Dialectic and rhetoric have acquired negative connotations in the last several decades. This presentation suggests that a return to the Aristotelian notions of dialectic and rhetoric can recover the valid senses of those terms, and provide a standpoint from which contemporary contributions to argumentation theory and rhetoric (e.g., Perelman, Grootendorst/van Eemeren) can be viewed in a positive way. An overview of fallacies rounds out how informal logic, argumentation theory and rhetoric intersect to comprise the subject matter of modern critical thinking as a locus of interdisciplinary study.

1. The Aristotelian
Foundations of
Critical Thinking
by William R. Minto, Ph.D.
!1

2. Critical Thinking as a Priority
for Employee Development
!2

3. “Critical Thinking” Appearing
in More Job Postings
!3

4. Critical Thinking as a
Critical Job Skill
!4

5. Today’s Schools Should be
Teaching Critical Thinking
!5

6. What is Critical
Thinking?
• What is the definition of “critical
thinking?”"
• What is the subject matter of
critical thinking?
!6

7. Toward a Definition of
Critical Thinking
• Genus: “thinking” – refers to a
conscious cognitive activity, but
not all thinking is critical"
• Differentia: what attributes
distinguish instances of critical
thinking from uncritical thinking?
!7

8. Differentiae
• Should refer to our basic
epistemic goals"
• Should exclude other valid modes
of thinking, e.g., creative thinking"
• Should include both skills and
dispositions
!8

9. Critical Thinking Defined
“Critical thinking is thinking that
attempts to arrive at a justified
position on an issue by honestly
evaluating alternative positions with
respect to available evidence and
arguments.”"
Based on Hatcher (2000)
!9

10. Aspects of Critical
Thinking
• Context – There is an issue on which at least
two alternative positions are held !
(no “cut-and-dried” solution)"
•
Reality-Orientation – A justified claim must
provide evidence on its behalf"
•
Reason-Orientation – A justified claim must
connect to the evidence by means of reasoning
(rational argumentation)
!10

11. Rhetoric
Dialectic
Fallacies
Critical!
Thinking
Logic
Argumentation!
Informal!
Theory
Logic
!11

12. Informal Logic
• A normative approach to the study of
reasoning in ordinary (non-formal)
language. (van Eemeren)"
• A branch of logic whose task is to
develop non-formal standards, criteria,
procedures for the analysis, interpretation,
evaluation, criticism and construction of
argumentation. (Johnson & Blair)
!12

13. Rhetoric
Dialectic
Fallacies
Critical!
Thinking
Logic
Argumentation!
Informal!
Theory
Logic
!13

14. Argumentation Theory
• Informal logic is the philosophical
core of argumentation theory"
• Different aspects of
argumentation also studied in
cognitive psychology, law,
communications and other fields
!14

15. Rhetoric
Dialectic
Fallacies
Critical!
Thinking
Logic
Argumentation!
Informal!
Theory
Logic
!15

16. Dialectic:
A Dirty Word?
EVIL
Transcendental
dialectic leads to
antinomies and
paralogisms of
reason!
!16
Immanuel Kant!
(1724-1804)

17. Dialectical Idealism
Thesis and
antithesis as
moments in the
advance toward a
dialectical
synthesis.
!17
G. W. F. Hegel!
(1770-1831)

18. Dialectical Materialism
legeH .F.W.G
Karl Marx"
(1818-1883)
!18

19. Dialectic:
Negative Connotations
• Dialectic is pointless squabbling with
no path to resolution (e.g., Scholastic
theological debate)"
• Dialectic rationalizes and empowers
sophistry"
• Dialectic is Kantian-Hegelian-Marxist
gibberish
!19

20. Pragma-Dialectics
Frans van
Eemeren &!
Rob
Grootendorst
!20

21. Pragmatism and
Dialectics?
!21

22. !22

23. Induction and
Deduction
• Induction - reasoning from particulars
to universals, e.g., by example"
• Deduction - “arguments in which,
certain things being laid down,
something other than theses necessarily
comes about through them.”"
Topics I:1,100a25-26
!23

24. Aristotle says ...
“... we must distinguish how many
species there are of dialectical
arguments. There are induction and
deduction.”"
Topics I:12, 105a10-11
!24

25. Uses of Dialectic
• Intellectual training"
• Casual encounters"
• Philosophical sciences
!25

26. Dialectics Use in
Philosophy
“For the study of the philosophical
sciences it is useful, because the
ability to puzzle on both sides of a
subject will make us detect more
easily the truth and error about the
several points that arise.”"
Topics I:2, 101a35-38
!26

27. !27

28. The Starting Point of
Dialectic
“A dialectical proposition consists in
asking of something which is
reputable to all men or to most men
or to the wise, i.e., either to all, to
most, or the most notable of these.”"
Topics I:10, 104a9-12
!28

29. The Starting Point of
Dialectic
“...opinions that are in accordance with the arts
are dialectical propositions; for people likely to
assent to the views held by those who have
made a study of these things, e.g., on a question
of medicine they will agree with the doctor, and
on a question of geometry with the
geometrician; and likewise also in other cases.”"
Topics I:10, 104a33-37
!29

30. Dialectical Deduction
“... if something has been demonstrated
it cannot be otherwise – the deduction,
therefore, must depend on necessities.
For from truths, one can deduce without
demonstrating, but from necessities one
cannot deduce without demonstrating.”"
Posterior Analytics I:6,74b14-17
!30

31. Necessity
Demonstration
Deduction
Dialectic
!31
Truth

32. Dialectic – Summary
• Reasoning from premises constituting reputable opinion"
• Reasoning from truths, or likely truths, but not first
principles of the sciences nor from necessary truths
(e.g., axioms)"
• Implemented using a question-and-answer technique"
• Starts from a choice between contradictories!
(“Is virtue but a habit, or no?”)"
• A technique for the discovery or provision of
arguments
!32

33. Rhetoric
Dialectic
Fallacies
Critical!
Thinking
Logic
Argumentation!
Informal!
Theory
Logic
!33

34. Rhetoric:
Negative Connotations
• Persuasion by any means, ethical or not"
• Persuasion by pure appeal to emotion"
• The opposite of logic"
• Verbal hot air, puffery, words without
substance"
• Self-aggrandizing erudition of blowhards
!34

35. !35

36. The Rhetorical Aspect
!36

37. What is Rhetoric?
“Rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic.”"
Rhetoric I:1,1354a1"
!
“Rhetoric is an offshoot (branch) of
dialectic.”"
Rhetoric I;1,1356a25-30
!37

38. Rhetorical vs. Dialectic
Rhetoric
Dialectic
Example
Induction
Enthymeme
Deduction
!38

39. Enthymeme:
Rhetorical Deduction
“Everyone who effects persuasion
through proof does in fact use
either enthymemes or examples:
there is no other way.”"
Rhetoric I:2,1356b5-6
!39

40. Rhetoric in Aristotle
“Rhetoric may be defined as the
faculty of observing in any given
case the available means of
persuasion.”"
Rhetoric I:2,1355b27-28
!40

41. Ethos
“Of the modes of persuasion furnished
by the spoken word there are three
kinds. The first kind depends on the
personal character of the speaker ...”"
!
Rhetoric 1:2,1356a2-3
!41

42. The!
Rhetorical!
Triangle
Ethos
!42

43. Pathos
“... the second, on putting the
audience into a certain frame of
mind ...”"
!
Rhetoric 1:2,1356a3-4"
!
!43

44. The!
Rhetorical!
Triangle
Pathos
Ethos
!44

45. Logos
Proof through logical reasoning
!45

46. Logos
The!
Rhetorical!
Triangle
Pathos
Ethos
!46

47. Sophistry
“...is merely apparent in its conformity to
the subject matter, so that it is deceptive
and unfair. For just as unfairness in a contest
is a definite type of fault, and is a kind of
foul fighting, so the art of contentious
reasoning is foul fighting in disputation.”!
Sophistical Refutations 11:171b20-23
!47

48. Sophistry as a
Dishonorable Profession
“Those who do this in order to win the mere
victory are thought to be contentious and
quarrelsome persons, while those who do it to
win a reputation with a view to making money
are sophistical. For sophistry is a kind of art of
money-making from a merely apparent wisdom....
the art of sophistry is a certain appearance of
wisdom without the reality.”"
Sophistical Refutations 11,171b25-33
!48

49. Rhetoric
Dialectic
Fallacies
Critical!
Thinking
Logic
Argumentation!
Informal!
Theory
Logic
!49

50. Aristotle’s Concept of
Fallacy
“That some deductions are genuine,
while others seem to be so – but are
not – is evident. This happens with
arguments, as also elsewhere, through
a certain likeness between the
genuine and the sham.”"
Sophistical Refutations 1:164b24-26
!50

51. Contemporary
Treatments of Fallacies
Well over 100
fallacies
!51

52. 180+ Fallacies?
!52

53. Fallacies in Aristotle
• Fallacies received extended
discussion in Sophistical Refutations!
• Two divisions: "
!
dependent on language"
!
not dependent on language
!53

54. Fallacies of Language
• equivocation"
• amphibole"
• composition"
• division"
• accent"
• figure of speech
!54

55. Other Aristotelian
Fallacies
Text
Text
Complex!55Question

56. Other Aristotelian
Fallacies
1.If it was raining, the road will be
wet."
2.The road is wet."
3.Therefore, it was raining.
Affirming the Consequent
!56

57. Affirming the
Consequent
Oops.
!57

58. Other Aristotelian
Fallacies
False !5Cause
8

59. Other Aristotelian
Fallacies
False Cause
!59

60. Other Aristotelian
Fallacies
Begging the Question0 (Circular reasoning)
!6

61. Other Aristotelian
Fallacies
• accident"
• secundum quid (hasty
generalization)"
• ignoratio elenchi (irrelevant
conclusion)
!61

62. Modern Additions
Ad hominem
!62

63. Modern Additions
Ad misericordiam
!63

64. Modern Additions
Ad populum
!64

65. Modern Additions
Ad baculum
!65

66. Other Modern
Additions
• ad verecundiam"
• ad ignorantiam"
• ... ad nauseum
!66

67. !67

68. Aristotelian
Foundations of Critical
• Critical Thinking as a subject matter
discipline continues to show strong
Aristotelian influence"
• The importance attached to critical
thinking by business and education
leaders is a bright spot in the
culture
!68

69. Aristotle’s Organon
• Posterior Analytics — deals with
demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge"
Topics — the method of dialectic; a handbook for
arguers"
Sophistical Refutations — logical fallacies;
relationship of logic and rhetoric
!69

70. Aristotle’s Organon
• The Categories — introduces Aristotle's 10-fold
classification of existents."
On Interpretation — introduces Aristotle's
theory of the proposition and the various relations
between affirmative, negative, universal, and
particular propositions. "
Prior Analytics — introduces the theory of the
syllogism, and discusses inductive inference.
!70

71. !71