PHL 221 CRITICAL THINKING
SECOND MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
Part 1
(changes to original posting in bold)

There will be 60 questions on the exam. You are allowed a 3x5 card of notes (both sides). Go over your notes from class sessions (live or audio podcasts) and any videos, along with the readings and then take the two sets of practice questions. To guide your study, use the review questions below:

What is the ultimate goal of critical thinking? What is the proper attitude to adopt when thinking critically? According to material presented in class, is it more important to be skeptical or "open"? What is confirmation bias? Is it rational to give additional weight to your own beliefs to the degree that they are part of a carefully scrutinized and researched system, backed by evidence? Why is formal logic not as useful in analyzing real world problems? Even though deductive arguments guarantee their conclusions with one hundred percent certainty, why aren't they necessarily better than inductive arguments, which can only establish their conclusions with a high degree of probability?

What's the difference between an inductive and deductive argument? What are two ways in which an any argument (inductive or deductive) can go wrong thus be invalid or unsound? What's the difference between a formal and an informal fallacy? When are appeals to authority fallacious?

In an argument with evidence drawn from reliable sources, is it important to know anything about the person making the argument? How, if at all, do issues of privilege, power and difference relate to understanding and evaluating a logical argument?

What are three general types of informal argument strategies? What is argument by analogy? In what kinds of arguments is analogical reasoning most prevalent and useful? What important goal of critical thinking and need of a rational person does argument by analogy leverage? What’s problematic with Judas Jarvis Thompson’s violinist analogy? What is a reductio ad absurdum argument? How are argument by analogy and reductio arguments similar kinds of arguments?

For the informal fallacies, make sure you understand the definitions and can identify particular examples. I also might ask questions about the fallacies, such as "Which fallacy most relies on the 'herd mentality?'" Review the examples used in the handouts and in class, as I may use some of those examples or very similar ones in many of the exam questions.

Removed and not on the exam: What were the two purposes of the example of the four cards, with a letter on one side and a number on the other,  labeled D F 3 and 7?