Competency 1007.1.1: Basic Concepts – The graduate applies conceptual foundations of logic and critical thinking to patterns of thinking and reasoning.
Competency 1007.1.2: Logic and Validity – The graduate evaluates arguments, demonstrating validity through application of formal logic and methods.
Competency 1007.1.3: Logic and Critical Thinking – The graduate evaluates sophisticated types of reasoning through the concepts and methods of logic and critical thinking.
Introduction:
For this task, you will use the tools of critical thinking you have learned in this course. You will choose one of the three passages from the attachment below and then discuss your findings. The arguments contained in the given passages are intended to be treated as complex, either as containing inferences, or as involving convergent arguments, or both.
Requirements:
Identify your chosen passage and complete the following:
A. Create an argument diagram that clearly and completely denotes the inferential relations among the various parts of the argument in the chosen passage.
B. Provide a critical analysis of the chosen passage by doing the following:
1. Discuss the implicit statements used in the reasoning of the chosen passage.
2. Discuss any tacit statements used in the reasoning of the chosen passage.
3. Discuss the acceptability of the assumptions in the chosen passage.
4. Discuss the quality of the reasoning used to arrive at the conclusion from the assumptions in the chosen passage.
a. Explain any named fallacies that the chosen passage commits.
b. Discuss any validity of the deductive arguments used in the chosen passage.
c. Discuss any strength of the inductive arguments used in the chosen passage.
C. When you use sources to support ideas and elements in a paper or project, provide acknowledgement of source information for any content that is quoted, paraphrased or summarized. Acknowledgement of source information includes in-text citation noting specifically where in the submission the source is used and a corresponding reference, which includes:
• Author
• Date
• Title
• Location of information (e.g., publisher, journal, or website URL)
Note: The use of APA citation style is encouraged but is not required for this task. Evaluators will offer feedback on the acknowledgement of source information but not with regard to conformity with APA or other citation style. For tips on using APA style, please refer to the APA Resources web link found under General Information/APA Guidelines in the left-hand panel in Taskstream.
Note: No more than a combined total of 30% of a submission can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from outside sources, even if cited correctly.
