BBI 3420 Critical Reading and Thinking Critical Reading Strategies: Identifying Arguments

 Critical thinking is primarily about the evaluation of arguments.  Definition of an argument: 1.a set of statements of which it is claimed that one of those statements (the conclusion) is supported by the others (the premises). 2.a reason or reasons offered for or against something

 ARGUMENT = CONCLUSION (assertion) + PREMISES PREMISES = THESIS STATEMENTS = THESIS STATEMENTS + SUPPORTING DETAILS SUPPORTING DETAILS

Deductive Reasoning  Deductive reasoning starts with a principle or accepted fact i.e. “all dogs are mammals”, and then tries to apply this principle to other specific pieces of information or cases.  Example: All dogs are mammals. Fido is a dog. Therefore, it is true that Fido is a mammal Therefore, it is true that Fido is a mammal

 A deductive reasoning is an argument in which it is thought that the premises provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion.  In a deductive argument, the premises are supposed to be a definitive proof of the truth of the claim (conclusion) i.e. if the premises are true, it would be impossible for the conclusion to be false.  1. All men are mortal. (premise) 2. Socrates was a man. (premise) 3. Socrates was mortal. (conclusion)

 Deductive reasoning leads to non- negotiable conclusion.  The goal is not to generate new information.  Some dictionaries define "deduction" as reasoning from the general to specific

Inductive Reasoning  An inductive argument is one in which the premises are supposed to support the conclusion in such a way that if the premises are true, it is improbable that the conclusion would be false. Thus, the conclusion follows probably from the premises and inferences. Here is an example:  1. Socrates was Greek. (premise) 2. Most Greeks eat fish. (premise) 3. Socrates ate fish. (conclusion)

 Inductive reasoning begins with several pieces information, several observations, or examples and tries to arrive at a general pattern, tendency, or trend (hypothesis).  There is always the hope that by discovering what is true for some members of a group, you will discover what is true for all members, but there is no guarantee.

 Inductive reasoning is often perceived as discovery learning.  Examples: The members of the Williams family are Susan, Nathan and Alexander. Susan wears glasses. Nathan wears glasses. Alexander wears glasses. Therefore, all members of the Williams family wear glasses.

Identifying the conclusion  An argument's conclusion is what the person making the argument is ultimately trying to convince you of, i.e., the person's point.  To try to identify the conclusion of an argument ask yourself 'what does the person making the argument want me to walk away thinking?' (Note if the answer is 'nothing', them you're not dealing with an argument.)

Some Conclusion Indicator Words:   To identify conclusion, it often easiest to look for conclusion indicator words, such as: therefore, consequently, as a result, thus, it follows that, so

Identifying the Premises   Every argument must also consist of at least one premise.   A premise is a statement that is meant to support the conclusion. Ideally, a premise provides a good reason for believing the conclusion.

Some Premise Indicator Words:   To identify premises, it often easiest to look for premise indicator words, words that are often used to introduce a claim as a premise such as: because, since, as, for, given that

Missing Premises and Conclusions:  When trying to figure out what the premises and conclusion of an argument are, we need to ask ourselves what the person's point is.  But remember that people don't always come out and say what their point is. Similarly people may not always explicitly mention all the premises they are working with.  As a result, we must be prepared to identify both missing premises and missing conclusions (i.e., conclusions or premises that are not explicitly stated by the arguer, but that are implicit in what the arguer does say).

Another way to identify components of arguments:   Every conclusion must be a proposition. Every premise must be a proposition. As such, every argument must contain 2 or more propositions. My cat has fleas. My cat has fleas. Obama will win the next election.

  Propositions are the building blocks of arguments. A proposition is any phrase that can be true or false. The first step in analyzing the components of an argument is to identify the propositions.

Finding Propositions   Every proposition will contain a predicate (a verb phrase). As such, the best way to identify a passage’s propositions is to look for the verbs.   For example:   “Athletes are not good role models. They often behave poorly and many do not complete their education. Therefore they should not be paid as much as they are.”

  The propositions of the previous passage: 1. Athletes are not good role models 2. They often behave poorly 3. The do not complete their education 4. They should not be paid as much

  To determine whether or not two or more of the propositions on your list are related as premise to conclusion (and thus form an argument) plug the propositions into the blanks on the following test : Conclusion/Premise tester: ___________________because ___________   The first place is the conclusion slot and the second place is the premise slot:

Conclusion because Premise Example: They should not be paid as much because athletes are not good role models