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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.