Write a 500 word summary of this unit’s material. Number your paragraphs, transition between paragraphs (make it flow!), and organize as follows:
1 Intro to summary: What will you cover in this summary? What was this unit about? (Critical thinking etc.) How does this unit’s topic relate to the course as a whole? (As with anything we study in this course, we approach the topic Socratically, dialectically, with multiple views offered and compared on given subtopics like meaning, definition, induction, fallacies, and so on.)
2 Report on your progress in our course. Have you had experience with logic or critical thinking? Do you think these are important topics? Why?
3 Discuss how language meaning and definition are at the foundation of critical thinking and logic. For example, arguments often hinge on definitions (can you think of an example — the claim that our society is a democracy depends on how democracy is defined). And a definition is an account of meaning, so we also need to be clear on the meaning of ‘meaning’ since it turns out there are different views on what this is.
4 Offer basic definitions of critical thinking, argument, and logic. For example critical thinking is a theory that provides criteria for definition and argument; an argument is a set of claims one of which is purportedly supported by the others, with an additional tacitly indicated inferential claim that this support is such-and-such; and logic is the formal theory of deduction, or arguments based on an inferential claim that asserts necessary truth preservation.
5. One special study in critical thinking focuses on fallacies, or bad but deceptive arguments. Since not all bad arguments are deceptive, what is the additional feature that makes a bad argument deceptive? Hint: fallacies prey on psychological weaknesses. Also some fallacies are bad in a way that isn’t deductively invalid or inductively weak; circular reasoning is an example. For example, the argument John loves Mary, therefore Mary is loved by John. Explain why and what is bad about circular reasoning.
6. Concluding paragraph — Recap the points made in this summary. Next week we begin a unit on ethics. Tell me what you think ethics is. Is it about doing the right thing? Or is it about doing the most good? Have you studied ethics before? Explain
Use the following links for information:
1. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZDY81utzzU&list=PLz0n_SjOttTcjHsuebLrl0fjab5fdToui
2.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IEQDP2pYrmM
3. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ2dWrI-PTA&list=PLz0n_SjOttTcxvEUVgyvuQN0vneqO917_&index=18
The last will be attached
