Critical Thinking
Michelangelo E. Cayanan, MM
St. Thomas More College
SY 2019-2020
the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or
inferences from facts or premises;
the action of thinking about something in a logical,
sensible way.
› Thinking: thoughts just come one after another.
› Ex: “These are the things I need to buy later – pasta, cheese,
tomato sauce, and ground beef.”
› Reasoning: thoughts are linked together, supporting each other.
› Ex: “Wait. I don’t need to buy cheese, there is one more in the
refrigerator.”
Terms
Concepts
Statements
Arguments
A term is a word or group of words to express a
concept.
› Ex:
› Philippine paper money
Concepts are building blocks of statements.
How do we form concepts?
› We use our senses.
› Accidents: individual characteristics that distinguish one thing
from another.
Essence: what makes something what it is. It is the set of
characteristics common to a group of objects.
Concept is the representation of the essence of a thing
in the mind.
The process by which the mind grasps the essence is
called abstraction.
› Ex: Philippine paper money: (text, face of a president, made
from fiber)
I have a two thousand peso bill.
A statement is a group of concepts whose purpose is to
declare something about reality.
A statement is always either true or false.
When we relate one concept to another, the mental
process is called judgement.
A statement is different from a sentence, but are related.
› A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought.
“Please close the door.” “Where are you?” “What a shot!”
› We usually express statements thru sentences.
A sentence may express more than one statement.
› Jordan Clarkson has Filipino blood but he lives in the US.
Two or more different sentences may assert the same
statement.
› Romeo loves Juliet
› Juliet is loved by Romeo
› Mahal ni Romeo si Juliet.
A statement can sometimes be expressed as a phrase.
› After finishing my Master’s degree and passing the comprehensive
exam, I had a vacation.
Aside from verbal forms, statements can be expressed in
non-verbal means.
An argument is a group of statements in which one
statement is claimed to be true on the basis of another
statement.
› Ex: Harry loves Meghan due to the fact that he gave her a ring.
› Because he broke his knee, he will not finish the race.
The statement that is claimed to be true: conclusion.
› Indicators: therefore, thus, so, it follows that, consequently
The statement that supports the conclusion: premise.
› Indicators: because, since, for, as, in as much as, in view of the fact
The brain is the master control center of the body. It has
three main divisions: the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the
brain stem.
After defeating Alaska in the finals, San Miguel won the
Reinforced Conference trophy. It is the first time Alaska
were swept in the finals.
Reports: the purpose is simply to convey information.
› Coco Martin has been starring in the soap opera “Probinsyano” for
quite a long time already. It is the longest running ever teleserye in
the country.
The Philippine Azkals are the best football team in Asia.
They are my favorite team. I will always cheer for them.
Unsupported opinions: they are statements about what
a speaker happens to believe. They can be true/false,
rational/irrational but if they are not used to support
another statement then they are not arguments.
› The Philippine Azkals are the best football team in Asia. They
have players with experience in Europe. Coach Scott Cooper
has coached many teams in different countries over his
career.
If the Philippines adopt a parliamentary government,
then we will not elect a president anymore.
Conditional statement: when there is no claim that one
statement is true because of the other statement. It
usually contains the if-then relationship.
› If the Philippines get Jordan Clarkson to play for Gilas, then he
can’t play for the US National Team anymore.
› Jordan Clarkson can’t play for the USNT because he played
for Gilas already.
Rizal wrote “Noli Mi Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” because he
wanted to expose the evils of the Spanish government.
Explanation: tries to show why something is the case. To
distinguish arguments from explanations, ask the question: Is it
the speaker’s intent to prove/establish that something is the
case or is it to explain why an event happened or why
something is the way it is?
Causal explanation: when we cite causes of the event to be
explained.
› He immigrated to Canada because he had better job opportunities
there.
› He caught AIDS because he got a blood transfusion with HIV.
Truth: refers to the conformity of the statement to reality.
Logic: refers to the connection between the premises and
conclusion of arguments.
Soundness: is achieved when both truth and logic are
present in the argument.
When we encounter an argument, we should ask ourselves:
Should I accept the conclusion (or claim) of the argument?
› Are the premises of the argument true?
› Is the argument logical?
