George Washington was the first US President. If you understand these few ideas by the end of class, you will have a good start in critical thinking. For further help with the principles of critical thinking, try Metro Community College's tutorial or Santa Rosa's critical thinking lab . When you're ready, take the critical thinking test , written by our own Dr. Shipka, chair of YSU's philosophy and religious studies department. A word on fallacies .
Fallacies are weaknesses in an argument.
When you accuse someone of making a fallacious argument, it is up to you to find the exact flaw in the argument, and explain why it is fallacious . The best method is to use an analogy to make it obvious. Summarize it back to the speaker to verify your understanding. If a person makes a fallacious argument, the conclusion is not necessarily wrong, just still completely unproven. Try looking at this site for more help on fallacies.