Lesson Overview

To improve your ability to think effectively, start making it a habit to present your decisions using an argument structure from critical thinking (CT).

Rationale: Increase your satisfaction. Get better results.

Argument (Definition)

In CT, an argument is a conclusion or claim plus one or more statements called (reasons or reasoning) that justify or prove why you or anyone else should accept the conclusion.

Examples of Arguments

Claim: We should go to Hawaii this year. Reasoning: We like Hawaii and we haven’t been their for awhile.

Conclusion: The answer to the problem is 5. Reasoning: According to the Pythagorean theorem, the answer is the square root of (9 + 16) which is 5.

Claim: The government should mandate electric cars. Reasoning: They are better for the environment.

Claim: The government should not mandate electric cars. Reasoning: Government mandates impinge on freedom of choice. Electric cars are too expensive. This discriminates against lower income families.

Conclusion: The defendant is guilty. Reasoning: The defendant’s DNA was found at the crime scene. Phone records show that the defendant drove by the crime scene 11 times prior to the crime; this indicates staking.

Claim: Everyone should drink 2L of water per day. Reasoning: This promotes good health.

Claim: The diameter of the earth is 4000 km. Reasoning: This is what my teacher said. My teacher is usually right.

Using the Argument Structure (How To)

List your conclusion. Then, list the reasons why you or anyone else should accept your conclusion. You can do this is any order; that is, the conclusion can come last. You can number your reasons.

Feeling and emotions are natural and inevitable. Let them come out, observe them, but don’t let them change what the facts are telling you.

If reasons don’t come to you easily, this is normal. Don’t rush this. Let the reasons reveal themselves.

Writing things down is really useful.

Slowly start trying to improve the quality of your arguments.

Quality in an Argument

A high quality argument maximizes the probability of the following two outcomes.

1. The argument provides an accurate view of reality.

2. The course-of-action, if any, suggested by the claim represent the best course of action.

Learning to make high-quality arguments is a life long endeavor. However, one can and should get started with this from day one of learning CT. To this end, here are some things that enhance the quality of an argument.

1. The facts used for the reasoning are true.

2. The facts used for the reasoning are relevant to the conclusion.

3. All facts relevant to the conclusion are brought out. Facts are not cherry picked.

4. The argument is largely free of feelings and emotions. “Just the facts,” as the detective said.