Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Philosophy
Practical Rationality: Critical Questions For Rational Decision Making, Mark Battersby
Practical Rationality: Critical Questions For Rational Decision Making, Mark Battersby
OSSA Conference Archive
Critical thinking should be conceived as instruction in applied rationality providing guidance for deciding what to believe and do. The latter has not gotten the attention it deserves, but in expanding its ambit, critical thinking instruction must avoid using the dominant “rational choice” model inherited from economics. This paper argues for an alternative model of rational decision making that is appropriate for critical thinking courses.
Preciseness Is A Virtue: What Are Critical Questions?, Michael J. Hoppmann
Preciseness Is A Virtue: What Are Critical Questions?, Michael J. Hoppmann
OSSA Conference Archive
The paper compares the uses of “critical question” in recent publications on the topic, contrasting explicit definitions where they exist and reconstructing implicit definitions where possible, and suggests a taxonomy of different “critical questions” as they are used in argumentative evaluation and criticism. In distinguishing different meanings of “critical question” horizontally between authors and vertically within the analysis, it strives to make a contribution to the ongoing work on the systematization of argumentative criticism.
Correlation And Causality, Michael Hoppmann, Robert H. Ennis
Correlation And Causality, Michael Hoppmann, Robert H. Ennis
OSSA Conference Archive
This paper provides an analysis of the argument from cause and effect and a comparison of its various types with the argument from correlation. It will be claimed that arguments from causality and from correlation should be treated as equivalent for argumentative purposes. The main advantages of this approach (theoretical economy and impact on the taxonomy of critical questions) as well as possible theo-retical objections will be discussed.
Modeling Critical Questions As Additional Premises, Douglas Walton, Thomas F. Gordon, Scott F. Aikin
Modeling Critical Questions As Additional Premises, Douglas Walton, Thomas F. Gordon, Scott F. Aikin
OSSA Conference Archive
This paper shows how the critical questions matching an argumentation scheme can be mod-eled in the Carneades argumentation system as three kinds of premises. Ordinary premises hold only if they are supported by sufficient arguments. Assumptions hold, by default, until they have been questioned. With exceptions the negation holds, by default, until the exception has been supported by sufficient arguments. By “sufficient arguments”, we mean arguments sufficient to satisfy the applicable proof standard.