Critical Thinking

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1. What is an argument?

An argument is a reason (or reasons) which support and lead to a conclusion.

Another meaning of the word argument is a quarrel or disagreement between two or more people,
which may involve reasoning but doesn’t have to.

The words ‘therefore’ and ‘so’ are typically used before the conclusion of an argument, and are often
called argument indicators.

‘Claim’ is the right word for the statements that appear in arguments. Claims may be known as facts,
forecasts, suggestions, and opinions and may be true or false.

‘Premise’ is another word for reason. It is a more technical term and sometimes more precise. A
conclusion follows from the premises that are given in arguments.

6. Claims

A claim is a sentence that is supposedly true. Grammatically, claims usually take the form of statements.

Claims can be divided into different types:

 A true statement, is a fact.

 Claims may also express an opinion, belief or judgement. This does not mean that the claim is
neither true nor false but it will remain to be a mere opinion until there is more factual evidence
available.

 Those which are personal opinions about the value of things, showing if something is good or
bad, ugly or beautiful, for example, are value judgements
judgements.

Facts are objective: true or false regardless of what anyone thinks or knows.

 Claims can be purely opinions

opinions. It comes down to what people think or believe about something.
These claims are purely subjective. The truth is decided by each individual person who thinks
about it.

 Claims speaking about what will be happening in the future are called predictions
predictions. These may or
may not be true; there is an uncertainty about them, although some predictions are based on
strong scientific or other evidence that it is beyond reasonable doubt that they are correct.
They are usually found as the conclusion of an argument, but they are not always a conclusion.
They might also be made in support of other judgements or recommendations.

 When claims appear to be given for suggesting, advising or recommending something, they are
called recommendations
recommendations. You can recognise the conclusion of such arguments by expressions
such as should, ought to, must, and so on.

2. Recognizing arguments

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A string of claims is not automatically an argument, even though there is a strong connecting thread
between them.

To recognize an argument, we need to ask ourselves whether there are reasons and a conclusion in the
piece of text. A useful clue can be asking if any of its claims supports the other(s). We can also place
“therefore”, “so”, "thus", "hence", "as a result” or "for that reason" between two sentences and
ask ourselves if the new sentence makes sense. If it doesn’t, then there is no argument. Indicators such
as "because" and "as" precede reasons.

Although all arguments have reasons and conclusion(s), not all of them are put together in quite the
same way. There is no rule that the conclusion has to end the argument, or that it has to be introduced
by a connective (also known as indicator)

An argument that opposes another argument is a counter-argument. A counter-argument:

1. can challenge the reasons given in the original argument,

2. take a different line of reasoning

A counter -argument must not be confused with counter-claim or counter-assertions because these
challenge the main argument without providing any supporting reasons. They tend to be brief as a
result, often consisting of a phrase such as "Although many people believe X,…”

Which of the following is/are arguments?

A There has been a sharp rise in house burglary across the region and a corresponding increase in the number of electronic
alarms fitted in houses. There is good evidence that houses with alarm systems are less likely to be burgled than houses without
alarms. However, a determined burglar will not be put off by the mere sight of a box on the wall.

B Three men, Penderton, Maxwell and Deakins were charged with theft and remanded on bail. All three men were seen leaving
the house carrying bags. Maxwell and Deakins are claiming that they were nowhere near the house at the time when the burglary
took place. A trial date has not been set.

C Courts normally give a more severe sentence to someone who has a record of previous convictions. Out of the three men, who
all face the same charge, only Penderton has previously been convicted of an offence. The other two are likely to get lighter
sentences than Penderton.

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7. Conclusions

One of the most important skills in critical thinking is identifying conclusions.

The procedure for identifying conclusions is the same for both long and short arguments à To
distinguish reasons from conclusions, or main conclusions from intermediate ones you should ask
yourself: ‘Which follows from which?’ or: ‘Which make sense with therefore in front of it?’

Sometimes the conclusion of an argument is repeated, or stated in more than one way, at different
points in the argument instead of being stated in a single sentence or phrase. In this case it needs to be
summarized in the analysis.

Therefore, you must know how to summarise conclusions and how to recognize a summary of the
conclusion.

Part of the skill of critical analysis is recognising the point the author is making, even when the way it is
expressed is vague or repetitive.

1. People have suggested that shopping over the Internet is a radically new way to buy goods. However, Internet shopping is just
another version of 'mail order', so there is nothing particularly new about it. As with the mail order system, goods still have to be
delivered to the home and, if they are not suitable, returned back to the Internet company, often at one's own expense.
Therefore, Internet shopping involves many of the same features as the long-established mail order system.

Which of the following best expresses the main conclusion of the above argument?

A Internet shopping involves the same problems as the old mail-order system.

B Internet shopping is seen by many as a radically new way to buy goods.

C Internet shopping still requires the delivery of goods to the home.

D Internet shopping is just another version of the old mail order system.

E Internet shopping is not a particularly new form of shopping.

2. There is much debate among scientists about what infinity means. But they do agree that what it does not mean is that when
you keep counting forever you reach a number called ‘infinity’. Every counting number, however big, is finite. So whatever infinity
means it is not a number in the ordinary sense, because if it were you could always add 1 to it and make it bigger.

Which of the following best summarises the main conclusion of this argument?

A You can always add 1 to any number and make it bigger.

B ‘Infinity’ is not a number you reach by endlessly counting.

C If any number were infinite, you could not count to it.

D If you counted forever you would come to something that was not a number.

E Adding 1 to infinity does not make it any bigger.

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3. Tobacco companies loudly protest that their sponsorship of top-level sports does not cause anyone to start smoking and should
not therefore be banned. But statistics show that among young men who are fans of motor racing there are twice as many
smokers as there are among young men who have no interest in the sport. Since motor racing is heavily reliant on tobacco
sponsorship, it is obvious that the two are connected. Motor racing is very glamorous and the drivers are natural role models for
young males. So it stands to reason that if the cars they drive have the logos of well-known cigarette brands on the side, their
impressionable fans will think it is stylish to smoke.

Which of the following best expresses the main conclusion of the above argument?

A Sponsorship of sport by cigarette companies does not cause people to smoke.

B Young men are more impressionable than other sectors of the population.

C Sponsorship by tobacco companies ought to be banned.

D There is a clear connection between smoking and tobacco sponsorship of motor racing.

E It stands to reason that young men who watch motor racing will be encouraged to smoke.

4. As the wealth of a country grows, the number of people wanting to get a university education may increase, because people
think that with a higher academic qualification they will get a better job. Governments which want to be fair to all respond by
allowing universities to accept more and more students. But this policy is not sensible in that it does not benefit all individuals.
Not all of those who want to go to university can benefit from it because people's talents differ. We can't all be great musicians or
great footballers. Similarly, a university education does not suit everyone.

Which of the following best expresses the conclusion of the above argument?

A People have differing talents and aptitudes.

B Some people who go to university do not benefit from it.

C It is unfair to exclude some people from university education.

D It is not true that higher academic qualifications lead to better jobs.

E It is not sensible to keep increasing the number of university students.

4. Analyzing arguments

Before you can respond critically to an argument, you should be able to recognize its structure by
looking in the way in which the reason supports the conclusion.

Unpacking’ arguments à Often, the word ‘unpack’ describes what you do to an argument when you
‘Unpacking’
identify its parts and its structure. Another word which means the same is ‘analyze’.

The first thing to do is to identify each of the claims made in the argument and to sort them out into
reasons and conclusion. Part of the job of unpacking is to identify each of the individual claims and list
them separately.

How the reasons work: Reasons give support to a conclusion, but there are various ways in which they
can do this:

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a) When the reasons works independently of each other, each gives support to the conclusion; and if
one of them is removed, the conclusion would still have the support of the other.

b) When the reasons work together and depend on each other, if one of the reasons were shown to be
untrue, the whole argument would collapse.

reasons:: There may be a mixture of reasons that work in combination

Arguments with more than two reasons
and reasons that work independently. What is important is that you recognize the conclusion and the
main reasons and that you are satisfied that you understand the argument and can explain it clearly.

People should not be so ready to spend their money on bottled mineral water. On a number of occasions there have been health
alerts about the chemicals found in bottled water. It is absurdly expensive. And tap-water, which is free, is improving in quality all
the time.

Analyse the argument, showing which are the reasons and which the conclusion.

By making violence real in the cinema, you show people how horrific its consequences are, and put them off acting violently
themselves. Hard violence on screen may not therefore be as harmful to society as many people claim. It’s the soft, light-hearted
treatment, where fighting is depicted as glamorous, which encourages people to be aggressive. These films are the ones that
should be banned, not those that depict real brutality.

Analyse the above argument using words and/or a diagram.

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5. More complex arguments

Though several arguments have one conclusion only, there are those which are more complex. These
have reasons which can lead to an intermediate conclusion, and therefore support the main conclusion
indirectly. The intermediate conclusion works as well as a direct reason to the main conclusion of the
argument. The reasons, indirect or direct, can work jointly or independently.
argument

Complex arguments, where one argument links to another, can be called chain of reasoning.

A useful strategy for unpacking complex arguments can be working the argument backwards:

1. First, the main conclusion should be identified,

2. Then the reasons that support the main conclusion and,
3. Later on look for intermediate conclusions
4. Finally, look for the reasons that support the intermediate conclusion.

(First) Conclusion ß (then) Direct Reasons ß (then) Reasons for the Reasons

Sometimes when you unpack an argument you find there are parts you find of the text that do not seem
to be reasons or conclusions. In fact they do not seem to belong to the argument at all. These parts
help put the argument into context, introduce it, or give the background information for it.

Thoroughly unpacking an argument is the surest way to get a thorough understanding of it. It also gives
you the best chance of responding to it appropriately. When you see its parts laid out for inspection,
and the links between them, you can quickly spot strengths, gaps, etc., which may not be at all obvious
when the argument is wrapped up in ordinary, everyday language.

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3. Responding to arguments

Critical thinking means looking at the reasoning and asking:: “Who came up with a better argument?”

What is a good argument? There is no single answer.

 Perhaps it is one that it is difficult to argue against

 Perhaps it is one that has a number of strong reasons to support it
 Arguments are not the kind of thing that is either true or false. The statements or claims made
in the argument may be true or false but not the argument itself. However, if the claims are
known to be true, they strengthen the argument and help to make it a better argument.
 Deciding whose argument is better is really a matter of whether the pros outweigh the cons
cons, or
vice versa.
 If you refute an argument, you show it to be wrong. You have to do more than just disagree.
Coming up with a counter-claim is one way to attempt a refutation.
 Another way to refute an argument is to find fault with the reasoning itself, to expose a flaw or
mistake in it.

A key skill in critical thinking is considering how good, strong or effective an argument is. This is called
evaluation. Many arguments are very weak when you come to examine them carefully.

Conclusions: E, B, D, E.