Some people either defer to others or fail to take a position on a controversial issue because they are unable to evaluate conflicting views. Answer TRUE It is also the case that some people do take a position on a controversial issue when they are unable to evaluate conflicting views simply because they are too mentally lazy to do the work of analyzing the Issue and they are too conceited to believe that their snap decision can be wrong. Question 4 When is an opinion reasonable? When it has logical support You can think of an opinion as a conclusion.
A conclusion needs reasons to support it. If the reasons used to support an opinion are not all true, and if they are not assembled in a valid structure, then the opinion (even if it turns out to be correct! ) is not reasonable. Question 5 O out of 1 points Although some people’s lives are controlled by the circumstances they happen to find themselves in, the lives of the majority of people are controlled by their own choices. Answer For evidence that this is so, ask the opinion of people who have lived a long time.
Question 6 Thomas Jefferson wrote that the most important characteristic the citizens of our nation should have is the art of reasoning. Answer If we are to govern ourselves we need first and foremost to be able to reason critically. Question 7 Why did the Zen master Suzuki believe that we must have a “beginner’s mind”? Answer The innocence of first inquiry springs from a mind ready for anything and open to everything. The beginner is free of the habits and expectations of the expert.
When you do not think you know, you are open and ready to accept or doubt all the possibilities. The latest breakthroughs in neurophysiology support this. Question 8 Resistance, defined as “the use of immature defense mechanisms that are GUID, impulsive, maladaptive, and non-analytical” can act as a barrier to critical thinking. Answer When resistance is habitual it interferes with cognitive development. The development of critical thinking skills is stymied. Question 9 Some people think that the cognitive developmental stage known as “relativism,” biz. Hen students stop thinking in “black and white” ways and swing to the other extreme of thinking there are no right and wrong answers at all, is really not a genuine philosophical position at all, but rather a means of avoiding having one’s ideas challenged. Answer Professor Steven Starts takes this view. Question 10 There is a strong correlation between self-esteem and good critical thinking skills. Answer Healthy self-esteem emerges from effectiveness in problem solving and success in achieving one’s life goals.
It is also true that beginning with healthy self-esteem sets the stage for success. Thursday, September 19, 2013 8:01 :42 PM EDT Chapter 4 Which of the following is true of expert testimony? An expert with a good reputation is generally more reliable. Correct Answer: An expert with a good reputation is generally more reliable. Answer Feedback: Expert testimony is generally reliable, and so is an important source of evidence. However, experts do Often disagree and are not always reliable.
Many criteria can be used to gauge the reliability of an expert, including the kind of reputation the expert has among other experts in the field. Other criteria include the expert’s level of experience and education and the expert’s number and type of accomplishments such as authoring important research papers. A rationalist believes that all knowledge comes from reason alone. Answer Correct Answer: A rationalist maintains that most knowledge comes from reason alone, but even the rationalist can maintain that some knowledge comes through observation and experience.
Which of the following is true of evidence and experience? None of these are correct answers. An experience can be evidence if other evidence does not contradict it. Experience plays an important role in critical thought. It is a major source of evidence, but it is not always credible. Illusions are a good example of a misleading type of experience. If contrary evidence is available, then experience may not provide credible evidence. On the other hand, if there is no contrary evidence, then experience does provide credible evidence.
If a claim conflicts with our experience, then we have a good reason to be suspicious of that experience. Answer Experience is an important source of evidence. So if experience contradicts some claim, then we have some reason to doubt that claim. Experience, however, is not infallible. If there is evidence that runs contrary to an experience, then we have reason to doubt the reliability of that experience. O out Of 1 points Emmanuel Kant argued for which of the following claims? We can have unmediated knowledge of how the world is, independently of our ways of experiencing it.