Week 4 · Readings & resources

Week 4 — Readings & Resources

Critical Thinking Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 4 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 9 items (3 readings and 6 videos). Allow 44–55 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (18–23 min total)

① Reading an if sentence

Chapter 4, Section “Read the rule: the parts of a conditional” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Reading the rule” · Remember: a conditional links two claims without asserting either one, and it is false only when the if-part is true and the then-part is false.

PHILOSOPHY - Language: Conditionals #1 — Wireless Philosophy — an animated introduction to what an if-then sentence says, and to one of the oldest answers, which treats the sentence as false only when the if-part is true and the then-part is false; compare that answer with the fryer rule in the chapter. (video, 5 min) (captions: creator)

② Patterns that hold, and look-alikes that fail

Chapter 4, Section “Look-alikes that fail: the two formal fallacies” · Session 1, Segment 3, “Two look-alikes that fail” · Remember: four forms never lead from true premises to a false conclusion, and the two formal fallacies can, which one counterexample shows.

Modus Tollens – How the Rule Works — Let's Get Logical — a three-minute walk through the valid form that denies the then-part; skip the short part on formal proofs and focus on the everyday examples. (video, 3 min) (captions: automatic)
Hypothetical Syllogism — Carneades.org — a ninety-second definition of the form that chains two if-then sentences; afterward, say the bus-and-quiz chain from the chapter in your own words. (video, 2 min) (captions: automatic)
Invalid - Affirming the Consequent & Denying the Antecedent vs Modus Ponens & Modus Tollens — Thinking About Stuff — a five-minute comparison of the two invalid forms with the two valid forms they are mistaken for; this builds on Week 3's work with the counterexample method, so pause before each verdict and build your own counterexample first. (video, 5 min) (captions: automatic)
CRITICAL THINKING - Fallacies: Formal and Informal Fallacies — Wireless Philosophy — an animated explainer on the difference between a flaw in an argument's form and a flaw in its content; focus on the formal half, since informal fallacies come later in the course. (video, 7 min) (captions: automatic)
Fallacy of Propositional Logic — The Fallacy Files — a short page on why some invalid forms look so much like valid ones, and how a counterexample with true premises and a false conclusion exposes them; read the exposition and the part on counterexamples, and skip its list of further resources. (reading, 6–10 min)

③ What a rule requires, and what it guarantees

Chapter 4, Section “Turn it around: converse, inverse, contrapositive, and conditions” · Session 2, Segment 4, “Turning it around, and reading conditions” · Remember: in if P, then Q, the if-part is sufficient for the then-part, and the then-part is necessary for the if-part.

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions (Explained with Examples) — Let's Get Logical — a short explainer with everyday examples of conditions that are needed, conditions that are enough, and conditions that are both; try its closing check before you read on. Use it while working through the Week-4 module overview. (video, 3 min) (captions: creator)
The Concept of Necessary Conditions and Sufficient Conditions — Norman Swartz's philosophical notes — a philosopher's plain-language notes on how an if-then sentence names a necessary condition and a sufficient condition; read sections 1 to 5, through "Sufficient conditions that are not necessary", and stop there. (reading, 10–15 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Affirming the Consequent and Denying the Antecedent — Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy — two short reference entries in a long catalog of fallacies; read the entry on affirming the consequent and the entry on denying the antecedent, and skip the rest of the catalog for now. (reading, 3–5 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

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