A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking, 2nd Edition

APPENDIX A CRITICAL THINKING MISTAKES

Critical thinking is reasonable and reflective thinking aimed at deciding what to believe and what to do. Throughout this book, we have identified mistakes that a good critical thinker should avoid. Some are mistakes that can arise in clarifying or defining a view. Others are mistakes that can arise as we collect or rely on evidence or reasons for a view. Still others arise when we try to draw conclusions for our evidence. And there are even mistakes that can arise as we assess other people's views or reasons. Knowing what they are will help us to avoid them in our own reasoning. But it will also help to make it clear just what the value is in being a critical thinker: thinking critically is valuable in part because it helps us to avoid some mistakes. This appendix lists all of the mistakes we have discussed.

Personalizing Reasons. It is a mistake to personalize reasons by treating them as if they belonged to someone. That is a mistake for two reasons. First, epistemic reasons are universal: if they are reasons for me to believe something, then they are equally reasons for anyone else to believe it. Second, epistemic reasons are objective: whether a piece of evidence is sufficient or acceptable is an objective matter. It has nothing to do with me or with anyone else. Personalizing reasons can obscure the fact that they are universal and objective. It can also allow emotion to get in the way of thinking critically, if one identifies too ...