Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

This article discusses critical thinking and problem solving skills through various examples and scenarios. It also includes a section on necessary and sufficient conditions. The article is not specific to any subject, course code, or college/university.

Running head: CRITICAL THINKING
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

2CRITICAL THINKING
Section A
1. Being a brother is a sufficient condition for being a male-False
A male has many other relations other than a brother. He can be a father, a son, an uncle or any
other such relations.
 A male may be recognized by biological; signs than his relations.
 A male may not be a brother at all.
 A male is one who is different than a female in body structure, voice and other biological
aspects.
 So, the statement being a brother is a sufficient condition for being a male is false
2. Being a brother is a necessary condition for being a male-False
 A male can be a son, an uncle, a father as well and not just a brother.
 A male may be a single child of his parents with no siblings
 A male may be a brother by blood but may not have good relation with his brother or
mnay be out of contact from his brother.
 So, just being a brother is a necessary condition for being a male is false.

3CRITICAL THINKING
3. being four sided is necessary for being a square- True
 A square can occur only if there are four sides
 A circle cannot be a square
 A triangle has three corners and three sides, it is not a square
 So, it is necessary condition for being a square is true.
3. Being four sided is a sufficient condition for being a square-True
 A figure having 4 sides is a proper square.
 A circle has no sides and cannot be a square
 A pentagram has 5 sides and is not a square.
 So, being four sided is a sufficient condition for being a square is True
5. Earning a grade of a B is a sufficient condition for passing Phil 1145.-False
 A student may earn grade A but may not actually want to study that course
 A student may get grade B and get disheartened and lose concentration
 A student may lose interest in studying Phil1145 halfway
 So, Earning a grade of a B is a sufficient condition for passing Phil 1145 is False

4CRITICAL THINKING
6. Earning a grade of at least a D is a necessary condition for passing Phill 1145-True
 It is a standard course and at least a grade D is needed to get enrolled
 Students scoring less than D may have poor aptitude in this course and good in others
 Students getting less than grade D might still get enrolled but then suffer in their careers
 So, earning a grade of at least a D is a necessary condition for passing Phill 1145 is True
7. X’s helping Y is a sufficient condition for Y’s helping X-False
 Y may not be ready to help X in return
 X may have helped Y out of compulsion
 Y may have expected t0 get help from Z and not X
 So, X’s helping Y is a sufficient condition for Y’s helping X is False

5CRITICAL THINKING
8. X’s wanting to do A is a necessary condition for X’s doing A-false
 X may have done A out of compulsion and not own will
 X may have wanted to do G and not A
 A may not be satisfied with the doing of X
 So, X’s wanting to do A is a necessary condition for X’s doing A is false

6CRITICAL THINKING
Section B
Answer 1
 Drink and drive has indeed become one of the major problems in the modern day as it
kills innocent people.
 This cannot really stop people from driving cars completely.
 The population has rapidly increased and this has given rise to the traffic on the roads. As
a result of this, many people avail cars so that they can travel to their work places easily
and quickly. So, the traffic rules have to be strengthened and people have to be made
aware about following the traffic rules.
 Drink and drive must be totally banned.
Answer2
 Prayers are something that marks the beginning of the day. Schools have started
following this practice not to create any division among the students but to unite them
together.
 Prayers do not really aim at creating any political or religious biasness among the
teachers, students or any other staffs of the school.
 Prayer is not about religion, it is about getting the blessings of God so that people can
start their day with a fresh mind.
 So, prayers must carry on but there must be no compulsion on students to join in if they
are totally unwilling.

7CRITICAL THINKING
Answer3
 You are obsessed with playing world of war craft and you want to succeed in the
university
 You can remain obsessed with world of war craft if you drink lots of coffee and sleep
very little.
 You do not like coffee and cannot manage with little sleep. So, you want to be successful
at university.
 There is no mandate that you will have to like coffee to succeed in University. So, get
good amount of sleep and play world of war craft in your free time. This will help you to
manage your game and your university without developing a liking towards coffee.
Answer 4
 The action was caused freely and the agent was not involved and cannot be blamed.
 The agent was involved but is trying to hide his involvement
 Action was random and cannot be attributed to the agent. This is hazy as it does not give
any solution to the dilemma or to the problem. Some or the other effects (positive or
negative) had been caused due to the action. So, either the agent was involved or was not.
As the agent was present during the occurrence of the action, he or she is the eye witness.
Everything cannot just be permitted and implicit.
 So, proper investigation has to be carried out to see if the agent was responsible or not
before reaching any decision.

8CRITICAL THINKING
Answer 5
 Killing adult human being is wrong.
 It deprives him of his goals and interactions. Above all, it deprives them of their
life. Killing is a heinous crime and has to be avoided.
 This same logic has to be applied to unborn fetus as well. They are more precious
as they are still inside mother’s womb and are just about to step into the world and
into the life. Abortion means killing them and taking away their rights of living.
 All life forms whether of an adult or unborn fetus, is precious and must not be
killed.