PHIL 1010, CRITICAL THINKING
EXERCISES DUE THURS, 11/13
KEY
FROM EXERCISES 11.1
Refer to the following passage for the next six exercises.
“After regaining independence in 1952, . . . Japan continued to profit from access to foreign raw
materials, technology, and markets, including those of the United States. Because of popular
sentiment, constitutional constraints, and the country’s reliance on the American “nuclear
umbrella,” Japan was freed from the burden of supporting a large and costly military
establishment, releasing funds and energies for economic development. At the same time,
business benefitted from a probusiness political system.”
(Conrad Schirokauer,et.al. A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations. 3rd ed
(Houghton Mifflin, 2005), p. 634.)
10. Which event(s) is/are claimed to be correlated or causally related to the economic growth of
Japan?
- access to foreign raw materials, technology, and markets.
- popular sentiment,
- constitutional constraints,
- the country’s reliance on the American nuclear umbrella
- a probusiness political system
11. Identify the first premise of the causal argument using the second sentence above, following
the phrase “nuclear umbrella.”
(1) Freedom from the burden of supporting a military establishment is correlated with Japanese
economic growth.
12. Identify the second premise of the causal argument using the second sentence above,
following the phrase “nuclear umbrella?”
(2) Japanese economic growth is not the cause of freedom from the burden of supporting a
military establishment.
13. Is there a third premise for a causal argument provided or implied in the passage above?
(3) There is no third thing that caused both freedom from the burden of supporting a military
establishment and Japanese economic growth.
14. If there is no third premise offered, is there rather one or more third party causes that are
mentioned in the passage?
No. Third-party causation is not mentioned at all.
15. Is there any evidence provided in the passage above that would address the fourth premise of
a causal argument?
No.
EXERCISES 11.2
A. Consider the following and identify which type of cause is being employed. For example, in
the argument, “There must have been oxygen present because no fire can occur except in the
presence of oxygen,” we would say that the claim concerns a necessary cause. The argument
makes a claim that oxygen is a necessary condition for fire to occur.
1. Jack: Let’s go to the movies at Cineplex after class. We have to get out of this building
anyway.
What type of cause is Jack implying by saying they “have to” leave the building?
Necessary.
2. Jill: OK, if we can take the new Parkway, we can get there in half an hour.
What type of cause is Jill claiming that taking the new Parkway is?
She appears to making a claim of a sufficient cause but it probably isn’t really sufficient.
3. Jack: Well, I would rather take the old roads through town to get there, and they will get us
there just as quickly.
Jill: Maybe we can try out the new Parkway another time.
What type of cause is Jack’s claiming that taking the old roads is?
Sufficient. See answer to 2.
4. Jack: I hope that means you agree because I don’t think the new Parkway will get us there,
anyway. It hasn’t been completely finished yet, and the construction that is open now
stops short of where the theater is located.
What type of cause is Jack denying that the new Parkway is?
Sufficient.
5. Jill: Oh, I didn’t realize that. That is enough by itself to convince me to go on the old roads
though town.
What type of cause is Jill saying that Jack’s last claim provides?
Sufficient.
6. Jack: So what you mean is that you were not convinced by my claim that the old roads would
get us there in half an hour?
Jill: Well, that helped but it was not enough by itself.
What type of cause is Jill saying that the timing of the old roads route played in her
decision?
Contributory.
7. Jack: The main reason I wanted to go to the movies in the first place was that someone told me
to go see Into the Wild, and I noticed today that it is playing at the Cineplex.
What type of causal relation is implied by Jack’s reference to an earlier recommendation
to see the movie Into the Wild?
Primary.
8. What type of causal relation is Jack claiming about the fact that it is playing now at the
Cineplex?
Necessary.
9. Jill: I also heard that was a good movie. In addition, I know someone who said she knew Chris
McCandless, the fellow in the movie, when he was in college. She said he was an
interesting writer, even then. I bet that is at least in part why he decided to go into the
wild, because he wanted to write to his friends while he was there.
What type of causal relation is Jill speculating about between McCandless’ practice of
writing and his going “into the wild”?
Contributory.
10. Consider the following argument.
(1) The patient has a high fever and feels very weak.
(2) The flu gives people a high fever and makes them weak.
Therefore,
(3) The patient might have the flu.
Which type of causal relation is implied between the symptoms of high fever and
weakness, and having the flu?
Contributory, probably a significant contributory cause.
11. “Although many physical abilities decline over the adult years, it is not clear that these
declines are inevitable. . . . Life style factors such as a poor diet, smoking, drinking
alcohol, and lack of exercise contribute to the decline in physical functioning for some
people. Moreover, culture markedly influences the way we think about aging and our
expectations of our physical abilities in middle and later adulthood. In Western cultures
such as the United States, becoming old is associated with being frail, useless, and ill, so
that many people attempt to push back the aging process.” (What is Psychology? Ellen
Postortino and Susann Doyle-Portillo, Thomson Wadsworth, 2006, p. 443.)
Contributory.
12. “The growth and intensification of serfdom was a major tendency in Russian history….[A]t
the end of the nineteenth century…thirty-four million people out of a population of
thirty-six millions were reckoned as serfs.” (William Henry Chamberlain, The Russian
Revolution, Volume 1 NY Grosset and Dunlop 1965, p 5)
What type of causal relation is Chamberlain claiming about the number of serfs?
None. There is no claim of a causal relation.
13. See if you can find three different types of cause in the following passage. “After regaining
independence in 1952, . . . Japan continued to profit from access to foreign raw materials,
technology, and markets, including those of the United States. Because of popular
sentiment, constitutional constraints, and the country’s reliance on the American “nuclear
umbrella,” Japan was freed from the burden of supporting a large and costly military
establishment, releasing funds and energies for economic development. At the same time,
business benefitted from a probusiness political system.” (Conrad Schirokauer, et. al. A
Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations. 3rd ed (Houghton Mifflin, 2006), p.
634.)
You can’t. There are only contributory causes here.
14. “The occurrence of hypertension in African Americans is the highest in the world an plays a
significant role in cardiovascular complications.” (Denise Campbell, Black Enterprise,
May 2007, p. 90.)
Contributory.
15. “The interaction between nicotine and alcohol, two of the most abused and co-abused drugs,
can impact a person’s ability to learn and could have implications for treating addiction,
according to researchers at Temple University.” (from “Addiction Treatment May
Benefit From Nicotine-Alcohol Interaction Study,” Medical News Today, accessed online
November 8, 2007, at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/87989.php; article
adapted by Medical News Today from Temple University press release)
Contributory