!! Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 18 ( 2023)  Declaratives Declarative-(statement, proposition, assertion): A sentence that conveys information which can be either true or false –(i.e. has a truth-value or is a truth bearer). Examples: 1.The exam has been cancelled. 2. Ghana has a new Speaker of Parliament. 3. A bachelor is sitting under the tree. 4. A bachelor is an unmarried adult male. 5. The bachelor has a good conscience. 6. She is a good friend. NB: Only declaratives can be either true or false (have a truth-value) Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 19 ( 2023)  Unit 1, topic 2: recognizing sentence fragments and emotive expression Sentence fragment: These are incomplete sentences; they do not express complete thought. Examples: 1. If only I got to Ajo earlier (what then?) 2. Rice and stew (what has it done?) 3. The dean of students in the university of Ghana (what has s/he done?) 4. Morning dew (what about it?) NB. Sentence fragments have no truth value; are not truth bearers. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 20 ( 2023)  Emotive expression Emotive expressions are sentences that express feelings or exclamations. Examples: 1. Oh. What a day! 2. Wow!, Brilliant!, Awesome!, Bravo! Etc 3. Hey! Who do you think you are?! NB: Emotive expressions have no basis for rational evaluation. They have no truth-value and they are not truth bearers. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 21 ( 2023)  Unit 1, topic 3: Types of declaratives: 1. factual statement There are three (3) different types of declarative sentences: factual statements, value judgments and definitions. Factual statement: informs by objectively describing what is there through sense observation. E.gs. 1. That bachelor sitting under the tree is sleeping. 2. The president is taller than his opponent. 3. The car knocked down the boy 4. Ama is a girl. 5. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. NB: A statement may be factually true or factually false. Being factual does not mean it is true. It means the truth or falsity of the statement does not depend on the subject’s view-point but on the object itself. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 22 ( 2023)  Types of declaratives: 2. value judgment Value judgment: informs by subjectively prescribing or evaluating how something or someone should or ought to be. They do not state facts about the object but rather express the view-point of the subject. E.gs. 1. That bachelor has a good conscience. 2. This knife has a good edge. 3. It is wrong to talk back at your supervisor. 4. Ama is a beautiful girl. 5. The wicked driver knocked down the innocent boy. 6. The president is more corrupt than his opponent. 7. He is a good boxer. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 23 ( 2023)  Value judgment cont’d: moral and non-moral Value judgments come in two (2) forms: 1. Moral value Judgments: (a) Abortion is evil. (b) You should not talk back at your supervisor. 2. Non-moral value Judgments (c) He is a good boxer. (d) My phone has a good screen NB: Metaphors are also another way of expressing a value judgment. E.gs. 1. Ataa is a flower ( Ataa is weak; Ataa is beautiful) 2. My M.P is Mugabe (My M.P has stayed in power for so long…) Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 24 ( 2023)  Types of declaratives: 3. definitions Definition: a definition is a sentence that informs by giving meaning (defining) to the word. E.gs.1. A bachelor is an unmarried man. 2. Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma. 3. “Even number is any number that is divisible by two without a remainder”. NB a definition can be either true or false. If the meaning is correct then it is true. If not, then it is false. Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 25 ( 2023)  Definitions cont’d: parts The parts of a definition are the definiendum and the definiens. E.g.: A bachelor is an unmarried adult male. In the definition above, a bachelor is the word being defined (i.e. the definiendum). A bachelor is an unmarried adult male. The part of the definition which gives the meaning is an unmarried adult male(i.e. the definiens). Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 26 ( 2023)  UNIT 1, topic 4: distinguishing sentence from statement A sentence is a collection of words with a complete thought or meaning but a statement is a type of sentence that can be either true or false. That means there are some other sentences which do not have a truth-value. All statements are sentences but not all sentences are statements. A sentence can be a statement, a question or a command. E.gs. of sentences that are statements: 1. Nana is a graduate. 2. That is the Vice Chancellor. E.gs. of sentences that are not statements: 1. “Sit up!” 2. Why are you crying? Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 27 ( 2023)  Recall and practice! Contrasting facts and values Refer to the recommended text references and exercises!! Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 28 ( 2023) End of lecture 1 Blessed week! Blessed week! Dr. Myles Dr. (Mrs.) Nancy Myles B. Gyamfi 29 ( 2023)