JOSEPH NDUDA
Title: Critical thinking
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Summary
Introduction
1. Critical thinking
1.1. Definitions
1.2. Basic principles of critical thinking
1.2.1. Being skeptic
1.2.2. Avoiding bias
1.3. Composite skills
1.4. Importance of critical thinking
1.5. Critical thinking and scientific method
2. Logic
2.1. Definition
2.2. Purpose
3. Sentence and Statement
3.1. Sentence
3.1.1. Definition
3.1.2. Ambiguity
3.2. Statement
3.3. Difference between sentence and statement
4. Argument
4.1. Definition
4.2. Characteristics of arguments
4.2.1. Premises
4.2.2. Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction
The objective of this course was to understand what is critical thinking and its derived concepts. The main of there are:
- Logic
- Sentence
- Statement
- Argument
- Conclusion
The following texts explain clearly these concepts.
1. Critical thinking
1.1. Definitions
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action (AIU, 2019).

Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment (Wikipedia, Critical thinking, 2019).

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking (Lau & Chan, what is critical thinking ?, 2004-2019). A critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and he knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of information to inform himself (Lau & Chan, what is critical thinking ?, 2004-2019). Critical thinking can help us acquire knowledge, improve our theories, and strengthen arguments (Lau & Chan, what is critical thinking ?, 2004-2019).

Critical thinking requires following the rules of logic and rationality (Lau & Chan, what is critical thinking ?, 2004-2019).
Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:
• understand the logical connections between ideas
• identify, construct and evaluate arguments
• detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
• solve problems systematically
• identify the relevance and importance of ideas
• reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values


1.2. Basic principles of critical thinking
• such as the laws of logic, and
• the methods of scientific reasoning,

Larry Larson (1994) had proposed 11 principles that should have a critical thinker.
1. Gather complete information.
2. Understand and define all terms.
3. Question the methods by which the facts are derived.
4. Question the conclusions.
5. Look for hidden assumptions and biases.
6. Question the source of facts.
7. Don’t expect all of the answers.
8. Examine the big picture.
9. Examine multiple cause and effect.
10. Watch for thought stoppers.
11. Understand your own biases and values.
Tonkin (2017) highlights 2 principles that we find very important:

1.2.1. Being skeptic
The doubt is on the top of principles. A critical thinker doesn’t accept anything without analyzes. This is because critical thinkers cannot just accept ideas as facts without having all the information to process and find logic in (Tonkin, 2017). Here, we understand that the critical thinking needs information by the research.

For making a good critical thinking we need information. This is a point that makes relationship with research.

1.2.2. Avoiding bias
A critical thinker must not allow personal, pre-conceived ideas to cloud their judgment. They must gather as much evidence as possible to reach an informed, rational and concise level of understanding (Tonkin, 2017).

1.3. Composite skills
As such, there are at least seven composite skills involved in critical thinking across multiple disciplines: observing, problem-finding, connecting, flexible thinking, comparing and contrasting, evaluating, and interpreting (BUTCHER, LARSON, & LANE, 2019, p. 3).

About observing, Authors say that it is important to support ideas by a good documentation for reflecting evidence in rigorous and systematic ways.

1.4. Importance of critical thinking
The importance of critical thinking skills in research is therefore huge, without which researchers may even lack the confidence to challenge their own assumptions (Academy, 2018).

1.5. Critical thinking and scientific method
Critical thinking, that is the mind’s ability to analyze claims about the world, is the intellectual basis of the scientific method. The scientific method can be viewed as an extensive, structured mode of critical thinking that involves hypothesis, experimentation and conclusion (Neuffer, 2017).

Critical thinking is the point when the mind turns in opposition to an accepted truth and begins analyzing its underlying premises (Neuffer, 2017). The scientific method, because it has a series of specific steps and actions to take, creates a way to think critically (Unknown, Critical Thinking & Scientif Methode : Intro to Psychology, 2019).

2. Logic
2.1. Definition
Logic may be defined as the organized body of knowledge, or science, that evaluates arguments (Hurley, 2015, p. 23).

2.2. Purpose
The aim of logic is to develop a system of methods and principles that we may use as criteria for evaluating the arguments of others and as guides in constructing arguments of our own (Hurley, 2015, p. 23). The purpose of logic, as the science that evaluates arguments, is thus to develop methods and techniques that allow us to distinguish good arguments from bad.

3. Sentence and Statement
3.1. Sentence
3.1.1. Definition
A sentence is a group of words that are put together to mean something. A sentence is the basic unit of language which expresses a complete thought. It does this by following the grammatical basic rules of syntax. (computer, 2019). Sentences are grammatical entities. Not all sentences express statements and some sentences may express more than one statement (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 1).

3.1.2. Ambiguity
All too frequently, the same occurrence of the same sentence could be used to express different statements. When a sentence can express more than one statement, and we cannot determine which statement the author of the sentence intended to express, the sentence is ambiguous (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 2).

3.1.2.1. Semantical ambiguity
Semantical ambiguity occurs when a word or phrase has more than one meaning.

3.1.2.2. Referential ambiguity
Referential ambiguity occurs when a noun or pronoun could refer to two or more different individuals and context does not allow us to determine which.
Note: Faulty reasoning due to semantical or referential ambiguity is equivocation .
Unknown gives two examples to explain the referential ambiguity.
Example about noun:
The word “man” can mean human race or male considering female.
Example about pronoun
• John and Mary took the exam, but he failed. This sentence is unambiguous because He replaces John. It is very clear.
• John and Bill took the exam, but he failed. This one is ambiguous. Here we don’t know what the pronoun “he” is referenced. In case of doubt, the speaker can clarify his assertion. When the speaker is absent to explain his assertion, sometimes the context will permit a clarification. In other cases, judgment simply must be reserved (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 3).

3.1.2.3. Syntactical ambiguity
Syntactical ambiguity occurs when the structure of a sentence allows more than one interpretation of that sentence (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 3).
Syntactical ambiguity is called “Lexical Ambiguity” too (yourdictionary, 2019).
Syntactic ambiguity, also called structural ambiguity,[1] amphiboly or amphibology, is a situation where a sentence may be interpreted in more than one way due to ambiguous sentence structure (Wikipedia, Syntactic Ambiguity, 2019). Note: Faulty reasoning due to syntactical ambiguity is called amphiboly.
Syntactic ambiguity pushes someone to figure out more. The flaw here is that we can give more interpretations for a sentence.
Example
Call me a taxi, please.
Is the speaker asking someone to hail them a taxi or to be called a taxi?

There is a presentation on employment opportunities in the gym.
Due to the grammatical construction of the sentence, one cannot tell if the employment opportunities are in the gym, or the presentation is in the gym (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 3).

3.2. Statement
A statement is a sentence that is either true or false (Hurley, 2015, p. 24).
A human judge a sentence true or false compared is believes.
Statements are logical entities (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 1).

3.3. Difference between sentence and statement
Different sentences can be used to express the same statement.
• Joseph had eaten beans.
• Beans have been eaten by Joseph.
All statement is a sentence but a sentence is not necessarily a statement.
Example:
- Socrates is a man.
This is a statement because it is true that Socrates is a man. We distinguish a statement compared to believe.
Example:
- Are you a man?
This sentence is not a statement.
4. Argument
4.1. Definition
An argument, in its simplest form, is a group of statements, one or more of which (the premises) are claimed to provide support for, or reasons to believe, one of the others (the conclusion) (Hurley, 2015, p. 23).

An argument is a set of at least two statements, one of which is the conclusion of the argument, and the rest of which are premises offered in support of the conclusion (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 4). An argument is objective. It is not dependent upon the person who thought of it. Once expressed in speech, it can be repeated. Once written, it can be circulated to all. Feelings, intuitions, hunches, even revelations, lack that objective quality (Unknown, Sentences, Statements and Arguments, 2019, p. 4).

4.2. Characteristics of arguments
An argument must consist of at least two statements.

4.2.1. Premises
There are also terms, which indicate premises. Some of these are:
• since
• because
• for
• in light of
• in view of
• as shown by.

4.2.2. Conclusion
One and only one statement will be the conclusion.
Some conclusion indicators are:
• so
• therefore
• consequently
• as a result
• thus
• hence
• accordingly
• it follows that.

Note: expressions of arguments do not always contain indicator words. In this case, we must rely on context and relations of support to identify premises and conclusion. It is important to remember that the informative use of language is not limited to the expression of arguments. Description, explication, and narration are a few of the other uses.

Conclusion Critical thinking is useful to form a judgment. It is important for any career. It is important for solving problems and taking decisions. The critical thinking is based on the logic to accept or to refuse an idea. It is a possibility to analyze an idea. This analyze is much based on the logic. Logic is important to construct the best sound arguments for own and to evaluate the arguments of others. Logic is linked with writing.

The fundament of logic is argument that is a set of statements that are composed by premises and conclusion. An argument is important to prove or explain an idea. The critical thinking accepts the doubt that is the possibility to not accept something without verification. It needs also the research-minded. But there is a difference between critical thinking with the research. The common point between critical thinking with research is that we need facts or observations before analyzing. In other words critical thinking helps us to interpret data in the research.

Bibliography
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