ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
(Browne & Keeley, 10th Ed.)
Chapter 1
Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions
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Critical thinking refers to:
o being aware of critical questions
o asking and answering critical questions at appropriate times, and
o actively using the critical questions
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One approach to thinking is like a sponge absorbing water
o It is a passive approach that provides no method for deciding which
information and opinions to believe and reject
o Emphasizes knowledge acquisition
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A different approach is to have a question-asking attitude
o Called the panning-for-gold style of thinking
o Requires you to ask frequent questions and to reflect on the answers
o Frequently questions why the author makes various claims
o Panning for gold = asking critical questions
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Before asking questions, ask “Who cares”
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If you approach critical thinking as a way to defend your initial position =
weak sense critical thinking
o Not really concerned about moving to the truth
o Purpose is to resist and annihilate opinions different from yours
o Strong-sense critical thinking applies critical questions to all claims,
including your own
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The Right Questions
1. What are the issues and the conclusions?
2. What are the reasons?
3. Which words or phrases are ambiguous?
4. What are the value and descriptive assumptions?
5. Any fallacies in the reasoning?
6. How good is the evidence?
7. Are there rival causes?
8. Are the statistics deceptive?
9. What significant information is omitted?
10. What reasonable conclusions are possible?
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Primary values of a critical thinker
o Autonomy
1. Want to form our own conclusions
2. Requires us to listen to different value priorities
o Curiosity = Really listen and read
o Humility
1. Recognize that even the smartest make mistakes
2. Socrates said he knew that he did not know
o Respect for good reasoning for wherever you find it
Chapter 2
What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?
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Descriptive issues
o Raise questions about the accuracy of the past, present, or future (e.g.,
What causes high blood pressure?)
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Prescriptive issues
o Raise questions about what we should do or what is right or wrong (e.g.,
Should capital punishment be abolished?)
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Conclusions are inferred—derived from reasoning
o If there is a claim that something is true or should be done, but no
statements support it—it is an opinion rather than a conclusion
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How to find the conclusion
o What is the issue?
1. The conclusion is a response
o Indicator words (e.g., therefore, indicates that)
o Look at beginning or end
o Conclusion is not statistics, examples, evidence
o Biases or background of source/author
o Ask the question, “and therefore?”
Chapter 3
What Are the Reasons?
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Reasons are the beliefs, evidence, and analogies offered to support
conclusions
o “Because I think so” is not an acceptable answer
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Why does the writer/speaker believe that?
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REASONS + CONCLUSION = ARGUMENT
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Reasons are rationales for why we should believe a particular conclusion
Chapter 4
What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?
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We often misunderstand because we presume the meaning of words is
obvious
o Force yourself to search for ambiguity
o Get into the habit of asking “What do you mean by that?”
o Search for ambiguity by asking “What could be meant?” and “What is
meant by the key terms?”
o “Drug use should not be regulated by the state.”
1. What is meant by “drug use”?
o Be alert to how terms make you FEEL
1. Does the term blind you so you don’t really understand?
2. “Revenue Enhancement” or “Tax and Spend Liberals”
Chapter 5
What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?
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Anyone trying to convince you will give reasons consistent with their position
o At first glance, almost every argument makes sense
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To fully understand an argument, you must identify the assumptions
o Assumption is an unstated belief that supports explicit reasoning.
o What are the value assumptions? How the world should be.
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Should we legalize recreational drugs?
Reason
Value
Assumption
Public safety
more important
than freedom
of choice
Such drugs
cause too much
violence and
crime
Conclusion
Recreational
drugs
should not
be legalized.
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Complete reasoning requires reasons plus value assumptions
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Hints for finding value assumptions
o Communicator’s background
o Reverse role-play: what do people who take different position care about?
o Individual rights vs. welfare of affected group?
Chapter 6
Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?
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Types
o Ad hominem = personal attack or insult rather than addressing the reasons
o Slippery slope = making assumption that proposed step will set off
uncontrollable chain of undesirable events
o Searching for perfect solutions = should not adopt solution because part
of the problem will still remain
o Appeal to popularity = it is desirable because large group favors it
o Appeal to questionable authority = citing an authority that lacks special
expertise on the issue
o Appeals to emotion = use of emotionally charged language to distract you
o Straw person = distorting opponent’s point of view so it is easy to attack
o Either or = assumes only two alternatives
o Red herring = presents irrelevant topic to divert attention
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o Glittering generalities = “A vote for Goodheart is a vote for truth, vision,
and common sense.”
o Begging the question = repeats the conclusion (e.g., Programmed
learning is superior to traditional learning because it is advantageous for
learning to be presented in step-by-step fashion.)
Chapter 7
How Good Is the Evidence: Intuition, Personal Experience,
Case Examples, Testimonials, and Appeals to Authority?
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First question to ask is “Why should I believe it?”
Second question “How good is the evidence?”
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Evidence is explicit information shared by the communicator that is used to
back up or to justify the dependability of a factual claim
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Intuition relies on common sense or gut feelings
o Intuitive beliefs often differ—which should we believe?
o Intuition can reflect strong biases
o No way to judge its dependability
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Personal experience
o Accumulation of personal experiences may not give you a representative
sample
o Hasty generalization = conclusion about large group based on
experiences with only a few members of the group
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Case Examples
o Is the example typical?
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Testimonials
o What are the values, interests, expertise and biases behind them?
o What was experience of those for whom we have not heard?
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Appeals to authority
o Even authorities can be wrong
o Their expertise or training?
o Was authority in position to have especially good access to pertinent
facts?
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Chapter 8
How Good Is the Evidence:
Personal Observation, Research Studies, and Analogies?
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Personal observation
o Observers, unlike mirrors, do not give pure observation
o Tendency to see or hear what we wish to see or hear
o Filtered through values, biases, attitudes, expectations
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Research studies
o Published in scientific journal does not mean it is not flawed
o Have other researchers verified?
o Research does not prove conclusions—at best, it supports conclusions
1. Findings are interpreted by researchers
o Peer-reviewed?
o Biases in surveys, questionnaires, measurements?
o Breadth and randomness of sample?
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Analogies
o Decisions in legal cases based on similarity to preceding cases
o Can almost always find similarities
o Relevance of similarities and differences
o Even the best analogy is only suggestive
Chapter 9
Are There Rival Causes?
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Many events can be explained by rival causes
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Common cause fallacy = failure to recognize two events may be related
because of effects of common third factor
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Post hoc fallacy = assuming event, B, is caused by another event, A, simply
because B follows A
Chapter 10
Are the Statistics Deceptive?
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Statistics can and often do lie
o P.142, Scales of Graphs 1 & 2
Average is…
o Mean?
o Median?
o Mode?
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1.
2.
3.
As compared to…
o Medusa hair spray, now 50% better
1. Better than what?
EXAMPLE
Treatment X will reduce likelihood of future stroke by 33%
Treatment Y will reduce absolute risk by 3%, from 9% to 6%
With treatment Z, 94% of women are free of second stroke for 10 years,
compared to 91% who go untreated
Choose #1?
If X reduces risk from 9 in 100 to 6 in 100, that’s 33%
If absolute change is from 9% to 6%, that’s 3% reduction
Improvement from 91 to 94% is also 3%
Chapter 11
What Significant Information is Omitted?
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Incomplete reasoning is inevitable
o Limitations imposed by time and space
o Most of us have limited attention span
o Knowledge possessed by presenter is incomplete
o Values, beliefs, attitudes of those trying to persuade are frequently
different from yours (their reasoning guided by different assumptions)
1. Critical thinkers value curiosity and those working to persuade you
often want to extinguish your curiosity
o Example:
Zitout brand facial cleanser’s commercials claim the cleanser
removes 95% of deep-down dirt and oil.
What %age of deep-down dirt and oil is removed by other facial
cleansers?
Amount of dirt and oil removed by washing alone?
o What are the potential negative effects of actions being advocated?
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Chapter 12
What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?
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When people think in black or white, yes or no, right or wrong = dichotomous
thinking
o Either-or fallacy
[Bonus Material Not in Book]
Overcoming Obstacles to Critical Thinking
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Familiar Obstacles
o Bandwagon fallacy = desire to be accepted by going along with the
team
o Our relative unwillingness to listen to people we do not like
o We stress our personal experiences, but it’s an observation of only
one!
o Because we wish certain conclusions to be true, we may reason as if
they are true
o Tendency to stereotype; stereotypes are substitutes for thought
1. We won’t approach people and their ideas with the spirit of
openness necessary for critical thinking
o Our urge to simplify
o We are biased at the start of the exchange in favor of our current
opinions and conclusions
o Availability heuristic = our tendency to rely on information and
memories that are easily retrieved as a basis for our decisions
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