Critical Thinking, Reasoning and Argumentation
What the domain tests
Critical thinking tests whether you can reconstruct arguments, assess inference and avoid manipulation. You need to separate premises from conclusions and distinguish validity from truth.
Core rules and concepts
- An argument gives reasons (premises) for a conclusion. Deductive arguments aim at validity: if premises are true, conclusion must be true. Soundness = validity plus true premises. Inductive arguments are strong or weak, not valid in the same sense.
- Identify the conclusion, hidden premises and quantifiers (all, some, most). Use counterexamples to test universal claims.
- Common fallacies: ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, slippery slope, appeal to popularity, appeal to authority, circular reasoning and hasty generalisation.
- Necessary and sufficient conditions are easily confused. All A are B does not mean all B are A.
Worked example. If we allow students to choose some modules, they will demand to choose all modules, then standards will collapse. Reasoning: this is a slippery slope. The conclusion is standards will collapse; the premise is allow some choice. The causal chain is asserted, not evidenced. A counterexample may show systems with partial choice and stable standards. The argument also offers a false dilemma: either no choice or collapse.
Traps that cost marks
- Attacking the speaker instead of the claim.
- Treating a popular belief as evidence.
- Confusing explanation with justification.
- Ignoring the difference between correlation and cause.