Eight Elements of Thought and Reasoning

Eight Elements of Thought and Reasoning

There are eight elements of thought in reasoning. We often use more than one element at the same time. For example, your Point of View includes Assumptions. Therefore, we can assume that these elements are two aspects of the same thing.

Analyze the parts of thought and reasoning and re-organize the eight elements into four distinct categories by pairing elements together similar to the example above. Briefly describe each new category you created and present your reasoning for each category. Include the characteristics of the original eight elements in your descriptions and reasoning.

Example:

Description:

Point of view is …

Assumptions are…

Point of view and assumptions were placed into one new category because …

Read this article on The Eight Elements of Thought:

http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

Read this article on The Eight Elements of Reasoning:

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-elements-of-reasoning-and-the-intellectual-standards/480

Read this article on The Questioning Toolkit:

http://fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html