MegaMaester

Critical Thinking · Module 3

Logic and Argument

Module 1 built the foundations of critical thinking; Module 2 applied them to sources, media, and online life. This module goes under the hood of reasoning itself: how arguments are built, what makes an inference sound, and how to construct and defend a case that holds up.

You will learn to take an argument apart into its premises and conclusion, tell a valid argument from a merely persuasive one, weigh inductive evidence, reason carefully about cause and effect, judge analogies, build a strong argument of your own, and reason productively with people who disagree.

Lessons
7 lessons
Estimated time
~6-8 hours
Assessment
Module quiz included

Not started yet

Lessons

Lesson 1 · 16 min

The Structure of Arguments

Lesson 2 · 16 min

Deduction, Validity, and Soundness

Lesson 3 · 16 min

Induction and the Weight of Evidence

Lesson 4 · 16 min

Causal Reasoning: Cause, Correlation, and Confounds

Lesson 5 · 16 min

Reasoning by Analogy

Lesson 6 · 16 min

Constructing a Strong Argument

Lesson 7 · 16 min

Reasoning Together: Dialectic and Debate

Check your understanding

Finish the lessons, then test yourself. Your best score is saved on this device. You can also open this quiz on its own page.

Logic and Argument — Module Assessment

14 questions · pass mark 75%

  1. 1.Which passage is an argument rather than a mere assertion or explanation?
  2. 2.In the enthymeme "Whales are mammals, so they breathe air," what is the hidden premise?
  3. 3.An argument is valid but you discover one of its premises is false. What can you conclude?
  4. 4.Which statement about validity and truth is correct?
  5. 5.Which best describes the difference between the strength of an inductive argument and the validity of a deductive one?
  6. 6.A researcher surveys 50,000 people found entirely at one luxury resort and concludes most people take three holidays a year. What is the main flaw?
  7. 7.Neighbourhoods with more coffee shops have higher rents. Before concluding coffee shops raise rents, what should you look for first?
  8. 8.According to Austin Bradford Hill's 1965 address, how should his nine viewpoints be used?
  9. 9.An analogical argument is strongest when:
  10. 10."Running a country is just like running a business, so a good CEO will make a good president" is a weak analogy mainly because:
  11. 11.In Toulmin's model, the warrant is:
  12. 12.Why does adding a rebuttal condition ("unless...") tend to strengthen an argument rather than weaken it?
  13. 13.What is the central aim of adversarial collaboration as advocated by Daniel Kahneman?
  14. 14.In Kahneman and Klein's 2009 paper, what two conditions make intuitive expertise trustworthy?
Answer every question to submit.