SECTION 1: CRITICAL THINKING D265 WGU

SECTION 1: CRITICAL THINKING D265
WGU



Whatwiswmeantwbywvalidityworwstrengthwofwanwargument?w-wans-
✔✔Generally,wStrongwArgumentswarewoneswthatwarewconvincing.wAndwanwargumentwis
wvalidwifwthewpremises(ifwtrue)wprovidewproofwofwthewconclusion.


Whatwarewthewdifferentwtypeswofwinferences?w-wans-✔✔-wDeduction
-wInduction
-Abduction

Inferencew-wans-✔✔Awconclusionwonewcanwdrawwfromwthewpresentedwdetails.

deductionw-wans-✔✔formingwawgeneralwconclusionwbasedwonwspecificwobservations

Inductionw-wans-✔✔formingwawspecificwconclusionwbasedwonwgeneralwpremise.

Abductionwreasoningw-wans-✔✔ruleswoutwexplanationswuntilwmostwplausiblewremains

truthw-wans-✔✔Awpropositionwthatwaccuratelywrepresentswreality.

validityw-wans-
✔✔Inwawgoodwdeductivewargumentwstructure,wwhenwtruewpremiseswmakewthewconclusi
onwnecessarilywtrue.

invalidityw-wans-
✔✔Oneworwtwowofwthewpremiseswarewfalse,wthuswmakingwthewconclusionwfalse.

Soundnessw-wans-
✔✔Thewdeductivewargumentwiswvalid,wandwallwpremiseswarewtruewpremises.

Unsoundnessw-wans-✔✔Whenwthewargumentwiswinvalidworwthewpremiseswarewfalse.

Howwiswtruthwconnectedwtowpropositions?w-wans-
✔✔Thewrelationshipwthatwholdswbetweenwawpropositionwandwitswcorrespondingwfact.wIf
wawpropositionwiswtrue,wthenwthewconclusionwiswtrue,wbutwifwit'swfalsewthenwit'swfalse.

, validwargumentwformw-wans-
✔✔anwargumentwformwinwwhichweverywsubstitutionwinstancewiswawvalidw(true)wargume
nt

invalidwargumentwformw-wans-
✔✔anwargumentwformwthatwhaswsomewinvalidw(false)wsubstitutionwinstances

Differentiatewbetweenwtruth,wstrength,wandwcogency.w-wans-✔✔-
wAwstrongwargumentwcanwhavewawfalsewconclusionwevenwifwitwstartswwithwtruewpremise
sw(strongwargumentswonlywmakewthewconclusionwprobable,wnotwcertain).
-
wcogentwargumentwmustwhavewtruewpremises.wCogencywiswstrengthwpluswtruewpremise
s.w
Cogency:wInwawstrongwinductivewargument,wallwpremiseswarewtrue.
AllwTruewPremisesw+wStrongwInductivewSupportw=wCogencywArgument

StrengthwofwanwArgumentw-wans-
✔✔Inwthewinductivewargument,wtruewpremiseswmakewthewconclusionwprobablywtrue.w(b
utwnotwnecessarilywawguarantee,wbutwthewpremiseswarewsupportive)

Cogencyw-wans-✔✔Inwawstrongwinductivewargument,wallwpremiseswarewtrue.

Fallacyw-wans-✔✔awtypewofwbadwargument.

FormalwFallacyw-wans-
✔✔awlogicalwerrorwthatwoccurswinwthewformworwstructurewofwanwargument;witwiswrestrict
edwtowdeductivewarguments

informalwfallacyw-wans-
✔✔awmistakewinwreasoningwthatwoccurswinwordinarywlanguagewandwiswdifferentwfromwa
nwerrorwinwthewformworwstructurewofwarguments

ThewFallacywFallacyw-wans-
✔✔Youwpresumedwthatwbecausewawclaimwhaswbeenwpoorlywargued,worwawfallacywhasw
beenwmade,wthatwthewclaimwitselfwmustwbewwrong.

thewfallacywfallacywexamplew-wans-
✔✔RecognizingwthatwAmandawhadwcommittedwawfallacywinwarguingwthatwwewshouldwe
atwhealthywfoodwbecausewawnutritionistwsaidwitwwaswpopular,wAlysewsaidwwewshouldwth
ereforeweatwbaconwdoublewcheeseburgersweverywday.

typeswofwinformalwfallaciesw-wans-✔✔-wAdwHominem
-wAppealwtowIgnorance
-wBeggingwthewQuestion
-wConfusionwofwNecessarywwithwawSufficientwCondition
-wEquivocation