Chapter 1 Study Questions

  1. Is critical thinking primarily about what you think or how you think?
  2. What is critical thinking?
    a) In what way is critical thinking systematic?
    b) What does it mean to say that critical thinking operates according to rational standards?
  3. Why does critical thinking matter?
    a) How is critical thinking related to the quality of our lives?
    b) What’s wrong with dispensing with critical thinking and accepting whatever beliefs or statements come our way?
    c) How can a lack of critical thinking cause a loss of personal freedom?
  4. Does critical thinking necessarily make one excessively critical or cynical? Why or why not?
  5. How do critical thinking and our emotions complement each other?
  6. How do critical thinking and creativity complement each other?
  7. In what way is critical thinking “thinking outside the box”?
  8. What is a statement or claim?
  9. What is an argument?
    a) In what way is an argument a combination of statements?
    b) What is a premise?
    c) What is a conclusion?
    d) How is an argument different from non-argumentative prose?
  10. What is the difference between an argument and an explanation?
  11. What are indicator words and how can they help you locate arguments?
  12. According to the text, what is the best advice for anyone trying to uncover or dissect an argument?
  13. What are some of the ways that critical thinking can help us to be more successful in life?
  14. What is logic, and what is the nature of its relationship to critical thinking?
  15. How can thinking critically help us to avoid making mistakes in reasoning? Provide an example, to illustrate.
  16. What did Scottish philosopher David Hume mean when he said that “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions”?
  17. Why are decisions about what to believe some of the most important decisions we ever make? Provide one or two examples, to illustrate.
Back to top