WGU Critical Thinking -D265 (Comprehensive
Study Guide)
Critical thinking ✔️Ans - primarily the ability to think carefully about
thinking and reasoning—to criticize your own reasoning. "Criticize" here is
not meant in the sense of being mean or talking down or making fun of.
Instead, it is used in the sense of, for example, how a coach might take a
critical stance toward a players' skills—he throws high every time, she does
not lead with her foot, they ride too forward in the saddle, etc. "Critical" here
means something more like "reflective," "careful," or "attentive to potential
errors."
Being curious and thinking creatively: ✔️Ans - not believing things are
simple and settled, being willing to go the next step and think about all of the
possible positions and arguments before settling into a position.
Separating the thinker from the position: ✔️Ans - being able to discuss a
position without attacking or judging the person holding the position, without
getting caught up in our own attachment to the position or its antithesis, and
without having our identities wrapped up in a particular viewpoint or
opinion.
Knowing oneself enough to avoid biases and errors of thought: ✔️Ans -
being aware of the flawed patterns of reasoning we are disposed to engage in,
being aware of cognitive biases and mental heuristics (rough rules that work
well enough to survive but don't work in many cases) that we're prone as a
species to have, all in the interest of counteracting these biases and flaws.
Having intellectual honesty, humility, and charity: very important: ✔️Ans -
being honest about what we know and how we know it, what evidence we
have and what questions are not yet settled; being humble in recognizing the
vast number of things we don't yet know or understand and in recognizing
how very difficult it is to truly know anything at all and so recognizing that the
standards are high and we, most of the time, don't meet them (and that's
okay); and being charitable or having the disposition to attribute the best
intentions and most sophisticated positions and arguments that we can
imagine to our opponents in arguments.
, Understanding arguments, reasons, and evidence: ✔️Ans - thinking
carefully about thinking, about arguments and positions.
Propositions ✔️Ans - statements that can be true or false.
Non-propositions ✔️Ans - Sentences that are not statements about
matters of fact (or fiction). They do not make a claim that can be true or false.
Exhort ✔️Ans - to urge strongly, Example: Let's go to get dinner! Let's go
hiking on Tuesday!
Command ✔️Ans - give an authoritative order. Example: Go to the store
later to buy me some cheese. Don't do that.
Plead/Request ✔️Ans - ask for something from someone, often on the
verge of begging. Example Would you please stop that? Please read me a
bedtime story!
Question ✔️Ans - something asked, a statement that requires an answer
Example: What is the capital of Florida? How much do the pineapples cost?
Perform ✔️Ans - carry out, accomplish, or fulfill (an action, task, or
function) Example: I hereby adjourn this meeting. I pronounce you husband
and wife!
Simple propositions ✔️Ans - have no internal logical structure, meaning
whether they are true or false does not depend on whether a part of them is
true or false. They are simply true or false on their own.
Complex propositions ✔️Ans - have internal logical structure, meaning
they are composed of simple propositions. Whether they are true or false
depends on whether their parts are true or false.
Premise ✔️Ans - is a proposition lending credence to the conclusion. It is
supposed to be a group of statements that, if you accept they are true, make
the case that you rationally must (or, weaker, should) accept the conclusion.
Bad inferential structure: ✔️Ans - Every argument with the same
structure as this argument is bad (invalid or weak). The premises do not, in
Study Guide)
Critical thinking ✔️Ans - primarily the ability to think carefully about
thinking and reasoning—to criticize your own reasoning. "Criticize" here is
not meant in the sense of being mean or talking down or making fun of.
Instead, it is used in the sense of, for example, how a coach might take a
critical stance toward a players' skills—he throws high every time, she does
not lead with her foot, they ride too forward in the saddle, etc. "Critical" here
means something more like "reflective," "careful," or "attentive to potential
errors."
Being curious and thinking creatively: ✔️Ans - not believing things are
simple and settled, being willing to go the next step and think about all of the
possible positions and arguments before settling into a position.
Separating the thinker from the position: ✔️Ans - being able to discuss a
position without attacking or judging the person holding the position, without
getting caught up in our own attachment to the position or its antithesis, and
without having our identities wrapped up in a particular viewpoint or
opinion.
Knowing oneself enough to avoid biases and errors of thought: ✔️Ans -
being aware of the flawed patterns of reasoning we are disposed to engage in,
being aware of cognitive biases and mental heuristics (rough rules that work
well enough to survive but don't work in many cases) that we're prone as a
species to have, all in the interest of counteracting these biases and flaws.
Having intellectual honesty, humility, and charity: very important: ✔️Ans -
being honest about what we know and how we know it, what evidence we
have and what questions are not yet settled; being humble in recognizing the
vast number of things we don't yet know or understand and in recognizing
how very difficult it is to truly know anything at all and so recognizing that the
standards are high and we, most of the time, don't meet them (and that's
okay); and being charitable or having the disposition to attribute the best
intentions and most sophisticated positions and arguments that we can
imagine to our opponents in arguments.
, Understanding arguments, reasons, and evidence: ✔️Ans - thinking
carefully about thinking, about arguments and positions.
Propositions ✔️Ans - statements that can be true or false.
Non-propositions ✔️Ans - Sentences that are not statements about
matters of fact (or fiction). They do not make a claim that can be true or false.
Exhort ✔️Ans - to urge strongly, Example: Let's go to get dinner! Let's go
hiking on Tuesday!
Command ✔️Ans - give an authoritative order. Example: Go to the store
later to buy me some cheese. Don't do that.
Plead/Request ✔️Ans - ask for something from someone, often on the
verge of begging. Example Would you please stop that? Please read me a
bedtime story!
Question ✔️Ans - something asked, a statement that requires an answer
Example: What is the capital of Florida? How much do the pineapples cost?
Perform ✔️Ans - carry out, accomplish, or fulfill (an action, task, or
function) Example: I hereby adjourn this meeting. I pronounce you husband
and wife!
Simple propositions ✔️Ans - have no internal logical structure, meaning
whether they are true or false does not depend on whether a part of them is
true or false. They are simply true or false on their own.
Complex propositions ✔️Ans - have internal logical structure, meaning
they are composed of simple propositions. Whether they are true or false
depends on whether their parts are true or false.
Premise ✔️Ans - is a proposition lending credence to the conclusion. It is
supposed to be a group of statements that, if you accept they are true, make
the case that you rationally must (or, weaker, should) accept the conclusion.
Bad inferential structure: ✔️Ans - Every argument with the same
structure as this argument is bad (invalid or weak). The premises do not, in
