Centre for Open EducationMACQUARIE UNIVERSITYNSW 2109 AUSTRALIA

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET(For Open Universities Australia students)

Office Use Only**

Unit Code PHI!@) Unit Name CRITICAL THINKING COE USE ONLYDate ReceivedAssignment No. 1

Assignment Title Assesment Task 1

Due Date Fri 7th october 2011

Contact Info 403424484 joseph.zizys@gmail.com

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Turnitin No.: (If Applicable)

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unit, I have not submitted substantially the same final version of any material as another student;· Neither the assessment, nor substantial parts of it, have been previously submitted for assessment

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This declaration is a summary of the University policy on plagiarism. For the policy in full, please refer to Student Information in the Handbook or http://www.mq.edu.au/academichon-esty

Student Name:Zizys Joseph

Student Number: 42351979

Date: 7/10/2011

Assessment Task 1 (30%)Available: After 9am (EST) Friday of Week 4Due: By 5pm (EST) Friday of Week 6

Answer all questions. This assessment task is out of 30 marks, and is worth 30% of the assessment for the course.

QUESTION 1: [3 marks]Give an example of (i) an argument and (ii) an explanation that could be given for the fol-lowing statement.Jasper took lots of photos of the mountains.Explain what makes (i) an argument and (ii) an explanation.

iJasper took the photos because EXIF data from the camera shows they where taken by his camera, and Bob saw him using the camera on the mountains every day of the holi-days.Jasper took over a thousand photos of the mountains.By any reasonable definition thousands of photos is a lot of photos.Mountains figure in every picture.No other element or figure features in every picture.Therefore Jasper was taking photos of the mountains.Therefore Jasper took lots of photos of the mountains.

This is an argument because it seeks to demonstrate the truth of the statement by re-course to evidence, premises and definitions. It doesn't seek to explain why Jasper took the photos, but to convince someone that he did in fact take the photos and the photos had the qualities (manyness, mountain-of-ness) described.

iiJasper took lots of photos of the mountains because he thought they where beautiful and he was really keen to try out his new lenses. He wanted to send Sally a really great shot of his holiday. He liked to take lots of shots on the digital camera because the cost of film wasn’t an issue and he would pick the best one.

This is an explanation of why Jasper took a lot of photos of mountains on his holiday, it as-sumes the truth of the statement and does not seek to establish it. 

QUESTION 2: [5 marks]Standardise the following arguments. State whether any premises on the same level are linked or convergent.

Barbie dolls are a bad influence on young girls, since all their accessories are pink, and that just reinforces gender stereotypes. Also, Barbie dolls promote an unrealistic body im-age.

Humans pose a threat to the survival of pandas. Pandas only eat bamboo, so it is impera-tive for the survival of pandas that there are plentiful supplies of bamboo in the wild. Unfor-tunately, human intervention has resulted in bamboo becoming less plentiful in the wild, as

large areas of bamboo are cleared each year to make way for more farming land. In some areas, pandas are still also being hunted for their fur.

C Barbie dolls are a bad influence on young girls.1.1 All their accessories are pink.1 That just reinforces gender stereotypes.2 Also, Barbie dolls promote an unrealistic body image.

1 and 2 are convergent.

C Humans pose a threat to the survival of pandas. 1.1.1 Pandas only eat bamboo, 1.1 It is imperative for the survival of pandas that there are plentiful bamboo in the wild. 1 human intervention has resulted in bamboo becoming less plentiful in the wild, 1.2 as large areas of bamboo are cleared each year to make way for more farming land.2. In some areas, pandas are still also being hunted for their fur.

1 and 2 are convergent, 1.1 and 1.2 are linked.

QUESTION 3: [5 marks]Standardise the target argument and counterargument in the following passage. Include any counterconsiderations and state whether any premises on the same level are linked or convergent.Some educationalists believe that although children in NSW are permitted to start school when they are four and a half, those who have not yet turned five should be held back until the following year. They argue that many four year olds are not ready for school, and hav-ing young children in the year means that there is a very wide range of ages in a class for the teachers to have to deal with. Also, they suggest that sending children early could lead to problems later on, since children who reach puberty much later than their peers may find it difficult to socialise. But parents should not have to hold their child back if they be-lieve the child is ready, since the individual development of the child is more relevant to their readiness than their age, and parents are able to judge the development of their child. And although having a wide range of ages in a class does pose challenges, the fact that there is now such a wide range is as much a result of parents holding their children back longer than they need to as it is a matter of sending them early. It should also be noted that children reaching puberty before their peers may have as many difficulties socialising as those who reach puberty later.

ARGUMENT:C Some educationalists believe that although children in NSW are permitted to start school when they are four and a half, those who have not yet turned five should be held back until the following year.

1 They argue that many four year olds are not ready for school,

2 and having young children in the year means that there is a very wide range of ages in a class for the teachers to have to deal with.

3 Also, they suggest that sending children early could lead to problems later on,

since children who reach puberty much later than their peers may find it difficult to so-cialise.

COUNTERARGUMENT:

C But parents should not have to hold their child back if they believe the child is ready,

1 since the individual development of the child is more relevant to their readiness than their age,

1.1 and parents are able to judge the development of their child.

2 And although having a wide range of ages in a class does pose challenges, the fact that there is now such a wide range is as much a result of parents holding their children back longer than they need to as it is a matter of sending them early.

3 It should also be noted that children reaching puberty before their peers may have as many difficulties socialising as those who reach puberty later.

All 3 premises in the argument are convergent, all three premises at the top level of the counterargument are convergent, counterargument premise 2 is a counterconsideration for argument premise 2 and likewise 3 for 3. Premise 1 from the argument is inductive and is countered with a deductive counterconsideration in the counterargument.

QUESTION 4 [3 marks]Give THREE examples of conditional statements to which someone who eats popcorn when they're not at the movies would be a counterexample.

All popcorn eating happens at the movies.Only moviegoers eat popcorn.if a person is eating popcorn then they are at the movies. 

QUESTION 5 [2 marks]Give an example of an argument with the form "denying the necessary condition" and the conclusion:C: It isn't safe to drink the water

Water is only safe to drink when it has been filtered.This water hasn’t been filtered.Therefore it isn't safe to drink the water. 

QUESTION 6 [4 marks]Standardise the following argument. State the form (e.g. affirming the necessary) of any conditional arguments or subarguments, and state whether they are valid or invalid.The Prince will marry Cinderella if the glass slipper fits her. The glass slipper will only fit someone with very small feet, but Cinderella does have very small feet, so the glass slip-per will fit Cinderella, and the Prince will marry her

1 The Prince will marry Cinderella if the glass slipper fits her.

1.1.1 The glass slipper will only fit someone with very small feet, 1.1.2 but Cinderella does have very small feet, 1.1 so the glass slipper will fit Cinderella, C and the Prince will marry her

1.1 affirms the neccesery condition of the slipper fitting. 1.1.2 affirms the neccesery of hav-ing small feet. Both the inner conditional and the outer one are valid.

QUESTION 7 [4 marks]Give an example of (a) a standardised inductive argument, and (b) a standardised deduc-tive argument, which could be given to support the conclusion:C: This movie will give Timmy nightmares.Explain your answers in part (i): What makes argument (a) inductive and argument (b) de-ductive?

(a)

1 Almost every time we watch a horror movie, it gives Timmy Nightmares1.1 This movie is probably a horror movie.C: This movie will give Timmy nightmares.

Timmy does not always have nightmares from watching horror movies, but he often does, so it is probable that Timmy will have a nightmare watching what is probably a horror movie.

(b)

1 Horror movies give Timmy nightmares1.1 This movie is a horror movieC: This movie will give Timmy nightmares.

This argument makes no references to probabilities or appeals to experience, it simply states as fact that a certain type of movie gives Timmy nightmares and states that Timmy is watching this type of movie, the conclusion is therefore deductive. 

QUESTION 8 [4 marks]Can a valid argument with false premises have a true conclusion? If not, why not? If so, give an example and explain your answer.

A valid argument with false premises can have a true conclusion, as in;All rocks are intelligent beings.Socrates is a rock.Therefore Socrates is an intelligent being.

Both premises of this argument are false, rocks aren't intelligent, and Socrates is not a rock, but the form of the argument is valid; all A’s are B’s, x is an A, therefore x is a B. and the conclusion is true, Socrates is an intelligent being.

Give an example of an argument that could be standardized with the following premise numbers:

1.1 Rogers alarm clock broke down.1.2 Without an alarm, Roger won’t wake up.1   So Roger oversleeps.2   Rogers meeting has been moved forward an hour anyway.C: Roger will be late.

Where 1.1 and 1.2 are linked premises, and 1 and 2 are convergent.