PHI 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Co-Premise, Critical Thinking, Canadian Tire

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Devin Shaw

Document Summary

Critical thinking as evaluation of beliefs and actions: for problem solving, decision making and persuasion, we will largely look at arguments, both good and bad, as a guide for evaluating our beliefs and actions. Family, school, friends, media, science, country, religion, etc. Each social institution has its own history, which is nonetheless related to the others. What these things tell you might shift over time. You need tools to assess your argument to determine what is morally right or wrong. Three tasks: define the concept of an argument, learn to recognize arguments, introduce some standard terms, what is an argument. You say, that"s not so specific : let"s try this, the conclusion is what the speaker wants the audience to accept, the premises state reasons for the audience to accept that conclusion. Premises provide reasons (evidence, grounds) for believing that the conclusion is true. From premises to conclusions : inference: the process of reasoning from premises to conclusion.