Review List for Mid-term

Review List for Mid-term - Fall 2008

Note: On concepts be sure to be able to identify, define, and explain the significance of each concept.

1. Five Disciplines of Thought
2. Rationales, arguments, explanations, claim, premise, conclusion, reflective/deliberative context. (p. 3)
3. Thinking in Stereo: what is it, what questions are asked at each level.
4. Thought Experiment for finding reflective ideals: What do you need to count on when you begin a serious discussion with someone? What specific values and expectations should one have? What mutual obligations follow?
5. Reflective ideals: sympathetic understanding, seeking knowledge, inviting appraisal.
6. Distinguishing argument and explanation (skill of identification) also, provide the distinction.
7. 3 Criteria for Good Reconstruction.
8. Reconstruction (skill) -might have a short argument to reconstruct.
9. Distinguishing Deductive and Inductive arguments. (skill of identification) also, give definitions and compare.
10. How do you show logical structure in deductive arguments? in inductive? in explanation?
11. Validity. esp. relation to truth. Can a valid argument have a false conclusion?
12. 3 Techniques for assessing rationales. (skill)
13. Criteria for a good explanation. Also, know the concepts of prediction, retrodiction
14. Causation: Mill's methods.
15. Explanation: Why vs. How
16. Explanation: Case study of competing explanations for why Mars is red.