ABSTRACT
In this final chapter we will delve deeper into some philosophical issues underlying the principles of good critical thinking. We begin the chapter by extending the discussion of truth that appears in Chapters 1 and 2 and attempting to dispel what in our experience is a deep seated myth – that what is true depends upon nothing more than personal opinion or taste. As we will explain, this is the myth that all truth is relative. Later we examine the relationship between believing that something is the case, being justified in believing that it is the case and knowing that it is the case. These relationships are important for critical thinking because they are concerned with the adequacy of evidence for beliefs. Thus they are at the root of our determinations of whether or not premises are true,
• Truth and relativity 262
• True for me, true for you 267
• Truth, value and morality 271
• Belief, justification and truth 273
• Justification without arguments 276
• Knowledge 276
• Justification failure 277 Insufficiency • Mistakes about justification
• Knowledge and rational persuasiveness 280
• Philosophical directions 282 Foundationalism vs. coherentism • Internal vs. external justification • Probability and justification
persuasive for a person. Further, the concepts of truth, knowledge and evidence are such frequent sources of confusion in argumentative contexts that clarity about them is extremely valuable in its own right.
