Skilful Thinking


An Introduction to
Philosophical Skills
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za

Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
Skilful Thinking

An Introduction to
Philosophical Skills


GJ Rossouw (Ed.)
HPP Lötter
P Serfontein
J Snyman
PJJ van Veuren



Translation by Craig MacKenzie





HSRC Publishers
Pretoria

1994
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© The Authors, 1994
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN 0-7969-1592-X
First edition 1994




















Electronic data capture: Mari Nel

Cover design: Ronell Lareman

Published by:
HSRC Publishers
134 Pretorius Street
PRETORIA 0002

Printed by: HSRC Printers
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Contents
Page
Introduction 1

Chapter 1

Attitude and virtues for skilful thinking 4
GJ Rossouw

1. Basic attitude towards thinking 4
2. Virtues for skilful thinking 6
2.1 Intellectual tolerance 6
2.2 Intellectual fairness 7
2.3 Honesty about your prejudices 7
2.4 Willingness to analyse 8
2.5 Willingness to systematise 9
2.6 Willingness to experiment 10
2.7 Intellectual perseverance 10
3. Summary 11

Chapter 2


Concepts, meaning and definition 12
GJ Rossouw

1. Problems caused by concepts 12
1.1 Ambiguity 13
1.2 Vagueness 13
1.3 Unfamiliarity 14
1.4 Emotive words 15
2. Guidelines for dealing with problems of meaning 16
2.1 Ambiguity and vagueness 16
2.2 Unfamiliarity 21
2.3 Emotive words 23
3. Conclusion 24

Chapter 3
Reading, understanding and judging philosophical texts 25
HPP Lötter

1. Where does one begin? 26
2. Historical circumstances 26
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3. Sentences and paragraphs 27
4. Central problem or question 28
5. Conclusions 29
6. Analysis of arguments 31
7. Reasons (premisses) 32
8. Tracing of assumptions 33
9. With whom is the debate? 35
10. Critical reading of a text 36

11. The text in relation to other texts 37
12. Creative reading 38

Chapter 4
Reading reconstructively 41
PJJ van Veuren
1. Philosophical texts 41
2. How does one read philosophical texts? 41
3. Philosophical genres 43
4. Guidelines for the reading of philosophical texts 46
4.1 Indications in the text itself 46
5. Reconstructive reading demonstrated by an example 49
5.1 What are the subject and the main thesis? 51
5.2 How does the argument unfold? 52
5.3 The argumentative cohesion of Russell’s essay 57
5.4 Is the argumentation in the essay acceptable? 58
6. Concluding remarks 61

Chapter 5
Fallacious arguments 63
PJJ van Veuren
1. Fallacies of irrelevance 64
1.1 Appeal to authority 65
1.2 The straw man fallacy 66
1.3 The genetic fallacy 67
1.4 The fallacy of ambiguity 69
2. Fallacies of insufficient evidence 70
2.1 The fallacy of hasty generalisation 70
3. Analogical arguments and the fallacy of weak analogy 72
4. Conclusion 76

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Chapter 6
The research process 77
HPP Lötter
1. Research 77
2. Steps in the research process 78
2.1 Find out what you must do 78
2.2 Designing a research project 80
3. Style? 80
4. Bibliography and sources 81
5. Scheme of presentation 82
5.1 Gathering of data 82
5.2 Interpret, organise, structure and write 84
6. Conclusion 85

Chapter 7
The bibliographic search 86
P Serfontein
1. The search 87
2. How to use the Philosopher’s Index 89

Chapter 8
Bibliography and source references 90
P Serfontein
1. The alphabetical source list 90
2. Source references within the text 93
3. The use of foot- and endnotes 95

Chapter 9
The writing of a philosophy essay 96

JJ Snyman
1. Preparatory work 96
1.1 Questions about the assignment 97
1.2 A first sketch of the end-product 97
1.3 The big question 99
1.4 The provisional scheme 100
1.5 The first draft 100
2. The making of the end-product
100
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2.1 Introduction 101
2.2 Body 102
2.3 Conclusion 102
3. The end-product 103

Chapter 10
Types of essays in philosophy 106
JJ Snyman

1. Paraphrasing and summarising 106
2. Reconstruction of an argument/problem 107
3. Argue/reason 108
4. Interpretative representation 110
5. Two general problems 111
5.1 The issue of a personal opinion 111
5.2 The subjective judgement of the lecturer 112

Chapter 11
Study management 114
HPP Lötter

1. Introduction 114
2. Gathering of information 115
3. Planning 116
4. Carrying out a programme 117
5. Conclusion 119

Chapter 12
Time management 120
GJ Rossouw
1. Five big consumers of time 120
1.1 Postponing 120
1.2 Tolerating too many interruptions 121
1.3 Doing petty tasks while the big task is left undone 121
1.4 Working without a plan 122
1.5 Saying “yes” too easily 122
2. Good utilisation of time 123
2.1 On which things am I wasting my time? 123
2.2 In what should I invest my time? 124
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2.3 How can I utilise my time better? 125
3. Conclusion 128

Chapter 13
Writing a test and taking exams in Philosophy 12
Snyman
1. Preparation for the test and the examination 129
2. The “class test” 129
3. The real philosophy test and examination 130
4. Answering a philosophy question paper 133


Recommended reading 138
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1

Introduction

GJ Rossouw



Almost from the start the decade of the nineties became
known as the “information decade”, indicating that the
greatest challenge facing humanity is the manipulation and
management of information. There is the growing awareness
that the mass of information known to humanity at this stage
only has value once it has been selected in an accessible way
and is then well managed. Furthermore, it has also been
realised that the information that you yourself want to
disseminate must not only be sound in content, but must also
be neatly packaged, clear and user-friendly. If this is not so,
your information has only a limited chance to make an
impression on the already saturated information-market. The
management of information has thus become one of the
greatest demands on the person of the nineties.
Skilful Thinking has been specifically designed to guide
people who have to deal with philosophical texts, or texts in
which arguments are employed, to access, manage and

present information and arguments. For this reason,
attention is given chiefly to three skills.
* Firstly, the emphasis falls on certain thinking skills that
the reader or writer of such texts should develop. These
include skills like formulating arguments clearly and
unambiguously, thinking analytically and being able to
judge arguments and identify fallacies.
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2
* Secondly, a series of strategies are proposed for the
reading and writing of texts, for example, how to ensure
that a text is read in context, how to analyse and evaluate
a text, and also how to build and write an argumentative
text yourself.
* Skills alone are not enough. They must also be correctly
applied. Thirdly, therefore, the management skills that
must be available to a reader or writer of such texts are
looked at. In this respect attention is given to tracing and
accessing information, the demands of the research
process, the management of time and the preparation for
tests and examinations.
What makes Skilful Thinking a unique book is the
combination of the above-mentioned skills. It is particularly
user-friendly for the South African reader because it takes
the unique nature of our schools and universities into
account. It has been written on a level that is easily
accessible to a person who, after his or her schooling,
continues with a career or studies in which texts of a
philosophical or argumentative nature occur. More than

merely a theoretical introduction, this book can also be used
as a workbook in the teaching situation. This indeed is how
Skilful Thinking originated. It developed from an earlier
publication, namely, “Learn to Philosophise”. Incorporating
the needs and commentary of students and lecturers in
Philosophy, the book was revised and changed until it
reached its present form.
There are three categories of readers who will benefit from
this book. Firstly, it is a guide and workbook for students of
Philosophy in the mastery of those skills which are assumed
in that discipline. Secondly, it is an aid for lecturers in this
subject area to train students systematically in the mastery
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3
of the abovementioned skills. Thirdly, it is a useful
introduction to thinking and writing skills for those who in
their studying or working deal with argumentative texts.
The skills that will be mastered, therefore, are skills which
are highly prized in most professions. A publication of the
American Philosophical Association shows that the
mastering of the kinds of skills which are dealt with in a
book like Skilful Thinking puts one in a position to do,
among other things, the following:
• It enables you to do research and gather and organize
information in a wide range of subject areas.
• It helps you to write clearly and effectively.
• It promotes both written and verbal communication.
• It leads to the generating of creative ideas.
• It helps with the formulation and solution of problems.

• It helps with the identification of hidden assumptions
and with the articulation of alternative perspectives on
an issue.
• It helps you to convince other people of the validity of
new or unknown ideas.
• It puts you in a position to sum up complex ideas
without oversimplification.
• It helps you to integrate and explain diverse data with
the assistance of useful analogies.
• It facilitates adjustment to unknown circumstances.
• Moreover, it also puts you in a position to convey to
others effectively and economically the knowledge at
your disposal.

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4
1
Attitude and virtues for
skilful thinking

GJ Rossouw




The misconception exists that the mastering of certain thinking
techniques and thinking strategies is all that one needs in order
to think critically and creatively. It is unfortunately not so
simple. To begin with, a certain attitude towards thinking is

necessary and, secondly, one must also possess certain virtues
or traits of mind. This basic attitude towards thinking, as well as
the virtues required to allow critical and creative thinking to
develop, will be described in this chapter.

1. BASIC ATTITUDE TOWARDS THINKING
The starting point for the development of thinking skills is
surely the conviction that it is important to be able to think well
and in a sophisticated fashion. Only when you have this
conviction will you be prepared to take the trouble to acquire
the virtues, techniques and strategies that are necessary to allow
critical and creative thinking to develop. There are various good
reasons to support the conviction that thinking skills are
important. Consider, for example, the following:
• Sound thinking can reduce errors
When you reflect carefully and thoroughly on an issue, you
reduce the chance of making errors both in your
argumentation and also in your actions. Errors that are
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5
committed as a result of superficial or sloppy thinking
not only lead to intellectual or personal embarrassment,
but also possibly to financial loss, human suffering and
many other negative consequences. No one can ever
foresee all the possible consequences of their thinking
and planning, but sophisticated thinking can certainly
help us to foresee a great number of implications and
thus we can try to prevent negative consequences.
• Considered actions are better than impulsive actions

People have no option other than to live together.
Whether we like it or not, we must simply get on with
each other. In this co-existence with each other we are
on the one hand, searching for security and on the other
hand, we also want to make progress with respect to the
activities in which we may be engaged. Human activity
can be motivated in a variety of ways. It can, for
example, be motivated by emotion, or will, or rational
thinking. In respect of both security and progress we do
better when we act thoughtfully and therefore consis-
tently, rather than when we merely act impulsively and
give in to what our emotions or will might dictate to us
at a given moment. This does not mean that we must try
to escape the dimension of our will or feeling. It merely
means that we will make better decisions and will
therefore experience more security and progress when
our decisions are based on sound thinking. This
commitment to sound, rational thinking is indeed also
the cornerstone upon which the entire edifice of modern
science is built.
• The abundance of information demands sound thinking
A characteristic of the present era is that we are
confronted with more information than we can handle. It
is simply no longer possible to work through all of the
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6
information relating to one’s subject thoroughly. The
greatest demand that this situation places upon one is to
develop strategies to help one to get a grip on this mass

of information. Instead of just beginning anywhere and
seeing how far one can get and how much one can
handle, one progresses much better when one
approaches the still-growing mass of information with a
calculated thinking strategy. Sophisticated thinking,
therefore, helps one get a grip on the present-day mass
of information and in so doing, makes it manageable and
useful.
The above reasons (and certainly also a number of other
reasons that you can add) should be enough to bring one to
an awareness of the importance of sophisticated thinking, as
well as to a readiness to learn relevant thinking skills. In
short, it can be said that the acquisition of thinking skills
can only begin when someone can answer the following
question positively and in a motivated fashion: “Are
thinking skills important?” When this first stumbling-block
in the way of the mastery of thinking skills is overcome,
further attention should be given to those virtues or
character traits that are indispensable for any sophisticated
thinker.

2. VIRTUES FOR SKILFUL THINKING
2.1 Intellectual tolerance
When you think critically and creatively, you do not usually
do it in isolation. You engage in an ongoing discussion with
other people and texts. It is mostly in your critical
engagement with these people or texts that new or better
ideas are born. The first attribute of a sophisticated thinker
is therefore the willingness to listen to, to investigate and to
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7
understand the ideas of others. When you summarily reject
ideas or arguments that you do not like or with which you
cannot immediately agree, you significantly diminish your
chances of gaining new and enriching insights. Intellectual
tolerance is precisely the virtue that makes you willing to
take new or strange ideas seriously and to give them a
chance. This prevents over-hasty judgements, because it
defers judgement until a thorough understanding of the
arguments has taken place.

2.2 Intellectual fairness
Closely related to the virtue of tolerance is the virtue of
intellectual fairness. This means that you do not declare an
argument to be totally useless upon the slightest suggestion
of a weakness or a falsehood in it. Intellectual fairness
demands that you will not succumb to irrelevant hair-
splitting or ill-conceived criticism. It demands further that
you will accept in good faith that the person whose
argument you are listening to or analysing is not an idiot.
Intellectual tolerance thus puts you in a position in which
you will not prematurely discredit ideas and arguments or
suggest that they are ridiculous.

2.3 Honesty about your prejudices

The other side of the coin of intellectual fairness is honesty
with regard to your own prejudices, preferences and
sentiments. When you are prepared to admit to yourself

what your prejudices, preferences and sentiments are, you
will at the same time also realise that you tend summarily to
dismiss or avoid ideas and arguments with which you are in
conflict. You will realise that your prejudices can easily
prevent you from discovering new ideas or broadening your
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8
perspectives. When honesty about your own prejudices has
brought you to this insight, you will naturally be more
cautious when facing ideas and arguments that differ from
your established ideas. Not only will you then have more
understanding of your unwillingness to take those ideas
seriously, but you will hopefully also be prepared to give
such ideas a second chance. In other words you will be more
prepared to investigate those ideas or arguments with
intellectual fairness and intellectual tolerance.
These first three virtues deal chiefly with our willingness to
take the large diversity in texts and arguments seriously. The
remaining virtues, which will now be discussed, deal with the
way in which such texts should be handled.

2.4 Willingness to analyse
The process of critical and creative thinking can only begin
when we are prepared to analyse texts or arguments. By way
of explanation it is useful to compare an argument with a
building. Analysis means that we should be able to identify
the parts from which it is built, i.e. we should be able to
separate the bricks from which the argument is constructed
and should be able to demonstrate how the different bricks

relate to each other to finally form the greater argument (or
construction). Only once we are able to expose the bricks
and the structure of an argument can we begin to make all
kinds of judgements about the argument itself. We can then,
for example, judge whether the bricks are really strong
enough, or whether they fit alongside each other adequately,
or whether they can be improved, or indeed whether it
would be better to reject them altogether and rather replace
them with alternative bricks. It is of the greatest importance
that we are prepared to look analytically not only at the
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9
arguments of others, but that we are also willing to be
analytical about our own arguments.

2.5 Willingness to systematise
It is not enough, however, only to analyse or to dismantle
arguments. We should also be in a position to systematise –
to put arguments together. This virtue has implications for
the sophisticated thinker on two levels in particular. In the
first place it demands that we bring the different bricks of an
argument into a logical relationship with each other. Once
again, this applies both to the construction of our own
arguments and also to the understanding and assessment of
another person’s arguments. In this respect it is of the
greatest importance to develop sensitivity to logical
coherence. One must always seek that golden thread that
runs right through an argument and that binds different parts
of an argument together.

Secondly, you should also ask how the argument fits into
the greater context in which it functions. Arguments never
arise and exist in isolation. They are mostly reactions to a
series of preceding events or arguments. Arguments
therefore always have a specific context. The willingness to
be systematic asks of us (on this second level) that we be
prepared to demonstrate where this argument fits into the
greater context. You should be able to indicate into which
kind of debate it fits and how it differs from other arguments
in such a debate. It is often the case that we only grasp the
value of an argument or an idea when we see it in
relationship with other arguments or ideas on the same
subject. Furthermore, it is also good to know that new and
creative ideas very often emerge in this attempt to bring a
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10
variety of arguments and ideas into relationship with each
other.

2.6 Willingness to experiment
An important characteristic of sophisticated thinkers is their
courage and willingness to investigate alternatives. They are
not content with that which is offered to them or with
criticism on that which is offered. Creative thinkers always
go one step further and ask: “Can it not also be otherwise?”
This willingness to experiment with new ideas, other
perspectives or alternative arguments is not a talent that is
available only to some people. It is a virtue that can be
nurtured by self-discipline and the right attitude. It is only

when this willingness to experiment has become part of your
mental equipment that you can collaborate really creatively
with regard to the improvement of ideas and arguments, and
the creation of new perspectives and approaches.

2.7 Intellectual perseverance
A last virtue – and here it is certainly a case of last but not
least – that is indispensable for the sophisticated thinker is
the virtue of intellectual perseverance. There is no instant
approach to critical and creative thinking. Indeed, this kind
of thinking demands the opposite. It requires that you work
through texts and arguments systematically – and sometimes
slowly and tiresomely. Most of all it requires that you go
back in your tracks and test your understanding and
assessment of an argument for a second or third time. Sound
thinking requires self-discipline and perseverance.
Sophisticated thinking and a dedicated and self-disciplined
work pattern therefore go hand in hand.
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3. SUMMARY
The circle is now complete. The dedication and self-
discipline that is spoken of above will only follow when the
basic conviction exists that sound thinking is important.
Thus we end where we began. Before a basic conviction
exists that sophisticated thinking is important, there will be
little motivation to nurture the seven thinking virtues that
are described above. These virtues of thinking in turn form
the basis for the mastery of those thinking techniques and

strategies that are necessary for the development of critical
and creative thinking.
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12
2
Concepts, meaning and
definition

GJ Rossouw




Any philosophical text consists of three basic components,
namely words, sentences and arguments. Words are joined
together to form sentences and sentences are in turn
organised to form arguments. From this it appears that
words or concepts are the most basic building blocks of
philosophical arguments. Thus, if a mistake creeps into any
of these most basic components of philosophical argument,
we can expect that it will readily cause the argument as a
whole to founder on the rocks.
In this section of the basic skills that you need in order to be
able to analyse a philosophical argument or even to
construct one yourself, we are going to focus on guidelines
for the deft handling of concepts. We will begin with an
indication of some of the most general problems that
concepts can cause us. Thereafter, some guidelines will be
given as to ways in which these problems can be prevented.


1. PROBLEMS CAUSED BY CONCEPTS

Although the list of problems that can be caused by words is
extensive, only the four most common problems occurring
in philosophical texts will be focused on here.
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13
1.1 Ambiguity
The problem concerning ambiguity is well illustrated by the
following advertisement:
“Men’s jeans half off Friday only!”
This utterance can clearly have two entirely different
meanings. On the one hand it can mean that men’s trousers
will be sold at half the normal price on Friday. On the other
hand it can also mean that men must remove (or pull up)
their pants halfway on Friday only! There is thus a clear
ambiguity around the concept “half off”. The problem of
ambiguity is unfortunately not just restricted to
advertisements. It also appears in general and philosophical
texts and in philosophy essays written by students.
Ambiguity can be defined as that phenomenon of meaning in
which one word can take on more than one meaning in the
same text. In cases where such ambiguity occurs, it is very
important to determine which different meanings a word can
have in that specific case. When the ambiguity is not cleared
up, people can easily misunderstand each other. It leads not
only to an unnecessary waste of time and energy, but can
also cause great embarrassment, as for example in the case

of the “half off jeans”.

1.2 Vagueness
Vagueness must be sharply differentiated from ambiguity.
When a concept is vague, we have a good idea of what the
word means, but we are not sure of where precisely the
boundaries of the word’s meaning lie. In other words there
is uncertainty about what is included and what is excluded
by the word. Two examples in this connection will illustrate
the dilemma of vagueness:
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14
Pornography: We all have a reasonable idea of what is
meant by pornography (for example, photo-magazines).
But precisely when do we have a pornographic photo?
What must stand out for it to be pornographic, or what
must be covered for us to label it as no longer
pornographic?
Poor people: We all know that poor people suffer a lack
of certain items. But what must someone lack before we
label such a person poor? Is someone who cannot afford
an overseas trip poor, or is it just someone who cannot
afford a house who is poor? Or is it simply people who
have no money to buy food who should be considered
poor?
In the light of the above cases it appears that we can
describe vagueness as that phenomenon of meaning where
doubt exists about the range of meaning of a concept.
Before the vagueness of the most important concepts in a

philosophical essay is cleared up, the point that the writer
wants to make is neither clear nor convincing.

1.3 Unfamiliarity
A problem often encountered by students of philosophy at the
beginning of their studies of the subject is that they are
bombarded by concepts that are entirely strange or unknown at
that early stage. As is the case with every other subject,
philosophers also make use of concepts specific to their
discipline. The purpose of this is not to try to sound learned,
but precisely to be able to formulate concepts with more
precision and clarity, because most of these terms have
acquired a well-defined meaning within the specific subject
area. Examples of such concepts that occur generally in
philosophy but which are possibly still unknown
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15
to you are, among others, the following: a priori; a
posteriori; tabula rasa; ontology; epistemology; analytical
and synthetic judgements.
It goes without saying that your understanding and
interpretation of a text is seriously impeded when you come
up against such unknown concepts. It is unfortunately not
enough simply to consult a dictionary to solve these
problems regarding unfamiliarity, but more about this will
follow later.

1.4 Emotive words
Most words in our language elicit no emotion in us when we

see or hear them. Here for example we think of words like:
is
, cupboard, book, or bench. Nevertheless there are a
number of words which indeed elicit a certain feeling in us.
This feeling which is associated with a certain word can be
of a negative or positive kind. Examples of words with a
negative connotation are: ridiculous, scandalous, rotten,
propaganda, underhanded, and many more. In contrast,
words like superior, fantastic, wonderful, in a class of its own,
elicit a positive feeling or emotional response in us. Words
that have either a negative or positive emotional value are
very useful in our everyday communication, but they must
be avoided at all costs in philosophical arguments or essays.
The reason for this is obvious: in philosophy we try to
convince other people of our cause by offering them good
reasons for our views. Therefore, we make an appeal to their
sober, sensible judgements to evaluate our arguments and
then – if our arguments withstand their evaluation – to
accept them. Philosophical arguments thus appeal to the
rationality of the audience.

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