P105 Fall 2022 Assignment One-1
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Indiana University, Bloomington *
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P105
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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Uploaded by BarristerGerbil3534
P105 Critical Thinking: 1. Premises and conclusion indicators (C).
Highlight (using a highlight tool) the premise
indicators and underline the conclusion indicators in the philosophical argument below. Hint:
“but” is not a premise indicator.
“…among different things we find that one is more or less good or true or noble; and likewise in
the case of other things of this kind. But the words "more" or "less" are used of different things
in proportion as they approximate in their different ways to something which has the particular
quality in the highest degree-e.g., we call a thing hotter when it approximates more nearly to
that which is hot in the highest degree. There is therefore
something which is true in the
highest degree, good in the highest degree and noble in the highest degree; and consequently
there must be also something which has being in the highest degree. For things which are true
in the highest degree also have being in the highest degree…” (Thomas Aquinas, “The Five
Ways”)
2. Make an argument (C).
(i) Clearly state a complex
argument not mentioned in class, the
readings, or in your answers to other questions in this assignment. In doing so, use the
conclusion indicator “it follows that.” (ii) Then, put the argument in standard form.
The AFC Championship game is where the best two teams in the AFC face off. The winner of
the AFC Championship game is the best team in the AFC, and goes off to represent their
conference in the Super Bowl. It follows that the team that wins the AFC Championship must
be the best team in the AFC. The Cincinnati Bengals won the AFC Championship and went to
the Super Bowl. Therefore, the Cincinnati Bengals are the best team in the AFC. P1: The AFC Championship game is where the best two teams in the AFC face off.
P2: The winner of the AFC Championship game is the best team in the AFC.
C1: It follows that the team that wins the AFC Championship must be the best team in the AFC.
P3: The Cincinnati Bengals won the AFC Championship and went to the Super Bowl.
C2: Therefore, the Cincinnati Bengals are the best team in the AFC. 3. Mindset (B).
Clearly describe an example of someone applying just one of the tips
described in the textbook for being curious or being thorough and explain why it helps that
person be curious or thorough. Don’t use an example from class or the textbook. Sam, a foreigner looking for a place to live enters a US city convention, where there are tables
set up by representatives for the top 10 biggest cities in America, and he is eager to learn all
about each city. The foreigner has never been to America until now, has never heard of any of
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these cities, does not know anyone from these cities or currently living in these cities or with
any association to these cities, know anything about the cities’ history, traditions, sports teams,
and hardly can spell some of their names. Sam enters the convention eager to learn, hoping to
find one he can live happily in when he makes the move to the US. He listens to everything
each table has to say about their respective city, and makes a choice based entirely off what he
found out at the convention.
4. Common biases (A)
. Clearly describe a case of belief perseverance not mentioned in the
textbook or class which is also clearly
not
based on motivated reasoning.
Sam says that the Earth is flat due to videos he’s watched online and articles he’s read. Despite
his friends always presenting him evidence that the Earth is round and refuting any evidence
that it is flat, he sticks with his belief that it is flat. Sam’s science teacher presents to his class
pictures taken out in space of the Earth that clearly show our round, curved planet. Sam
dismisses these pictures as fake, and stubbornly still claims the Earth is flat when
asked/prompted.
5. Common biases and mindset (A and B).
Optional chapter question 2.10 says:
“Pretending to take the opposing side of an issue...
(a) is a bad idea because it triggers a confirmation bias in the direction of the side we're
pretending to take.
(b) does not work as well as thinking carefully about weaknesses in our own case.
(c)
will allow us to perceive bias in ourselves through introspection.
(d) helps counter the confirmation bias we already have in favor of our side.”
(i)
Explain why (c) is an incorrect answer. (ii) Explain why the correct answer is (d).
(iii) Give an example which illustrates why (d) is the correct answer. (c) is an incorrect answer because oftentimes we cannot see the bias that we our exhibiting as
it’s subconscious for the most part. We expect ourselves to be able to use introspection to see
our biases, but this is not possible and we really aren’t able to see our own biases. (d) is the correct answer because it allows us to look for evidence we would otherwise
subconsciously disregard if we weren’t using the strategy of taking the opposing side of an
argument. If we hadn’t been using this strategy and just stuck to our original side, we would
only seek out evidence that supports our initial belief. If we force ourselves to take the other
side, then we’ll seek out and find evidence that we wouldn’t have even noticed if we weren’t
using this strategy.
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A note on examples for problems 3, 4, and 5: The examples you give do not have to be actual
—you can suppose they are true for the sake of giving a plausible and vivid example. If you
are making claims that it is not clear follow from what you are supposing and which your AI is
not in a position to accept using common knowledge, the case will not work. For this reason, I
would discourage making an example about controversial topics.
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