Feel free to skip!
Blame it on one of your members, but he said he taught critical thinking and for fun I looked it up. I had taken a logic course in college, but plum forgot it all (blame it on the apnea?). So if you're looking for something different to do, or perhaps apply some of this critical thinking to some of your topics, here 'tis.
(Note I kept in the pop quiz question and the Alice Cooper question, for grins)
Click here for link
LindaTEST YOUR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Take the DIAGNOSTIC QUIZ
Answers are listed at the bottom of this page, after the POP QUIZ. Don't Peek!
1. If capital punishment deterred murders, it would be justified. But since it does not deter such crimes, does it follow that it isn't justified? Yes _____ No _____
2. Suppose it is true that if Clyde studies philosophy tonight, he will flunk his math test tomorrow, and if he studies math instead, he will flunk his philosophy exam. Suppose it is also true that he cannot study for both exams (not enough time). Does it follow that Clyde is going to flunk at least one of his exams tomorrow? Yes _____ No _____
3. My spoon is dry, and my spoon would be wet if I had stirred my coffee. And I would not have stirred my coffee unless I had put sugar in it. So, I must not have sugared my coffee, right? Yes _____ No _____
4. In order for an argument to be cogent, its premises must be true. Yes _____ No _____
5. Police: Sorry, but only people with a special ZZ permit can park here. Driver: Well, since I have a ZZ permit, that means I can park here. Is the driver in the right? Yes _____ No _____
6. If someone's argument begs the question, it still remains a valid argument. Yes _____ No _____
7. Mary says she won't sleep with Clyde unless they are married. Clyde agrees to get married. But, on their honeymoon, Mary still refuses to sleep with Clyde. Did Mary break her promise? Yes _____ No _____
8. Lincoln's famous quotation, "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time," is a cogent argument. Yes _____ No _____
9. As we all know, spheres cast curved shadows, and the Earth casts a curved shadow on the moon during lunar eclipses. Does this prove that the Earth is spherical? Yes _____ No _____
10. The president of IBM certainly has influence. Yet, he was unable to enroll his daughter at Whatsamatta University. Therefore, it is false, as some people have been suggesting, that only persons with influence can get their children enrolled at Whatsamatta U. Yes _____ No _____
11. If the truth of statement A implies the falsity of statement B, then the falsity of A implies the truth of B. Yes _____ No _____
12. Life is meaningless if there is no God. But life is not meaningless. This entails that there must be a God. Yes _____ No _____
13. If it is true that on a clear day you can see across the Mississippi River (to the other side), does it follow that if one can see across the Mississippi River it is a clear day? Yes _____ No _____
14. Suppose George knows that Susan stole the money. He wants to protect her, though. And so, when the police come to question him, the conversation goes as follows:
Police: Do you know who stole the money?
George: Well, I'm not absolutely sure it was Blackie, but I know it was either he or Susan.
Did George lie to the police? Yes _____ No _____
15. The difference between deductive arguments and inductive arguments is that deductive arguments go from general premises to specific conclusions, whereas inductive arguments go from specific premises to general conclusions. Yes _____No _____
16. The famous argument "All men are mortal, and Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal," is a syllogism. Yes _____ No _____
17. Slippery Slope arguments are fallacious. Yes _____ No _____
18. Criticism by Reductio ad absurdum is fallacious, but criticism by Ad hominem is not. Yes _____ No _____
19. Using vague terms in one's premises to aid in the inference to one's conclusion is equivocation. Yes _____ No _____
20. Vagueness is not the same as ambiguity. Yes _____ No _____
POP QUIZ TIME: What fallacy was committed in #2 on the Diagnostic Quiz given above, if you answered that it indeed follows that Clyde is going to flunk at least one of his exams tomorrow?
CHECK BACK LATER for the ANSWER and a new POP QUIZ.
PREVIOUS QUIZ: What's the problem with Alice Cooper's recent argument here against those attending political rock concerts: "If you're listening to rock stars in order to get information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are."
ANSWER: There are a couple of problems with Alice Cooper's comment. One is that it's self-defeating. Here is a rock star informing us that we are not to trust information on such matters from a rock star. He's sort of kicking his own ladder away while he's using it. OUCH. A second problem is that he commits the ad hominem fallacy, by attacking [insulting] people instead of criticizing their positions or arguments. Cooper attacks rock stars who express political opinions and the people who listen to those rock stars; he never gives a reason as to why those rock stars are wrong in their political opinions or why it would be unwise for us to listen to them.
Answers to the DIAGNOSTIC QUIZ: [see above link to website for answers]
