PHIL1002 - Introduction to Critical Thinking - Arts & Humanities Assignment Help

Assignment Task

QUESTION 1
A. Among the following kinds of definition, which is the odd one out? Give reasons for your answer.
ostensive / lexical / definition-by-example / stipulative
B. Briefly and clearly distinguish between vague and ambiguous uses of language.
C. Explain under what conditions a stipulative definition can be legitimately criticised.
D. The Wilderness Society has proposed a definition of “wilderness” as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain”.

1. What kind of definition is this?
2. Explain whether or not it is a good criticism to point out that this definition does not agree with the following dictionary definitions for “wilderness”:

(a) a wild uninhabited and uncultivated region;

(b) any desolate tract or area.

QUESTION 2
For each of the following, determine whether it contains a fallacy. If it does, identify the fallacy. If it does not write ‘No Fallacy’. Briefly explain your answer.

A. Background: Wolfman Jack was a popular rock disc jockey.
"When those pimples pop up, reach for the Clearasil. It goes right after those acne pimples. Dries ’em up, helps heal ’em up. Take it from the Wolfman. Pimples ... I’ve been there. I know."

B. Background: Senator Edward Kennedy, in opposing Wilkinson's appointment, says that Wilkinson is "the least experienced of any individual ever nominated to be a federal appeals judge." Consider this response:
"I know nothing of Wilkinson's qualifications but I do recall that Senator Kennedy's political career has been blemished with allegations of impropriety. What the Senator says doesn't carry much weight."
C. No exceptions can be made. Tariffs must go. We cannot allow the sugar industry to brow-beat us into keeping tariffs on sugar or else every other industry will be beating our doors down.
D. Defendant:I’ve already told you. I was fishing alone at the ocean that night.
Prosecutor:Yes, we’ve heard your story before. The trouble I have with it is that you have doctored the truth before. ‘Integrity’ is certainly not your middle name, sir.
E. People object to sexism and racism on the ground that they involve discrimination. But what is wrong with discrimination? We discriminate all the time—in the foods we eat, in the cars we buy, the books we read, the friends we choose. The fact is, there’s nothing wrong with discrimination as such.

QUESTION 3
Each of the passages, A and B, below contains an argument by analogy. With respect to ONE of the passages, answer the questions that follow.

A. Jack and Jill are arguing about whether genetic engineering should be permitted. Jack says:
“If they allow genetic engineering, then there will be a decent chance of finding a cure for cancer. It follows that if they don't allow it, then there will be no decent chance of finding such a cure.”
Jill responds:
“That's crazy logic, Jack. It's like saying ‘If you attend your lectures you will be able to listen to them. So if you don't attend, you won't be able to listen to them.’ We all know lectures are recorded.”

B. Human beings are much like dogs—some specimens are better than others and some strains are better than others. We could improve the quality of the human race, and the quality of human life, by selectively breeding people the way we breed dogs. The pity is that we are slaves to the idea that we must allow ‘nature to take its course’!
1. What kind of analogy is used here?
2. Identify the main conclusion of this argument.
3. Identify the Primary Subject and the Analogue Subject.
4. Briefly assess the argument.[8 marks]

QUESTION 4
A. Identify the premise(s) and conclusion of the following Conductive Argument, as well as any counter considerations. Determine whether the argument is cogent, giving reasons.
Jenny and Sam are going to get married soon. I’m sure of it. I know they were fighting last week and Jenny said she was thinking of going out with someone else, but I saw Sam buy a small ring at Mazzucchelli’s Jewellers yesterday.

B. For each of the following passages, identify and state the conclusion (if there is one). If the passage contains an inductive argument, state both its conclusion and what kind of inductive argument it is. Briefly justify your answer. If the passage does not contain an argument or if the argument is not inductive, briefly explain why.
1.Adults who are sleeping and who are found, by physiological tests, to be undergoing what is called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep regularly report dreams if they are wakened during that REM sleep. Cats exhibit brain activity closely similar to that which adult human beings exhibit during REM sleep. Therefore, cats probably dream.

2. In 1982, an American Roman Catholic organisation called Applied Research in the Apostolate sponsored a poll of people across the world to determine their values, attitudes, and sources of satisfaction in life. Of the people polled, 1200 were Canadians, and of these Canadians, 95% reported being very happy or quite happy. In fact, Canadians were happier, according to this survey, than people in the USA or Europe. So probably, in the 1990s, Canadians are still happier than Americans and Europeans.

3. Oscar drank beer after his first nine holes of golf on a hot and humid day. When he completed the second nine, he gulped down a glass of iced water—and passed out. If he had stuck to beer, he would have been OK.

QUESTION 5
A. Briefly and clearly state why ‘A is positively correlated with B’ is insufficient by itself to justify ‘A causes B’.
B. Evaluate the following inductive argument, by (i) identifying the following features: sample, target population, conclusion, nature of any inductive argument and then (ii) appraising: variety in sample, apparent representativeness of the sample, and carefulness of causal reasoning, if any.
It has been found that out of 500 students in the midwestern United States who received a bilingual education in Spanish and English, only 120 were competently bilingual after age 25. The speculation was that you lose competence in a language that you do not regularly use, and that for many midwesterners there are few opportunities to use Spanish. This research shows that less than 30 percent of students given bilingual education will benefit from it as far as real adult competence in the second acquired language is concerned.

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