DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS AND PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

PHL 205: CRITICAL THINKING AND

PRACTICAL REASONING
CHAPTER ONE

TITLE
CRITICAL THINKING AND CLEAR WRITING.
Meaning of Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is employed in our daily affairs. Consider any instance that
you have been faced with a practical problem that you need to find a solution
to it. The thought processes that you will go through to provide solution(s) to
the problem is an engagement of critical thinking.

• For example, consider meeting two people fighting/quarrelling. Any

attempt to resolve the cause or problem responsible for the fight will
require that you employ critical thinking skills.

• On this note, we must understand that the definition of critical thinking is

in the practice.
Meaning (cont’d)
 Core critical thinking skills

1. Interpretation: it is when one understands a state of affairs to make a decision

2. Analysis: it is when one looks at the actual and intended relationships in a state of
affairs.

3. Inference: it is when one draws a credible conclusion in a given state of affairs.

4. Evaluation: it is when one assesses a state of affairs to make a credible judgment.

5. Explanation: it is when one gives a cogent and coherent presentation or reasons

for a state of affairs

6. Self-regulation: it is a conscious monitoring of one’s thought processes.

Meaning (cont’d)
 When you consider the above listed skills and the explanations given, you will
realise that in the ‘fighting’ example that you were to imagine, there will by all
means be a case that you will employ some of these skills to resolve whatever
issue that caused the fight.

 That is why we said that the definition of critical thinking is in the practice.

 Consider this definition and examine it well- According to Myers (2003),

“critical thinking is the practice of examining assumptions, discerning hidden
values, evaluating evidence and assessing conclusions.”
Meaning (cont’d)
Activity

 Kindly go and take a second look at the core critical thinking skills that we
enumerated above.

 Also look at the definition of Myers (2003) also enumerated above.

 Do you see any similarity between them? If you look closely, you will
realize that the core skills have been used in the definition.

 Try to write your own definition and let us see.

Relevance of Critical Thinking
 With the definition and the meaning of critical thinking that we have looked at, will
you say that critical thinking is an important course to study?

 I am sure your answer is yes! Let us then look at some of the importance of critical
thinking;

1. It promotes creativity: the ability to come out with a new idea.

2. It is relevant for self-examination: helps one to be able to reflect on her own values.

3. It is used in science and governance

4. It promotes racial, political and religious tolerance

5. It improves language and presentation skills.

Clear Writing
 This is where you are supposed to know the various ingredients or elements to
use in order to present your thoughts and what you have learnt in a written
form.

 Clear writing is the ability to present information in a written form for easy
understanding.

 Elements of Clear Writing

1. Correctness: the use of good grammar, spelling and punctuation.

2. Clarity: appropriate use of sentences and words.

3. Conciseness: be economical with words and avoid repetitions.

Clear Writing cont’d

4. Coherence: it is the logical flow of write ups.

5. Control: the unity of all the ideas put together.

Importance of clear writing

1. Helps to communicate effectively

2. Makes the meaning of our writing clear

3. It does not make our readers confused

Sentences
 BASIC CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

This session basically deals with sentences and the role they play in
communication

What is a sentence?

It is a group or set of words put together which has a subject and a predicate for the
purposes of making a meaning.

You must note that in critical thinking, a sentence must make a meaning.

We shall now look at types of sentences. Please pay particular attention to the
types.
Sentences (cont’d)
 Types of Sentences

1. Interrogative sentence: it asks a question. Eg. How are you?

2. Imperative sentence: it expresses a command. Eg. Sit down!

3. Declarative sentence: it is a sentence that makes a claim or gives information.

Eg. There is a blue car parked outside. Note that we will make use of
declarative sentences a lot in unit 2 where we will call it a ‘proposition’.

4. Emotive expression: it expresses feelings or emotion. Eg. What a pretty

creature!

5. Sentence fragment: it has a subject without a predicate. Eg. University of Cape

Coast.
Sentences (cont’d)
6. Subjunctive sentence: it expresses a suggestion or conditionality. Eg. Let us learn hard so
that we can pass our examination.

7. Optative sentence: it expresses a wish or a desire. Eg. May God bless you.

Sentence and Ambiguities

 Amphiboly: it is when an expression has more than one meaning. Eg. Prostitutes appeal
to President.

This could mean that prostitutes made a request to the President or that the President is
attracted to prostitutes

 Equivocation: it is when a term or concept in the expression rather makes it ambiguous.

Eg. Upon seeing their results, the class went gay.
Sentences (cont’d)

Activity / exercise

1. Provide a distinction between amphiboly and equivocation.

2. State the types of sentences and give one example each. (let your example
be different from that provided by the lecturer or the course manual).
Meaning of Argument

 ARGUMENTS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ARGUMENTS

In this session we will be looking at what an argument is and how to

identify an argument from a non argument. We shall also learn to
distinguish between the types of arguments.

Meaning of Argument

An argument is a group of propositions that has a premise(s) and a

conclusion such that there is an existing relationship between the premise(s)
and the conclusion.
Meaning of Argument (cont’d)

This means that with an argument, there is;

a. A premise(s)

b. A conclusion

c. The premise(s) and the conclusion relate

Eg.

All Humans are omnivores---------------------Premise 1

John is human------------------------------------Premise 2

Therefore, John is an omnivore---------------Conclusion

Meaning of Argument (cont’d)
Note that an argument has only one conclusion but can have more than one premise.

Also, both the premise(s) and the conclusion are known as propositions.

Identifying an Argument

It is important for you to be able to identify an argument from a non-argument. To

do this, you must note that every argument has a premise(s) and a conclusion.

A non-argument however does not have this structure.

To be able to successfully distinguish between an argument and a non-argument,

you must first know which is the premise(s) and which is the conclusion.
Meaning of Argument (cont’d)

This distinction can be successfully done only when you master the premise and
conclusion indicators.

Premise indicators: since, for, given that, granted that, etc (refer to your manual for
more). Note that whenever these indicators begin a statement, then that statement is
a premise.

Conclusion indicators: therefore, it follows that, accordingly, etc. Again, whenever

any of these begin a statement, then that statement is a conclusion.
Issue
Definition

It is any matter that has come up or has been put up for a discussion.

Types

Factual Issue: this is when there is a generally accepted criteria to assess its truth-
value. Eg. Nigeria is more densely populated than Ghana.

Non-factual Issue: this is when there is no generally accepted criteria to ascertain

whether it is true or false. Eg. Esi is more beautiful than Efua.

Activity

Develop your own examples.