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UNDERSTANDING

ARGUMENTS

UNDERSTANDING

ARGUMENTS

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

(CLAIMS, ISSUES, ARGUMENTS)

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

(CLAIMS, ISSUES, ARGUMENTS)

Claims are basic elements in critical

thinking; they are the things we say, aloud

or in writing,

To convey information

• (^) To express our opinions or beliefs.

Claims have other employment, too, as we’ll

discover later. But this is the use we’re

primarily concerned with.

CLAIMS

Claims, or statements (these amount to

the same thing), are the kinds of things

that are true or false.

“Accra is the most populous city in

Ghana” is a true claim;

“Accra has the most populous

metropolitan area in West Africa” is a

false claim (Lagos is bigger).

CLAIMS

Claims about whether your toothpaste

whitens your teeth,

Whether higher taxes results in hardships,

Whether a President should be

impeached. Everything is fair game.

This is true whether you or someone else

has actually made the claim or is only

considering it.

CLAIMS

Many claims require little or no critical

evaluation. They are so obviously true (or

false, as the case may be) that nobody

would see any need for a close examination.

If you have a sore throat, you tend to know

it without a lot of contemplation;

Whether Melcom is still open requires only

a phone call and not an investigation.

CLAIMS

Some people hold offices in which their

decisions deeply affect others; perhaps

the claims they make about such

decisions should be given an especially

high level of scrutiny.

What Happens When We Call

a Claim To Question?

CLAIMS

Whenever we call a claim into question—

that is, when we ask questions about its

truth or falsity,

We Raise An ISSUE.

Claims, construed as issues and supported

(or not) by arguments, are the central focus

of critical thinking.

ISSUE

The concept of an issue is very simple.

An issue is nothing more than a question.

So, when we question whether a given

claim is true or not, then a claim becomes

an ISSUE

Here are two ways of stating an issue:

(1) Is Patrick taller than Parker? Here, the

Issue is

(2) Whether Patrick is taller than Parker?

ISSUE

ISSUE

We answer the question or settle the issue

by determining whether the claim “Patrick

is taller than Parker” is true or false.

Another example:

Lets assume that, the Greater Accra

Minister didn’t like the boys who wear their

trousers and show off their boxer shorts, so

he considered making it illegal to dress the

“Otto Fister” way in Greater Accra.

ISSUE

So remember, when we think critically

about a claim, we call it into question

and make it an issue.

1. We are thinking critically when we

take a position on an ISSUE; when

we assert or claim something

2. The claim and the thinking on which

it is based should be subject to

rational evaluation.

ISSUES

1. To think critically, then, we need to know

a. When someone (including ourselves) is

taking a position on an issue, what that

issue is and what the person is claiming

relative to that issue – that is, what the

person’s position is.

b. What considerations are relevant to that

issue

c. Whether the underlying reasoning to the

claim is good reasoning

d. And whether everything considered, we

should accept, reject or suspend judgment

on what the person claimed

• Issues are not all about two parties in

dispute or discussion

• An issue can be raised in a single

person’s thought.

• (^) E.g. Did you turn on the

refrigerator before leaving home,

you wonder?

The issue is whether you turned on

the refrigerator; it is a question in

your mind, so it is an issue for you.

WHAT IS AN ISSUE?

There are a lot of things you can

do with issues.

– You can:

Raise them

Discuss or debate them

Try to settle them

Ignore them

WHAT IS AN ISSUE?