CRITICAL THINKING FINAL

"'Affirmative action' means a policy or practice that advantages women and/or minorities and unjustly discriminates against white males." This is an example of a:

Persuasive definition

Legislators in Texas want to make it a criminal offense for citizens not to use seat belts when they drive. Mark my words: If they get away with this, it won't be long before they ban beer drinking and cigarette smoking. Then they will restrict our intake of cholesterol, perhaps setting up cholesterol testing sites along major highways. We must not let this infringement of our liberties get started, or there will be no stopping it.

Slippery slope

Some people advocate lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. I oppose that. If we lower the drinking age to eighteen, why not sixteen? And if sixteen, why not twelve? Pretty soon, we would have a roomful of drunks in third grade!

Slippery slope

The emotive force of a word is the appeal it makes to a readers' or listener's feelings, desires and needs.

True

The fact that one thing is regularly followed by another is sometimes reason to think that one is the cause of the other.

True

The following sentence is a statement: "Marijuana should be legalized."

True

An argument with a missing premise or conclusion is called

an enthymeme

Either you're with us or you're against us. And if you're against us then we will bomb you back to the Stone Age. So you'd better be with us.

false alternatives

When I asked Ned, "Are you a mute or just dumb as a stick?" he replied, "You know I ain't mute." I'm glad Ned has the courage to admit he was short-changed for brains.

false alternatives

No one objects to a lawyer looking up a legal case during a trial. Why, then, shouldn't students be permitted to look up an answer during an exam?

hasty generalization

ABC News reported that the mayor of Toledo was killed in a plane crash today. Given the credibility of the source, the story is probably true.

no fallacy

An argument can be refuted by showing:

that an essential premise, or critical group of premises, is false or dubious

Two premises are linked if:

the omission of one of the premises would weaken or cancel the amount of support provided by the other

Green tea is leafy, green, aromatic, and tastes great as an iced or hot beverage. Marijuana is also leafy, green, and aromatic. Therefore, marijuana tastes great as an iced or hot beverage, too.

weak analogy

________ is the general term given to a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual dispositions needed to effectively identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims, to discover and overcome personal preconceptions and biases, to formulate and present convincing reasons in support of conclusions, and to make reasonable, intelligent decisions about what to believe and what to do.

Critical Thinking

An argument's _______ are those that are necessary to support the argument's conclusion.

Critical premises

Critical thinking is marked by: a. clarity b. completeness c. consistency d. all of the above

D, all of the above

Uncritical thinkers tend to: a. be close-minded and resist criticisms of beliefs and assumptions b. think illogically and draw unsupported conclusions from evidence and data c. base beliefs on mere personal preference or self-interest d. all of the above

D, all of the above

In evaluating the sufficiency of an argument's supporting premises, it is important to ask:

Does the argument omit any crucial countervailing evidence?

"What time is it?" is an example of a statement.

False

Changing the subject is always fallacious.

False

Clarity is the same thing as precision.

False

Conformism is the tendency to see one's culture or group as being better than others.

False

Every attack on someone's motive is logically fallacious.

False

For one statement to be relevant to another, it must be true.

False

From a critical thinking standpoint, an argument can be a good argument even if it is seriously lacking in clarity, precision, relevance, and completeness.

False

If a person poses a false choice between two options, A and B, then she commits the fallacy of false alternatives, even if she doesn't put forward an argument that includes the false choice.

False

In the red herring fallacy, a key term is used in two or different senses in the same argument.

False

Self-interested thinking is the tendency to see one's own group (nation, tribe, sect, peer groups, etc.) as being inherently better than others.

False

Statement A is negatively relevant to statement B if Statement A provides no evidence for statement B.

False

The following argument commits the fallacy of appeal to ignorance: "No one has ever seen Billie Jenkins ride his bike to school. So, probably Billy Jenkins rarely if ever rides his bike to school."

False

The following commits the fallacy of straw man: The glass is half empty because it's half full.

False

The following passage illustrates the fallacy of false alternatives: "No one really knows for sure what happens to us when we die. But there is one thing we do know for sure: Either there is a life after death or there is not a life after death."

False

The following sentence is a statement: "Who let the dogs out?"

False

The following sentence is an argument: "The dog is barking because the ice cream truck is coming."

False

To refute an argument is to challenge or criticize it.

False

Words such as "excessive," "inappropriate," and "unreasonable" are primarily ambiguous.

False

The most important questions to ask in assessing the logic of an argument are:

If the argument is deductive, does the conclusion follow necessarily from the premises? Are the premises relevant to the conclusion? Are the premises, if true, sufficient to support the conclusion?

That ultraconservative fundamentalist religious creationist website said that there is no good evidence for evolution. Therefore, evolution must be false.

Inappropriate appeal to authority; the cited source is not an authority on the subject.

Wierdthings.com reported that 100-foot-tall aliens from the future landed in the Grand Canyon today. I guess we're not alone in the universe.

Inappropriate appeal to authority; the claim is false or improbable on its face and the reliability of the source is questionable

___________ should be omitted from argument diagrams.

Logically irrelevant statements Redundant statements

We shouldn't let gays get married. If we do, before you know it, people will be marrying their brothers and sisters, animals, plants, multiple people, inanimate objects— it will be chaos. It will be a mockery of marriage. We can't let that happen.

Slippery slope

The classic 1950s experiment in which students were asked to match a standard line with three comparison lines in order to test the power of peer pressure was conducted by:

Solomon Asch

An argument in which each step is numbered, premises are stated above the conclusion(s) they are alleged to support, and justifications are provided for each conclusion in the argument is said to be in

Standard logical form

Consider these two statements. (Statement one): I think it would be great if God exists. (Statement two): God exists. How are these statements relevant to one another?

Statement one is logically irrelevant to statement two.

Consider these two statements. (Statement one): Sandra is a billionaire. (Statement two): Sandra owns a very small home. How are these statements relevant to one another?

Statement one is negatively relevant to statement two.

"'Blanker' means someone who sends holiday cards without signatures or personalized messages." This is an example of a:

Stipulative definition

"Passed on" is a euphemism for "died."

True

"That is why," "which shows that," and "for this reason" are common conclusion indicators.

True

'Philosophy' comes from two Greek words meaning 'the love of wisdom'" is an example of an etymological definition.

True

A bandwagon argument is an argument that illegitimately plays on a person's desire to be popular, valued or accepted.

True

A deductive argument can be a poor argument even if it is logically valid.

True

A fallacy is an argument that contains a mistake in reasoning.

True

A good paraphrase is clear, concise, accurate, and charitable.

True

An argument is a claim put forward and defended with reasons.

True

An enumerative definition is a definition that assigns a meaning to a word by listing some or all of the members of the class to which the word refers.

True

Every argument consists of at least two statements.

True

From a critical thinking standpoint, an argument can be a good argument even if it lacks literary or rhetorical merit.

True

Generally, we should be cautious about accepting a claim on authority if it comes from a source who is speaking outside his or her area of expertise.

True

Irrelevant statements should not be included in argument diagrams.

True

Many arguments do not contain any indicator words.

True

One common form of sociocentrism is group bias.

True

One of the watchwords of critical thinkers is to never believe more strongly than the evidence warrants.

True

Ought imperatives are statements.

True

Rhetorical questions are statements.

True

Since, because, and thus are common premise indicators.

True

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to all or virtually all members of the group, often without regard to whether such attributions are accurate.

True

The following argument commits the fallacy of false alternatives: On my 21st birthday, I can either get drunk or smoke crack. I don't like drinking, so I guess I'll have to smoke crack.

True

Consider the following argument: "There's nothing wrong with paying for one movie and then sneaking in to see a second movie for free. What theaters charge for popcorn and soda is highway robbery." What fallacy does this argument commit?

Two wrongs make a right

No one has proved that the lost continent of Atlantis doesn't exist. Therefore, the lost continent of Atlantis probably does exist.

appeal to ignorance

Consider the following argument: "Billy-Ray Hoggerty's book Stoned in Muskogee should be awarded this year's Pulitzer Prize for literature. Billy-Ray, as you know, recently lost both his parents, and his favorite coon-dog got run over by a hay-bailer." What fallacy does this argument commit?

appeal to pity

Consider the following argument: "Dipsy O'Neill has recently argued that drinking a little red wine with dinner is good for one's health. But no one should accept O'Neill's argument. O'Neill, as you know, is the owner of O'Neill's Wines and Spirits. Naturally she'd love to see people buy more wine." What fallacy does this argument commit?

attacking the motive

The __________ fallacy occurs when an arguer appeals to a person's desire to be popular, accepted, or valued, rather than to logically relevant reasons or evidence.

bandwagon

The fallacy of __________ occurs when an arguer states or assumes as a premise the very thing he or she is seeking to prove as a conclusion.

begging the question

Self-interested thinking is a form of:

egocentrism

I was six years old and an only child, and I yearned to have a dog for a pet. My parents got me a cocker spaniel. I was happy beyond words. I named the dog Pooch, but as it turned out, I should have called him Lout, Thug, or Stinker. That dog was perfectly awful—vicious, disobedient, pathologically territorial, and it refused to be housebroken. I learned my lesson the hard way: cocker spaniels make dreadful pets. Don't even think about getting one.

hasty generalization

Most Hollywood movie stars believe in reincarnation. I know because I read it in a British tabloid.

inappropriate appeal to authority

The famous novelist Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World and other great works of fiction, held that near-sightedness can be corrected by eye exercises. Given the opinion of so eminent a person as Huxley, we may be confident that near-sightedness can indeed be corrected by eye exercises.

inappropriate appeal to authority

The Flat Earth Society says that the Earth is a flat circle, with the North Pole at the center and giant mountains of ice around the circumference to keep boats and planes from going off the edge. So I guess the earth is flat after all.

inappropriate appeal to authority; source's claim conflicts with expert opinion and reliability of the source is questionable

Jen went into that house that everyone says is haunted last night. She had consumed a few beers and had just watched a scary movie. It was really dark and there was lots of lightning outside, and she swears she saw something spooky in the master bedroom once when the lightning struck. I'm telling you that house is haunted.

inappropriate appeal to authority; the accuracy of the source's observation is questionable

My dentist says that the First Amendment established a strict separation of church and state. My dentist is a highly educated person. So, that is a reasonable way to interpret the First Amendment.

inappropriate appeal to authority; the source is presumably not an authority on the subject

Dear Professor Lott: I can't believe you took off points from my paper because it contained numerous spelling errors. You sea, I always spell-check whatever eye right, sew I no my writings contain know spelling errors.

inconsistency

The correct answer to this math problem is either four or six. I also know that the correct answer is a prime number. I'm going with four.

inconsistency

Your accusation that I am a verbose windbag is completely unfounded. I've never uttered a sentence in my life that contained more than twelve words.

inconsistency

Consider the following argument: "My opponent in this election doesn't deserve your vote. He's a liar, a confessed tax cheat, and he's twice been convicted of spying for Albania." What fallacy does this argument commit?

no fallacy

Tabloid headline: UFOs: Extraterrestrials or Demons?

no fallacy

The Pew Forum, a respected polling organization, released a poll in which they surveyed a random selection of the millennial generation (those born after 1981) and found that they are less religiously active than those from the previous few generations. The poll is probably accurate.

no fallacy

There hasn't been a president for 100 years that wasn't a Republican or a Democrat. Therefore it is likely that the next president will be a Republican or a Democrat.

no fallacy

Two years ago I drank a Pond Water Lite beer, and the beer was watery and tasteless. Six months ago I drank a Pond Water Lite beer, and the beer was watery and tasteless. Two weeks ago I drank a Pond Water Lite beer, and the beer was watery and tasteless. I guess all Pond Water Lite beers are watery and tasteless.

no fallacy

"'Ampersand' means this: &." This is an example of a(n):

ostensive definition

A(n) __________ is a detailed restatement of a passage using different words and phrases.

paraphrase

Consider the following argument: "I'm sure you're all aware that Paula Zapperstein has argued that we need a new school gymnasium. What you may not be aware of is that Ms. Zapperstein is a convicted drug dealer. Clearly, Ms. Zapperstein's argument should be consigned to the trash bin." What fallacy does this argument commit?

personal attack

Consider the following argument: "Richard Dawkins argues that evolution is true. But he's a godless atheist who can't be trusted. Therefore, his arguments for evolution must be faulty." What fallacy does this argument commit?

personal attack

"'Wine' means a delectable drink, made from fermented grapes, that elevates the mind, frees the tongue, and warms the heart." This is an example of a:

persuasive definition

A couple of weeks ago, I received a chain letter that said bad luck would come my way if I did not send the letter on to at least 10 people I knew. I mumbled something about superstitious nonsense and threw the letter away. Bad move! The very next day I was attacked by a Rottweiler, got dumped by my girlfriend, and was fired from my job. Once is enough. You can bet that next time I get a chain letter, I will do exactly what it says.

questionable cause

Every time I've gone to the concession stand for a beer the basketball team has gone on a scoring streak. Hmm, two minutes to go and the team is trailing by six. I guess it's about time for a beer.

questionable cause

Consider the following argument: "Mr. Special Prosecutor, I'm sure you'll agree these charges against me are completely groundless. If you continue to pursue this investigation, it may be necessary to order the IRS to audit your taxes." What fallacy does this argument commit?

scare tactics

We may have good reason to doubt the credibility of a source if

the source is not a genuine expert or authority on the topic he or she is discussing the issue is not one that can be settled by expert opinion

Consider the following argument: "Steve told me I should lose some weight. But he weighs like 300 pounds. What a hypocrite." What fallacy does this argument commit?

there is no fallacy committed by this argument

A ______________ occurs when disputants appear to disagree on an issue when they in fact have simply not resolved the ambiguity of a key term.

verbal dispute