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CHAPTER

1

Critical thinking and problem solving

1.1

Understanding argument 1: basic aspects

Understanding an argument means to set a chain of reasoning in support of a precise

conclusion. It is necessary to distinguish arguments from mere opinions, disagree-

ments or disputes. Everyone tends to support his own opinion, defending it in the

marketplace of ideas, so it’s interest of all being skilful and accurate reasoners and

using valid arguments in support to a certain conclusion.

1.1.1

Argument

An argument is a short passage of prose that usually contains a

conclusion

and the

evidence

(reasons) supporting it. The evidence is presented in one or more

premises

(statements) that appear plausible within the context of the argument. A conclusion

is often expressed at the end of the passage or at the beginning, and its

validity

de-

pends upon: i) the truth of the premises, including any

assumptions

that the reader

is expected to take for granted, and ii) the soundness of the reasoning from the evi-

dence to the conclusion. In order to read an argument in a “critical” way we have to

make the following activities:

• analysis

: identifying the key parts of a text and reconstructing it in a way that fully

and fairly captures its meaning;

• evaluation

: judging how successful a text is, for example, how well an argument

supports its conclusion or how strong some piece of evidence is for a claim it is

supposed to support; detecting flaws, recognising weaknesses and strengths;

• inference

: drawing reliable conclusions, and recognising unsafe ones by presenting

a reasoned case for or against the claims it makes.

The skills of analysing and assessing arguments are of huge importance, especially

in situations where the consequences of poor reasoning are very serious. Most of the

questions are based on a short piece of text with multiple choice answers, though

sometimes a single word or numerical answer is required.

1.1.2

Conclusion, evidence and assumptions

• The conclusion

is a judgement based on reasoning from premises; the following

words are indicators: therefore, consequently, in summary, so, hence, infer, shows,

should, will.

• The evidence

is the knowledge required to support the conclusion; the following

words are indicators: obviously, because, for example, in support of, due to, since,

as a result of.