Critical Thinking Chapter Summary

Chapter 4 – Reasons for belief and doubt
  * If we care whether our beliefs are true or reliable then we must care about the reasons for accepting those beliefs
  * The better the reasons for acceptance, the more likely are the beliefs, or statements to be true
  * Inadequate reasons, no reasons or fake reasons should lead us to doubt a statement
  * When two claims conflict they simply cannot both be true
  * If a new claim conflicts with other claims we have good reason to accept, we have good grounds for doubting the new claim
      * Eg. Its common knowledge that smoking causes cancer
      * Neera: i just read that smoking doesn’t cause cancer
  * With conflicting claims you are not justified in believing either one of them until you resolve the conflict ( in some cases resolving the conflict wont take long)
  * Background information – the large collection of very well supported beliefs that we all rely on to inform our actions and choices. It consists of basic facts about everyday things, beliefs based on very good evidence (including ur own personal observations and excellent authority) and justified claims that we would regard as ‘common sense’ or ‘common knowledge’.
  * If a claim conflicts with our background info, we have good reasons to doubt it
  * The more background info a claim conflicts with the more reason we have to doubt it
  * Facts about everyday things
      * The sky is blue
  * Beliefs based on very good evidence
      * Cigarettes aren’t good for u
  * Justified claims that we would regard as common sense or common knowledge
      * You’ll do better on a quiz if u study
      * Most nova scotians are of European heritage
      * Some babies can bench press a 500 lbs weight – you are not going to be able to accept this claim very easily because it conflicts with an enormous number of ur background beliefs. Including beliefs about physiology, gravity and weightlifting
  * So if a claim conflicts with our... [continues]

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