October 7, 2012
We make decisions each and every day; everything we say and do is the result of a decision. For every choice, big or small, there is no easy formula for making the right decision. The best an individual can do is to approach it from as many perspectives as possible and then choose a course of action that is reasonable and balanced at that time. It is important to understand what is known prior to making a decision because an individual needs to know what the overall goal is before thinking about it. There are many steps to decision making which begin with identifying the problem. If the problem is not identified, the individual making the decision would not have a starting point where to begin.
The role of deductive reasoning in critical thinking is to take information away from the conclusion to prove that the conclusion is true. Deductive arguments provide support for a conclusion. It makes the strong assertion that the conclusion must follow the premises out of necessity. Denying the conclusion means that at least one of the premises is self-contradictory and thus is not true. The key to the credibility of a deductive conclusion lies in the premises.
The process of deductive reasoning aids in the understanding of an argument because it starts with a general statement and then arrives at a specific conclusion. Deductive reasoning is basically a guideline for using the premise to end at the conclusion. An example of this would be the following. All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. There is no room to stray from the argument and the premise follows through to the conclusion. All the information provided tells us what conclusion we need to reach.
Deductive reasoning is reasoning that involves a hierarchy of statements or truths. The general statement or premise is made and then arguments are made that...