Critical ThinkingLesson 6

Lesson 6 Objectives• Identify the role of concepts in the critical thinking

process.• Identify types of causal relationships.• Test causal relationships.• Identify causal fallacies.

Defining, Forming, and Applying Concepts

What Are Concepts?Concepts are general ideas that you use to organize your experience and bring order to your life.  Concepts are the vocabulary of thought in the same way that words are the vocabulary of language. When you form opinions or make judgments, you are applying and relating concepts.

Defining, Forming, and Applying Concepts

How Do You Use Concepts to Organize and Make Sense of Experience?

Think back to the first day of class, when you may have been asking yourself questions like these: • Will this course be interesting? Useful? Challenging? • Are the other students friendly? Intelligent? Conscientious?

 

Each of the underlined words represents a concept you might use in an attempt to anticipate what the course might be like.  

Throughout this process we make evaluations that establish classifications of kinds or types: What kind of course? Difficult? Easy? What kind of student am I in relation to this course?

Defining, Forming, and Applying Concepts

Forming ConceptsThe process of forming concepts involves testing referents (examples) against the properties (common features) shared by all examples of the concept. Consider this exchange: 

A: What do you think philosophy means? B: Philosophy involves expressing important beliefs—like the meaning of life. A: Is explaining my belief about who’s going to win the Super Bowl engaging in

philosophy? After all, this is a belief that is very important to me! B: No. A philosophical belief is usually about something that is important to everyone—

like what standards should guide our moral choices. A: What about the funny saying: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet!”? This is

a belief most people can relate to. B: No. Philosophical beliefs are usually deeply felt and carefully thought out. A: What about the rule “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? B: Now you’ve got it!

 

Defining, Forming, and Applying Concepts

Forming Concepts, ContinuedHere, the concept philosophy is refined by thinking about how well referents (examples) fit the concept. Referents that do not fit are rejected; those that do fit contribute to our understanding of what the concept means. Thus concepts are formed through an interpretive process in which specific examples are applied to a general idea until that idea becomes sharp, clear, and well-defined.

Defining, Forming, and Applying Concepts

Applying ConceptsMaking sense of our experience means finding the right concept to explain what is going on.  

To determine whether the concept we have selected fits a situation, we must do the following: • Be aware of the properties that form the boundaries of the

concept. • Determine whether the experience meets those

requirements. 

In determining the requirements of a concept, we ask ourselves: Would something still be an example of this concept if that thing did not meet this requirement?

Defining, Forming, and Applying Concepts

Applying Concepts, ContinuedConsider the concept dog. Which of the following requirements must be met by an example of this concept? • Is an animal • Usually has four legs and a

tail • Bites the mail carrier

 

It is clear that 1 and 2 are requirements that must be met to apply the concept dog. However, this is not true for item 3.

Using Concepts to Classify

When you apply a concept to an object, idea, or experience, you place it in a category defined by the properties of the concept.  

The same things can be classified in many different ways. Here’s how different people might classify an area of soggy ground with long grass and rotting trees:• “That’s a smelly marsh. All it does is breed mosquitoes. It

ought to be paved and developed so that we can use it productively.”

• “This is a wetland of great ecological value. Many plants and animals need this area in order to survive.”

 

Is this area a “smelly marsh” or a “valuable wetland”? It can be classified both ways depending on your needs, interests, and values.

Using Concepts to Classify

Writing and Classifying

Classifying is an essential part of writing in three ways:• Writings are classified into many different forms and genres. • Almost any piece of writing is organized by classifying

material into sections, chapters, or paragraphs in which content is sorted and arranged in logical ways.

• Much writing concentrates on presenting kinds, categories, types, or classifications of concepts.

Causal Relationships

So far you have examined thinking and writing patterns — including concepts — that help us make sense of the world. As we explore our world, we humans tend to ask why things are as they are. When we contemplate such questions, we are asking about: • Causes: Factors that contribute to events and bring them

about • Effects: Events that result directly or indirectly from causes

or other events

Causal Relationships

Determining causes is complicated because:• An event may have more than one cause • An event may have various types of causes • It is often impossible to do so with certainty

 When we think about causal relationships in an organized way we are using a critical thinking process called causal analysis.

Causal analysis means relating events in terms of the influence or effect they have on one another.

Causal Relationships

The following statements are all examples of causal statements: • The pipes froze because of the sudden subzero

temperatures. • Taking plenty of vitamin C really cured my terrible cold.• I accidentally toasted my hand along with the marshmallows

by getting too near the campfire.  In these statements, the words because, cured, and getting too near all point to the fact that something has caused something else to take place.

Causal Relationships

We tend to think of causes and effects in isolation (e.g., A caused B), but causes and effects rarely appear by themselves.

Rather, interrelated causes form more complex patterns, including the following:• Causal Chain: A situation in which one thing leads to

another, which then leads to another, and so on over a period of time.

• Contributory Causes: A situation in which a number of different contributory causes bring about an effect.

• Interactive Causes: A situation in which multiple factors influence — and are influenced by — still other factors.

 

Ways of Testing Causal Relationships

In addition to the patterns of causality shown on the previous slide, you also need to be aware of two categories of conditions as they relate to cause-and-effect: • Necessary Condition: A factor that is required to bring

about a certain result. An intact light bulb is a necessary condition to illuminate a lamp. But by itself, an intact light bulb is not sufficient to provide illumination: you also need electricity, another necessary condition.

• Sufficient Condition: A factor that in and of itself is always sufficient for bringing about a certain result. For example, a pinch on the arm is a sufficient cause for discomfort.

Ways of Testing Causal Relationships

Yet another way to think critically about causes is to classify them by how close in time the cause is to its result.

Something that happens just before an event that it causes is called an immediate cause.

A factor that also helped to bring about this same event but that occurred further back in time is called a remote cause.  For example, a last-minute touchdown could be the immediate cause of a football championship, but wise trades made for key players before the season began might be remote causes.

Identifying Causal Fallacies

People often make mistakes in determining causal relationships. These mistakes can lead to unsound arguments, or fallacies.  

Here are some of the most common fallacies: 

Questionable Cause: Presenting a causal relationship for which no real evidence exists • Example: If you break a mirror, you will have seven years of

bad luck

Misidentification of Cause: Uncertainty about what is the cause and what is the effect, that is, ignoring a common cause or assuming a false common cause• Example: Is a person’s failure in school the result of personal

problems, or vice versa?

Identifying Causal Fallacies

Post Hoc Ego Propter Hoc: Assuming a causal relationship between situations occurring closely together in time • Example: A person wears a favorite shirt to a basketball

game, and his team wins. He concludes that wearing the shirt has some influence on the outcome of the game, and so continues to wear the shirt for good luck.

 Slippery Slope: Asserting that one undesirable action will lead to a worse action, which will lead to still a worse one—down, down the slippery slope• Example: If you get behind on one credit card payment, you

will get behind on the next one, then your credit rating will go down, then you won’t be able to buy a house, then you will be unhappy, etc.

Writing Project: Exploring Some Causes of a Recent Event

In this Lesson you’ll write a paper in which you report and discuss some of the causes of a specific local or national event that occurred within the past three years. (See the text for more detailed guidelines.)

Writing Project: Exploring Some Causes of a Recent Event

The Writing Situation 

Purpose: To discover why an event occurred, explain the causes to others, and think critically about causal relationships.  

Audience: In addition to your classmates and your instructor, you are an important audience: by analyzing causes, you can become a better thinker and possibly a more informed citizen.  

Subject: Reflect on the event or issue in terms of its causes and effects on the community. For example, if you decide to write about an event like Hurricane Katrina that had a disproportionate effect on the poor, think about why this was so.  

Writer: You will report, document, and comment on the words and ideas of published writers. If you find disagreement among your sources, don’t discard them: the lack of agreement gives you a variety of views to report and consider.

Writing Project: Exploring Some Causes of a Recent Event

The Writing Process  

Generating Ideas: • Begin by finding an event that interests you. After you have

selected an event, use your college library and the Internet to search for full texts of articles on this topic from reputable publications.

• Check to see that your sources discuss the causes of the event, not just the event itself. Identify these causes and how they are classified (contributory, interactive, etc.).

• Highlight sections of the source that you will include (if you own the source or have photocopied it).

• Think about how much information you have. Do you need more? If so, continue researching, reading, and marking until you have enough to answer the question “Why did this event take place?”

 

Writing Project: Exploring Some Causes of a Recent Event

The Writing Process, Continued

Defining a Focus: Write a thesis statement that will make clear to your audience that you are going to analyze why the event occurred or why the issue is critical. Here are two possible ways to frame this type of thesis:• Report what your sources say and whether or not they agree. • Take a position on the causal relation-ships involved.

Organizing Ideas: If you made note cards, read through them two or three times. Then begin to group them into stacks — one to describe the event and one for each cause mentioned. If you didn’t make note cards, spread out your marked sources and try to plan how you will use information from each.  

Writing Project: Exploring Some Causes of a Recent Event

The Writing Process, Continued

Drafting: Draft one section from each stack of note cards. Your introduction should include a detailed description of the event and could conclude with your thesis statement. Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence that names the cause being discussed, then provide as much information as necessary to help them understand how that cause/effect relationship. 

Be sure to note the author, URL, and title and page of any information from any source you use. On a separate page, draft a works cited list, using the format specified by your instructor.  

Revising, Editing, and Proofreading: Use the step-by-step method in Chapter 6 on pages 169– 171 to revise and polish your essay.