Dona Warren, "Thinking Well: Uncovering Our Hidden Assumptions"

Dona Warren, "Thinking Well: Uncovering Our Hidden Assumptions"
Dr. Dona Warren Department of Philosophy The University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point

A (Very Little) Bit About Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive Therapy Thought: I’ll never get this done on time. Emotion: Anxiety Behavior: Procrastination

Cognitive Therapy Thought: I’ll work a bit each day and get it done. Emotion: Enthusiasm Behavior: Getting to work

Cognitive Therapy By thinking better… Thought we can feel better… Emotion and act better. Behavior

Cognitive Therapy “Psychological Problems … may result from commonplace processes such as faulty learning, making incorrect inferences on the basis of inadequate or incorrect information, and not distinguishing adequately between imagination and reality. Moreover, thinking can be unrealistic because it is derived from erroneous premises…” (Beck, Cognitive Therapy, pp ) “The formula for treatment may be stated in simple terms: The therapist helps the patient to identify his warped thinking and to learn more realistic ways to formulate his experiences.” (Beck, Cognitive Therapy, pp )

Cognitive Therapy Better feeling What are you feeling? This is psychology, not philosophy, but philosophy (critical thinking) can help out here. Better thoughts What are you thinking? What are some better ways to think? Should you think that way? If not

A (Very Little) Bit About Critical Thinking

Reasons for Belief Causal Reason Doesn’t try to provide reason to think that the belief is true I believe that we have moral obligations toward animals because my parents were animal rights activists.

Reasons for Belief Justifying Reason Does try to provide reason to think that the belief is true An argument is a unit of reasoning that attempts to establish that one idea is true by citing other ideas as evidence. I believe that we have moral obligations toward animals because animals can experience pleasure and pain.

An Argument We have moral obligations toward animals because animals can experience pleasure and pain. I know this because animals exhibit behaviors similar to behaviors that humans exhibit. I think it’s clear that we’re obligated to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Besides, our ecosystem is essential to our survival and we have a moral obligation to ensure our own survival so we have moral obligations toward things that constitute an important part of our ecosystem. Animals constitute an important part of our ecosystem.

An Argument Diagrammed We have a moral obligation to ensure our own survival. Our ecosystem is essential to our survival. + Animals exhibit behaviors similar to behaviors that humans exhibit. We have moral obligations toward things that constitute an important part of our ecosystem. We’re obligated to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Animals constitute an important part of our ecosystem. Animals can experience pleasure and pain. + + We have moral obligations toward animals.

Argument Parts Animals exhibit behaviors similar to behaviors that humans exhibit. Premise Inference Animals can experience pleasure and pain. Subconclusion Inference Ultimate Conclusion We have moral obligations toward animals.

Argument Parts Animals exhibit behaviors similar to behaviors that humans exhibit. We’re obligated to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Animals can experience pleasure and pain. Dependent Reasons + We have moral obligations toward animals.

Argument Parts Independent Reasons / Lines of Reasoning Animals exhibit behaviors similar to behaviors that humans exhibit. We have moral obligations toward things that constitute an important part of our ecosystem. We’re obligated to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Animals constitute an important part of our ecosystem. Animals can experience pleasure and pain. + + We have moral obligations toward animals.

An Argument Diagrammed We have a moral obligation to ensure our own survival. Our ecosystem is essential to our survival. + Animals exhibit behaviors similar to behaviors that humans exhibit. We have moral obligations toward things that constitute an important part of our ecosystem. We’re obligated to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Animals constitute an important part of our ecosystem. Animals can experience pleasure and pain. + + We have moral obligations toward animals.

Argument Evaluation A good argument = An argument that gives us good reason to think that the ultimate conclusion is true. An argument is good if and only if it has at least one good line of reasoning. A line of reasoning is good if and only if all of its premises are good and all of its inferences are good. A premise is good only if it’s true. An inference is good only if should the ideas on “top” of the inference be true then the idea on the “bottom” of the inference will be true as well.

Argument Evaluation If either line of reasoning is good then the argument is good and we have good reason to believe the conclusion. The left hand line of reasoning is bad because it has a false premise. The right hand line of reasoning is bad because it has a weak inference. Animals are nothing but little machines.  Animals can’t sue us. So the argument is bad as a whole.   We don’t have moral obligations toward animals.

Argument Evaluation Evaluating Inferences: Implicit Premise Technique 1. Find the implicit premise needed to perfect the inference. 2. Evaluate this implicit premise. Often this involves a. Identifying the “common concepts” between the top idea and the bottom idea, b. Identifying the “left-over” concepts from the top idea and the bottom idea, and c. Constructing a missing premise of the form “If [left-over concept from top idea] then [left-over concept from bottom idea]” (or equivalent).

Argument Evaluation Evaluating Inferences: Implicit Premise Technique 1. Identify the “common concepts.” 2. Identify the “left-over” concepts. 3. Construct an implicit premise of the form “If [left-over concept from top idea] then [left-over concept from bottom idea].” If something can’t sue us then we don’t have moral obligations toward it.  Animals are nothing but little machines.  Animals can’t sue us. +  We don’t have moral obligations toward animals.

Argument Evaluation An argument is good if and only if it has at least one good line of reasoning. A line of reasoning is good if and only if all of its explicit and implicit premises are good and all of its inferences are good. A premise is good only if it’s true. An inference is good only if should the ideas on “top” of the inference be true then the idea on the “bottom” of the inference will be true as well.

Argument Evaluation An argument is good if and only if it has at least one good line of reasoning. A line of reasoning is good if and only if all of its explicit and implicit premises are good. A premise is good only if it’s true.

Cognitive Therapy and Critical Thinking

Cognitive Therapy & Critical Thinking Better feeling What are you feeling? Better thoughts What are you thinking? What are some better ways to think? Should you think that way? If not

What are you thinking? Uncovering Arguments & Hidden Beliefs Visible Belief I’m going to fail this test. Hidden Beliefs are Reasons for the Visible Belief Subconclusions between the Visible Belief and the emotion Implicit Premises presupposed by the various inferences Anxiety

What are you thinking? Uncovering Arguments & Hidden Beliefs The Obvious Truth I can’t think of the answer right now. If I know something, I should be able to think of it right away.2 + () Why should I think that’s true? I don’t know the answer to the first question on this test. If I don’t know one answer then I won’t know any answers. + () Why should I think that’s true? + I’m going to fail this test. Smart people never fail tests. () What’s so bad about that? If this were true, then what?1 + Everyone will think I’m stupid. Only smart people are likeable. () What’s so bad about that? If this were true, then what? Nobody will like me. The Obvious Awful 1. Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, p ; Burns, The Feeling Good Handbook, p This technique uncovers “missing subconclusions.” Anxiety 2. Burns calls implicit premises “silent assumptions.” “A silent assumption…represents your value system, your personal philosophy .” (Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, p. 234)

Should you Think this Way? What are Some Better Ways to Think? There are lots of things I know that I can’t think of right away. If I know something I should be able to think of it right away.  I might know lots of other answers even if I don’t know this one. If I don’t know one answer then I won’t know any answers.  Smart people can and do fail tests sometimes. Smart people never fail tests.  Being smart isn’t what makes someone likeable. Only smart people are likeable. 

Common Types of Bad Reasoning3 1. All-or-Nothing Thinking “The exam that I wrote contained an error, so the exam I wrote was terrible.” 2. Overgeneralization “This exam had a problem, so none of my exams are any good.” 3. Mental Filter “Susan fell asleep in class, so I’m a boring teacher.” 4. Disqualifying the Positive “Laura’s a naturally good student, so her interest doesn’t count.” 5. Jumping to Conclusions Mind Reading “Sam is reading the paper, so he thinks that I’m a bad teacher.” Fortune Telling “I wasn’t ‘on’ today, so I’ll get low evaluations.” 6. Magnification / Minimization “Brenda’s just a nice person, so her complement doesn’t matter.” 7. Emotional Reasoning “I feel incompetent, so I must really be incompetent.” 8. “Should” Statements “Writing papers is a good way to learn, so I should assign more papers.” 9. Labeling and Mislabeling “I didn’t win the teaching award, so I’m a failure.” 10. Personalization “Some students failed, so I must be doing something wrong.” 3. From Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, pp ; The Feeling Good Handbook, pp Also discussed by Irwin and Bassham in “Depression, Informal Fallacies, and Cognitive Therapy: The Critical Thinking Cure?”

Inferences Implicit Premises “The exam that I wrote contained an error, so the exam I wrote was terrible.” Fact f is of definitive importance. “This exam had a problem, so none of my exams are any good.” If a few x are P then almost all x are P. “Susan fell asleep in class, so I’m a boring teacher.” “Laura’s a naturally good student, so her interest doesn’t count.” Fact f is of almost no importance. “Sam is reading the paper, so he thinks that I’m a bad teacher.” I know what people are thinking. “I wasn’t ‘on’ today, so I’ll get low evaluations.” I know the future. “Brenda’s just a nice person, so her complement doesn’t matter.” “I feel incompetent, so I must really be incompetent.” My feelings are accurate. “Writing papers is a good way to learn, so I should assign more papers.” If x is a good thing then I should do it. “I didn’t win the teaching award, so I’m a failure.” “Some students failed, so I must be doing something wrong.” If something bad happens, it’s my fault.

Implicit Premises to Watch Out For My feelings are accurate. I know what people are thinking. I know the future. Fact f is of definitive / almost no importance. If a few x are P then almost all x are P. If something bad happens then it’s my fault. If x is a good thing then I should do it. But it’s important to take the arguments on a case-by-case basis.

In General…. Is it true?  Is it true? + () Why should I think that’s true? : +  Is it true? () Why should I think that’s true?  Is it true? + Visible Belief () What’s so bad about that? If this were true, then what? +  Is it true? : () What’s so bad about that? If this were true, then what? +  Is it true? Emotion

Organized reasoning More true assumptions Messy reasoning Lots of false assumptions

Bibliography Beck, Aaron T. (1979). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. New York: Meridian. Burns, David D. (1980). Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. New York: Penguin Books. Burns, David D. (1990). The Feeling Good Handbook. New York: Penguin Books. Cohen, Elliot D. (1991). Caution: Faulty Thinking can be Harmful to Your Happiness. Fort Pierce, FL: Trace-WilCo Publishers. Irwin, William and Gregory Bassham, “Depression, Informal Fallacies, and Cognitive Therapy: The Critical Thinking Cure?”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, Spring 2003, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp Kelley, David (1998). The Art of Reasoning. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Dona Warren, "Thinking Well: Uncovering Our Hidden Assumptions"

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