WHAT IS CRITICAL

THINKING?
 Lesson
01 Outline
Importance of Critical Thinking

Distinguishing Facts from

02 Opinions

03 Identifying Incorrect
Information

04 Two Kinds of Reasoning

05 Common Logical Fallacies

Think-Pair-Share: Explain why the following statements are
flawed.
1. “The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is an anti-Catholic novel, so I will
not include it in my required reading list.”
2. 95% of senior high school students have bought this book so this is the
right
book for you.
3. “Junk food is bad because junk foods have disastrous effects.”
4. What I do in private is my business (even if it involves cybersex).
5. “Sir Julsen said so, so it must be true.
6. “Children shouldn’t be raised bilingual as they mix languages and get
confused.”
7. “Stephen Curry is a celebrity icon and he uses this deodorant. You
must, too.”
8. “My political rival is a sexist, racist hoodlum. He will only bring ruin to
our
country if you vote for him.”
 The Importance of
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is important in all aspects of
your academic life especially in research and
other writing assignments.
You are a critical thinker when you…………
1.Analyze ideas and information gathered
2.Able to weigh and evaluate various
information
3.Discern –able to let go of preconceived
notions
4.Value viewpoints that are contrary to what
you believe
5.Able to distinguish facts from opinions
 Distinguishing fact from opinion
Fact Opinion
• Statements
• Statements that
involving ideas and
involve one’s
information that
personal beliefs
can be verified

In academic writing, opinions are allowed provided that

you support your convictions with enough evidence.
 When making When making statement
statements of fact: of opinions:
 Do your research.  Ask yourself if your opinion is
 Get your information from the result of someone else’s
as many sources as influence; if so be able to
possible and compare. defend it.
 Retain what is credible &  Be able to express your
useful and delete those that opinion clearly.
 Be mindful of the tone you
are not.
 Be able to cite your sources use in writing.
 Be able to support your
of information. opinion with credible facts,
 Be mindful of your tone.
statistics and reliable
argument.
 Identifying Incorrect Information
In this “media-saturated world”
we are in, what should we need to
lookout for?

In this age where pictures can

be digitally enhanced and news
can be tweaked and passed off
as real, what should we do?

Be WISE! Investigate. Be WISE! Fact-check authenticity.

Read the following statements and identify the statement
of fact (F);the statement of opinion (O); and the incorrect
information (I)
1. The Philippines is a member of the Association of Southeast
Asean Nations (ASEAN).
2. The US is eager to assert its supremacy over the member-nations
of the ASEAN.
3. Philippines is the largest archipelago in the world having made up
of 7,641 islands.
4. In many developing nations, rapid population growth threatens
food supply.
5. If left unchecked, the problem of teenage pregnancy in our country
will even be worse than that of other developing nations.
 Two Kinds of Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning
• Argument proceeds from a • Argument proceeds from
general assumption to more a specific premise to a
specific statement of facts, general conclusion.
evidence or other ideas. • The reasoning involved
• If the general principle is here is the specific
true, the conclusion is true. situations used as a
premise, ending with a
definitive conclusion.

Top-down argument Bottom-up or Cause-Effect

argument
 Examples
General to specific Specific to general

You have personally

“All
men are mortal. experienced rude
Socrates is a man. treatment from a
Therefore, foreign national. From
Socrates is mortal.” then on, you have
regarded all foreign
nationals from that
country as rude.

In what ways do this kind of reasoning lead to bias and prejudice?

Write what you know and how you feel about each of the
contemporary issues below by stating a fact and opinion about
it.
1.Corruption in government
Fact:
Opinion:
2. LGBTQ rights and equality
Fact:
Opinion:
3. Teenage pregnancy in the Philippines
Fact:
Opinion:
4. Halting Online Harassment
Fact:
Opinion:
5. Privacy and social media
Fact:
Opinion:
 Lesson 10: Common Logical
Logical Fallacies – involve flawed arguments where the premises have not
Fallacies
been fully supported, leading to a weak and faulty conclusion

01 02 03
Ad hominem – “to Appeal to Flattery Appeal to Force
the person”
-equivalent to – this argument - Also called
character uses compliments argumentum ad
assassination and and praise (often baculum
attacks a person’s insincere) to win the - Uses force to win
character instead of argument the argument
focusing on his/her
performance.
 Common Logical Fallacies
4. Appeal to Pity 5. Bandwagon 6. Begging the
This appeals to question
This argument one’s need to be
capitalizes on the part of the group, This uses the
fact that people to be “in” and circular argument
easily fall prey to stems from the – arguing without
their emotion and assumption that sufficiently
sentimentality. just because the explaining why
majority approves the argument
of something, it has to be
must be good for accepted.
the individual too.
 Common Logical Fallacies
07 08 09
Either/or False Analogy
– this fallacy False Cause - This happens when
offers only two the debater uses
alternatives and – this fallacy ideas that have
nothing else, arises when a similarities but doe
leading to weak misleading not consider that
correlates. correlation was the analogy has
drawn between been
Ex: The antibiotics two events, overextended, and
didn’t work. It is ending in a no longer applies.
either expired or questionable
fake. conclusion Ex: The presidential
campaign is so much
like a sales campaign.
 Common Logical Fallacies
10. Hasty 11. Non sequitor 12.
Generalization This argument Oversimplification
- Happens when
literally means “it the correlation
This fallacy uses doesn’t follow” between events is
an isolated and contains a hastily concluded
experience as weak conclusion w/o enough reason
basis for a from a set of or explanation and
general premises. so much has been
statement. attributed to the
conclusion being
the result of the
cause.
 Common Logical Fallacies
13 14 15
Red herring Straw man
– used by Slippery slope - Happens when a
debaters when debater
they try to – happens out of caricaturizes or
distract their fear that once an trivializes another
opponent away action has been person’s argument
from the real taken, a series of to refute it
issue and onto actions (often
something negative) will Ex: Your argument is
irrelevant happen as a so old school. The
result of the millennials will not
previous action fall for it.
 Conclusion

Academic writing must be logical – free

from bias and properly supported by
solid facts and well-researched
evidences.
Why do some people choose to remain
clueless about the dirty tactics used by
some politicians?

Aside from politics, can you think of a

field or an area where illogical fallacies
are often committed?
Prepare for an assessment activity for
the topic logical fallacies.
 Thank you for
attentive listening!

Prepared by:

Gina F. Kadatar