Critical Thinking

Michelangelo E. Cayanan, MM
St. Thomas More College
SY 2019-2020
 the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or
inferences from facts or premises;
 the action of thinking about something in a logical,
sensible way.
› Thinking: thoughts just come one after another.
› Ex: “These are the things I need to buy later – pasta, cheese,
tomato sauce, and ground beef.”

› Reasoning: thoughts are linked together, supporting each other.

› Ex: “Wait. I don’t need to buy cheese, there is one more in the
refrigerator.”
Terms

Concepts

Statements

Arguments
 A term is a word or group of words to express a
concept.
› Ex:

› Philippine paper money

 Concepts are building blocks of statements.
 How do we form concepts?
› We use our senses.

› Accidents: individual characteristics that distinguish one thing

from another.
 Essence: what makes something what it is. It is the set of
characteristics common to a group of objects.
 Concept is the representation of the essence of a thing
in the mind.
 The process by which the mind grasps the essence is
called abstraction.
› Ex: Philippine paper money: (text, face of a president, made
from fiber)
 I have a two thousand peso bill.
 A statement is a group of concepts whose purpose is to
declare something about reality.
 A statement is always either true or false.
 When we relate one concept to another, the mental
process is called judgement.
 A statement is different from a sentence, but are related.
› A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought.
 “Please close the door.” “Where are you?” “What a shot!”
› We usually express statements thru sentences.
 A sentence may express more than one statement.
› Jordan Clarkson has Filipino blood but he lives in the US.
 Two or more different sentences may assert the same
statement.
› Romeo loves Juliet
› Juliet is loved by Romeo
› Mahal ni Romeo si Juliet.
 A statement can sometimes be expressed as a phrase.
› After finishing my Master’s degree and passing the comprehensive
exam, I had a vacation.
 Aside from verbal forms, statements can be expressed in
non-verbal means.
 An argument is a group of statements in which one
statement is claimed to be true on the basis of another
statement.
› Ex: Harry loves Meghan due to the fact that he gave her a ring.
› Because he broke his knee, he will not finish the race.
 The statement that is claimed to be true: conclusion.
› Indicators: therefore, thus, so, it follows that, consequently
 The statement that supports the conclusion: premise.
› Indicators: because, since, for, as, in as much as, in view of the fact
 The brain is the master control center of the body. It has
three main divisions: the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the
brain stem.
 After defeating Alaska in the finals, San Miguel won the
Reinforced Conference trophy. It is the first time Alaska
were swept in the finals.
 Reports: the purpose is simply to convey information.

› Coco Martin has been starring in the soap opera “Probinsyano” for
quite a long time already. It is the longest running ever teleserye in
the country.
 The Philippine Azkals are the best football team in Asia.
They are my favorite team. I will always cheer for them.
 Unsupported opinions: they are statements about what
a speaker happens to believe. They can be true/false,
rational/irrational but if they are not used to support
another statement then they are not arguments.
› The Philippine Azkals are the best football team in Asia. They
have players with experience in Europe. Coach Scott Cooper
has coached many teams in different countries over his
career.
 If the Philippines adopt a parliamentary government,
then we will not elect a president anymore.
 Conditional statement: when there is no claim that one
statement is true because of the other statement. It
usually contains the if-then relationship.

› If the Philippines get Jordan Clarkson to play for Gilas, then he

can’t play for the US National Team anymore.
› Jordan Clarkson can’t play for the USNT because he played
for Gilas already.
 Rizal wrote “Noli Mi Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” because he
wanted to expose the evils of the Spanish government.
 Explanation: tries to show why something is the case. To
distinguish arguments from explanations, ask the question: Is it
the speaker’s intent to prove/establish that something is the
case or is it to explain why an event happened or why
something is the way it is?
 Causal explanation: when we cite causes of the event to be
explained.
› He immigrated to Canada because he had better job opportunities
there.
› He caught AIDS because he got a blood transfusion with HIV.
 Truth: refers to the conformity of the statement to reality.
 Logic: refers to the connection between the premises and
conclusion of arguments.
 Soundness: is achieved when both truth and logic are
present in the argument.
When we encounter an argument, we should ask ourselves:
 Should I accept the conclusion (or claim) of the argument?
› Are the premises of the argument true?
› Is the argument logical?