Critical Thinking Chapter 1.

Critical Thinking Chapter 1

John Provost 831-402-7374 jprovost@mpc.edu
Your Instructor John Provost

Agenda Introduction and Story Syllabus and Texts Homework
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Introduction: Why Study Critical Thinking?
“You can fool all of the people all of the time if the advertising budget is big enough.” Ed Rollins, Republican campaign adviser

What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is about helping ourselves and others. Why?

What is Critical Thinking?
“Critical thinking includes a variety of deliberative processes aimed at making wise decisions about what to believe and do, processes that center on evaluation of arguments but include much more.”

Two primary skills required:
Read carefully Listen closely

Mistakes: Ambiguity Secretaries make more money than physicians. What does this mean? She saw the farmer with binoculars. Who had the binoculars? I know a little Greek. The language or a person?

Mistakes: Fallacies Fallacy of composition: “We don’t spend that much on military salaries. After all, who ever heard of anyone getting rich in the Army?” In other words, we don’t spend that much on service personnel individually; therefore we don’t spend much on them as a group.

Mistakes: Fallacies Fallacy of division: “Congress is incompetent. Therefore, Congressman Benton is incompetent.” What holds true of a group does not necessarily hold true for all the individuals in that group.

Mistakes: Vague Claims
“He is old.” Compared to what? Old is a matter of context. Old for first grade? Old in general? The vagueness of a claim is a matter of degree.

Mistakes: A Red Herring
When a person brings a topic into a conversation that distracts from the original point, especially if the new topic is introduced in order to distract, the person is said to have introduced a red herring (see pages ).

Mistakes: Ad Hominem We commit the ad hominem fallacy when we think that considerations about a person “refute” his or her assertions. Example: A proposal made by an oddball is an oddball’s proposal, but it does not follow that it is an oddball proposal! See?

Mistakes: Straw Man The straw man fallacy happens when you “refute” a position or claim by distorting or oversimplifying or misrepresenting it. Let’s say Mrs. Herrington announces it is time to clean the attic. Mr. Herrington groans and says, “What, again? Do we have to clean it out everyday?” She responds: “Just because you think we should keep every last piece of junk forever doesn’t mean I do.”

Basic Critical Thinking Skills
When we take a position on an issue, we assert or claim something. The claim and thinking on which it is based are subject to rational evaluation. When we do that evaluating, we are thinking critically. To think critically, then, we need to know five things:

To think critically, then, we need to know:
1. When someone (including ourselves) is taking a position on an issue, what that issue is, and what the person is claiming their position is on that issue.

2. What considerations are relevant to that issue 3. Whether the reasoning underlying the person’s claim is good reasoning 4. And whether, everything considered, we should accept, reject, or suspend judgment on what the person has claimed

Finally, 5. Doing all this requires us to be levelheaded and objective and not influenced by extraneous factors.

Issues: What is an issue?
It is something we have a question about. A key word is “whether.” An issue is what is raised when you consider whether a claim is true.

Arguments: What is an argument?
Let us define an argument as an attempt to support a claim or assertion by providing a reason or reasons for accepting it.

What is a claim? A claim is a statement that is either true or false. The claim that is supported is called the conclusion of the argument, and the claim or claims that provide support are called the premises.

Arguments and Explanations
An argument attempts to prove that some claim is true, while an explanation attempts to specify how something works or what caused it or brought it about. Arguing that a dog has fleas is quite different from explaining how it came to have fleas. Explanations and arguments are different things.

Recognizing Arguments
An argument always has a conclusion. Always. Without a conclusion, a bunch of words isn’t an argument. But an argument also needs at least one premise. Without a premise you have no support for the conclusion and so you don’t have an argument.

An Explanation An explanation is a claim or set of claims intended to make another claim, object, event, or state of affairs intelligible (but not true or false).

A premise A premise is the claim or claims in an argument that provide the reasons for believing the conclusion.

Identifying Issues Before you can really recognize an argument you have to know what the issues are. An important clue to what the issue is will be to look for the conclusions. The conclusion that is presented refers to the issue being addressed.

Factual Issues Versus Nonfactual Issues
Is your dad or uncle older? That is a factual issue. Asking whether it is better to be your dad’s age or your uncle’s age is a nonfactual issue.

Factual Claims A factual claim is simply a claim, whether true or false, that states a position on a factual issue. But this is where it can be confusing. Saying a claim is factual is not equivalent to saying it is true!

Factual Claims An issue is factual if there are established methods for settling it. Factual claims can be determined, while opinions cannot be determined.

Facts and Factual Matters
A fact is a true claim. A factual issue is an issue concerning a fact. The right answer about a factual issue will be a fact, whether we know that fact yet or not.

Subjectivism and Relativism
Subjectivism is the idea that, just as two people can disagree and yet both be “correct” on a nonfactual issue, they can both be correct in their differing opinions on the same factual issues. Relativism is the parallel idea that two different cultures can be correct in their differing opinions on the same factual issues.

Opinion and Pure Opinion
An opinion is someone’s belief on an issue, or someone’s belief about a specific claim. That issue may well be a matter of fact. For the issue to be a matter of pure opinion, there must be no factual matter involved in it. For example, someone’s age is a factual issue. It can be determined. But you can still have an opinion on whether it is a good age or not. But you can’t have a pure opinion about it as if they were any age you decide they should be.

Relevance, Rhetoric, and Keeping a Clear Head
One of the most serious and difficult obstacles to clear thinking is the tendency to confuse extraneous and irrelevant considerations with the merits of a claim. Another obstacle to clear thinking is paying more attention to the psychological force of an argument than its logical force.

Some politicians, for example, rely on the emotional associations of words to scare us, flatter us, and amuse us; to arose jealousy, desire, and disgust; to make good things sound bad and bad things sound good; and to confuse, mislead, and misinform us.

Critical thinking involves recognizing the rhetorical force of language and trying not to be influenced by it.

Conclusion Critical thinking helps you to know when someone is taking a position on an issue What that issue is And what the person is claiming relative to that issue-that is, what the person’s position is.

Conclusion It helps you know what considerations are relevant to that issue And whether the reasoning underlying the person’s claim is good reasoning.

Conclusion It helps you know what considerations are relevant to that issue And whether the reasoning underlying the person’s claim is good reasoning. It helps you determine whether, everything considered, you should accept, reject, or suspend judgment on what the person claims.

Conclusion These skills require you to be levelheaded and objective and uninfluenced by extraneous factors.

Exercises For each of the following claims, decide whether it states a subjective or a non- subjective (i.e. objective) claim. In cases where it may be difficult to decide, try to identify the source of the problem.

Exercises 1. Meat grilled over hickory coals tastes better than meat grilled over mesquite.

Exercises Meat grilled over hickory coals tastes better than meat grilled over mesquite. Subjective. Notice that the claim passes the “contradiction test,” i.e. someone with an opposing viewpoint would not be wrong just because it contradicted the original claim. There is no ‘fact of the matter’ about how something tastes.

Exercises 2. I read in the newspaper that meat grilled over hickory coals tastes better than meat grilled over mesquite.

Exercises 2. I read in the newspaper that meat grilled over hickory coals tastes better than meat grilled over mesquite. Non-subjective. The fact, of course, is only that the person read it in the newspaper.

Exercises 3. The air in Cleveland smells better than it did five years ago.

Exercises 3. The air in Cleveland smells better than it did five years ago. Subjective. The qualitative sensation of how something smells to someone is a private, first-person, subjective experience.

Exercises 4. There are fewer hydrocarbons in the air in Cleveland than there were five years ago.

Exercises 4. There are fewer hydrocarbons in the air in Cleveland than there were five years ago. Non-subjective. There is an objective fact of the matter that can be checked.

Exercises 5. The air in Cleveland is lower in hydrocarbons because there is less automobile emission than there was five years ago.

Exercises 5. The air in Cleveland is lower in hydrocarbons because there is less automobile emission than there was five years ago. Non-subjective. This is an argument based on fact.

Exercises 6. There is less automobile emission in Cleveland than there was five years ago because of the Clean Air Bill passed several years ago.

Exercises 6. There is less automobile emission in Cleveland than there was five years ago because of the Clean Air Bill passed several years ago. Non-subjective. Some will argue about this because of the difficulty of identifying the cause of lowered emissions. Nevertheless, either the change resulted from the Clean Air Bill, or it didn’t. Intelligent opinions on this issue may differ, but that doesn’t make it any less factual.

Exercises Determine whether each of the following passages is (or contains) an argument.

Exercises 1. Will a beverage begin to cool more quickly in the freezer or in the regular part of the refrigerator? Well, of course it’ll cool faster in the freezer! There are lots of people who don’t understand anything at all about physics and who think things may begin to cool faster in the fridge. But they’re sadly mistaken.

Exercises 1. Will a beverage begin to cool more quickly in the freezer or in the regular part of the refrigerator? Well, of course it’ll cool faster in the freezer! There are lots of people who don’t understand anything at all about physics and who think things may begin to cool faster in the fridge. But they’re sadly mistaken. Clearly, our speaker has an opinion on then subject, but no argument is given.

Exercises —Adapted from Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope
2. It’s true that you can use your television set to tell when a tornado is approaching. The reason is that tornadoes make an electrical disturbance in the 55 megahertz range, which is close to the band assigned to channel 2. If you know how to do it, you can get your set to pick up the current given off by the twister. So your television set can be your warning device that tells you when to dive for the cellar. —Adapted from Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope

Exercises 2. It’s true that you can use your television set to tell when a tornado is approaching. The reason is that tornadoes make an electrical disturbance in the 55 megahertz range, which is close to the band assigned to channel 2. If you know how to do it, you can get your set to pick up the current given off by the twister. So your television set can be your warning device that tells you when to dive for the cellar. This passage might be taken as an explanation, but it is also an argument, since it is clearly designed to convince us that its main point is correct.

Exercises 3. Some of these guys who do Elvis Presley imitations actually pay more for their outfits than Elvis paid for his! Anybody who would spend thousands just so he can spend a few minutes not fooling anybody into thinking he’s Elvis is nuts.

Exercises 3. Some of these guys who do Elvis Presley imitations actually pay more for their outfits than Elvis paid for his! Anybody who would spend thousands just so he can spend a few minutes not fooling anybody into thinking he’s Elvis is nuts. No argument. No connection is made between the cost of the outfits and the psychological deficiencies of Elvis impersonators.

Exercises 4. You’d better not pet that dog. She looks friendly, but she’s been known to bite.

Exercises 4. You’d better not pet that dog. She looks friendly, but she’s been known to bite. Argument

Exercises Which speakers give arguments for their positions?

Exercises larry: Before we go to Hawaii, let’s go to a tanning salon and get a tan. Then we won’t look like we just got off the plane, plus we won’t get sunburned while we’re over there. laurie: I don’t know I read that those places can be dangerous. And did you ever check out how much they cost? Let’s let it go.

Exercises larry: Before we go to Hawaii, let’s go to a tanning salon and get a tan. Then we won’t look like we just got off the plane, plus we won’t get sunburned while we’re over there. laurie: I don’t know I read that those places can be dangerous. And did you ever check out how much they cost? Let’s let it go. Larry and Laurie are both giving arguments.

Exercises 2. she: When you think about it, there’s every reason why women soldiers shouldn’t serve in combat. he: Well, I don’t think anyone should have to serve in combat. I wouldn’t make anyone serve who doesn’t want to.

Exercises 2. she: When you think about it, there’s every reason why women soldiers shouldn’t serve in combat. he: Well, I don’t think anyone should have to serve in combat. I wouldn’t make anyone serve who doesn’t want to. Neither speaker is giving an argument.

Exercises 3. student a: My family is very conservative. I don’t think they’d like it if they found out that I was sharing an apartment with two males. student b: But sooner or later you have to start living your own life.

Exercises 3. student a: My family is very conservative. I don’t think they’d like it if they found out that I was sharing an apartment with two males. student b: But sooner or later you have to start living your own life. Both A and B are giving arguments. B is arguing for an unstated claim: You should share the apartment with the two males despite what your family would like.

Exercises 4. insurance exec: Insurance costs so much because accident victims hire you lawyers to take us insurers to court and soak us for all we’re worth. There should be limits on the amounts insurance companies may be required to pay out on claims. attorney: Limits? Doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. What if someone’s medical expenses exceed those limits? Do we just say, “Sorry, Charlie”?

Exercises Only Attorney is giving an argument.
4. insurance exec: Insurance costs so much because accident victims hire you lawyers to take us insurers to court and soak us for all we’re worth. There should be limits on the amounts insurance companies may be required to pay out on claims. attorney: Limits? Doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. What if someone’s medical expenses exceed those limits? Do we just say, “Sorry, Charlie”? Only Attorney is giving an argument.

Exercises Determine which of the following passages contain an argument, and, for any that do, identify the argument’s final conclusion.

Exercises 1. “Your jacket looks a little tattered, there, Houston. Time to get a new one, I’d say.”

Exercises 1. “Your jacket looks a little tattered, there, Houston. Time to get a new one, I’d say.” Argument. Conclusion: Time to get a new jacket.

Exercises 2. “I seriously doubt many people want to connect up their TV to the Internet. For one thing, when people watch TV they don’t want more information. For another thing, even if they did, they wouldn’t be interested in having to do something to get it. They just want to sit back and let the TV tell them what’s happening.”

Exercises 2. “I seriously doubt many people want to connect up their TV to the Internet. For one thing, when people watch TV they don’t want more information. For another thing, even if they did, they wouldn’t be interested in having to do something to get it. They just want to sit back and let the TV tell them what’s happening.” Argument. Conclusion: It is doubtful many people want to connect their TV to the Internet.

Exercises 3. “Here’s how you make chocolate milk. Warm up a cup of milk in the microwave for two minutes, then add two tablespoons of the chocolate. Stir it up, then stick it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds. Then enjoy it.”

Exercises 3. “Here’s how you make chocolate milk. Warm up a cup of milk in the microwave for two minutes, then add two tablespoons of the chocolate. Stir it up, then stick it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds. Then enjoy it.” No argument

Exercises 4. “Pretzels are pretty good for a snack food. But it’s wise to keep in mind that they are high in sodium, at least if you eat the salted kind.”

Exercises 4. “Pretzels are pretty good for a snack food. But it’s wise to keep in mind that they are high in sodium, at least if you eat the salted kind.” No argument

Exercises Identify the passages that contain arguments; in those that do, identify the main issue.

Exercises 1. It’s wise to let states deny AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits to unmarried kids under eighteen who live away from their parents. This would discourage thousands of these kids from having children of their own in order to get state-subsidized apartments.

Exercises 1. It’s wise to let states deny AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits to unmarried kids under eighteen who live away from their parents. This would discourage thousands of these kids from having children of their own in order to get state-subsidized apartments. Argument. Issue: whether states should be allowed to deny AFDC benefits to youths under eighteen.

Exercises —Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?
5. “Those who accept evolution contend that creation is not scientific; but can it be fairly said that the theory of evolution itself is truly scientific?” —Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?

Exercises —Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?
2. “Those who accept evolution contend that creation is not scientific; but can it be fairly said that the theory of evolution itself is truly scientific?” —Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? No argument.

Exercises —Akio Morita, chairman of Sony
3. “It is indeed said that the Japanese work more than 2,000 hours a year, but this is not so. At Sony—and at Sanyo or Matsushita—the total is somewhere between 1,800 and 1,900 hours.” —Akio Morita, chairman of Sony

Exercises —Akio Morita, chairman of Sony
3. “It is indeed said that the Japanese work more than 2,000 hours a year, but this is not so. At Sony—and at Sanyo or Matsushita—the total is somewhere between 1,800 and 1,900 hours.” —Akio Morita, chairman of Sony Argument. Issue: whether the Japanese work more than 2,000 hours a year

Critical Thinking: Chapter 2
Two Kinds of Reasoning

Valid Argument A valid argument has this characteristic: On the assumption that the premises are true, it is impossible for the conclusion to be false. Example: [Premise] Every philosopher is a good mechanic, and [premise] Emily is a philosopher. So, [conclusion] Emily is a good mechanic.

Valid Argument Example: [Premise] Every philosopher is a good mechanic, and [premise] Emily is a philosopher. So, [conclusion] Emily is a good mechanic. These premises, if true, guarantee that the conclusion is true.

Valid Argument Example: [Premise] Every philosopher is a good mechanic, and [premise] Emily is a philosopher. So, [conclusion] Emily is a good mechanic. But these premises are not true, so the argument is valid, but unsound, which makes it not a good argument.

Deductive Argument A deductive argument is either valid (or intended to be so by its author). Example: [conclusion] Sheila’s clarinet is French. [Premise] It’s a Leblanc, and [premise] all Leblanc instruments are made in France. This is a valid argument and if the premises are true, it is also a sound argument, which would make it a good argument.

Sound Argument A sound argument is a valid argument whose premises are true. Example: [Premise] Some pesticides are toxic for humans, and [premise] anything that is toxic for humans is unsafe for most humans to consume. Therefore, [conclusion] some pesticides are unsafe for most humans to consume.

Invalid Argument An argument is invalid when its conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premises. Example: [Premise] Every year as far back as I can remember my roses have developed mildew in the spring. [Conclusion] Therefore, my roses will develop mildew this spring, too.

Invalid Argument Example: [Premise] Every year as far back as I can remember my roses have developed mildew in the spring. [Conclusion] Therefore, my roses will develop mildew this spring, too. This argument doesn’t qualify as valid (or sound) because it is possible that the conclusion is false even assuming the premise is true. Nevertheless, this is not a bad argument. In fact, it is a strong argument.

Strong Argument A strong argument has this characteristic: On the assumption that the premises are true, the conclusion is probably true (or unlikely to be false). Example: The roses will probably get mildew again this spring.

Inductive argument An inductive argument is an invalid argument whose premises are intended to provide some support, but less than conclusive support for the conclusion. (if it was conclusive support it would be valid rather than strong and deductive rather than inductive).

Inductive argument Example: [Premise] The ensemble played an encore at last year’s concert, and [premise] I’m pretty sure they played one the year before as well. So [conclusion] they will most likely play an encore at this year’s concert as well. Notice it is not conclusive, but probably true. This means that this is a strong argument, and therefore a good argument.

A Good Argument A good argument justifies acceptance of the conclusion.

A Good Argument A good argument can be valid and sound, or invalid but strong.

Premise Indicators Since… Because… For… In view of… This is implied by

Conclusion Indicators
Thus Therefore… Hence… This shows that… This suggests that… Consequently… So… Accordingly… This implies that… This proves that…

True or False? When diagramming an argument, one should include claims that contradict the conclusion.

True or False? When diagramming an argument, one should include claims that contradict the conclusion. True. This will help you figure out whether it is a good argument or not.

True or False? When evaluating an argument, one should always take into consideration the existence and merit of any unstated premises.

True or False? When evaluating an argument, one should always take into consideration the existence and merit of any unstated premises. True. Many times unstated premises are what makes an argument either valid and sound, or strong.

Unstated Premises When evaluating an argument with unstated premises, an appropriate tactic is to find a claim that would make the argument valid or strong and evaluate the argument as if this claim had been included.

Identify the following passage as containing an argument, two arguments, or no argument; if it contains an argument, identify the conclusion(s); and, if it contains two arguments, indicate which argument is the principal argument.

Bamboo can grow up to four feet a day, but only after it is well established. This can take from three to five years, depending on the type of bamboo.

Bamboo can grow up to four feet a day, but only after it is well established. This can take from three to five years, depending on the type of bamboo. Answer: No argument.

The Burnhams have invited the performers home for a reception following the recital. But it would be wise to let them know if you plan to attend, because space is limited.

The Burnhams have invited the performers home for a reception following the recital. But it would be wise to let them know if you plan to attend, because space is limited. Answer: Argument; conclusion: It would be wise to let them know if you plan to attend.

Feldspar works at a restaurant at night and teaches during the day
Feldspar works at a restaurant at night and teaches during the day. I’d have to bet he’s tired most of the time, and that’s a good reason for thinking he won’t do well in school this term.

Feldspar works at a restaurant at night and teaches during the day
Feldspar works at a restaurant at night and teaches during the day. I’d have to bet he’s tired most of the time, and that’s a good reason for thinking he won’t do well in school this term. Answer: Two arguments present; conclusions: He’s tired most of the time, and He won’t do well in school this term; He won’t do well is the conclusion of the principal argument.

The market for Jackson Pollock paintings has collapsed virtually overnight. Reason: A lot of them were bought during the 1980s, and 1990s. Investors figure that 1980s prices were too high.

The market for Jackson Pollock paintings has collapsed virtually overnight. Reason: A lot of them were bought during the 1980s, and 1990s. Investors figure that 1980s prices were too high. Answer: No argument.

It is a very nice clock, but as you can see, it doesn’t really go very well on that wall. For one thing, it’s too large for the space. For another, it’s red, and the wall is green. The best thing you could do with it, I’m afraid, is take it back. Walmart is good about giving refunds.

Answer: Two arguments present; conclusions: It doesn’t really go very well on that wall, and the best thing you could do with it, I’m afraid, is take it back; The best thing you could do is the conclusion of the principal argument.

Hey, what IS that stuff you’re cooking, anyway
Hey, what IS that stuff you’re cooking, anyway? It smells like fish Fish! What do you mean, ‘fish’? That’s a pot roast I’m cooking. Oh say, you don’t mind if I open a window, do you? No, it’s not the fish—uh, roast; it just seems sorta warm in here.

Answer: No argument; in the last passage the speaker is explaining—actually, pretending to explain—why he or she wants to open a window, not giving an argument that a window should be opened.

Imagine yourself naked, without weapons, and running after a deer
Imagine yourself naked, without weapons, and running after a deer. If you were to catch this deer how would you eat it? Humans are not equipped with canine teeth in order to eat meat without tools. A carnivore’s teeth are long and sharp, and its jaws move up and down. Humans, by contrast, use their molars to crush and grind their food. Have you ever noticed that so many Americans are overweight and unhealthy? That’s because they eat meat. —From a student paper

Answer: Argument; the conclusion is that meat isn’t an appropriate or healthy diet for humans.

Is Bill Clinton’s behavior prior to his becoming President relevant to how he should be judged in office? Yes: 22%; No: 71% —From a telephone poll of 800 adult Americans taken for Time/CNN by Yankelovich Partners, Inc.

Is Bill Clinton’s behavior prior to his becoming President relevant to how he should be judged in office? Yes: 22%; No: 71% —From a telephone poll of 800 adult Americans taken for Time/CNN by Yankelovich Partners, Inc. Answer: No argument.

If you don’t mow your lawn at least once a week, what happens is that when you do mow it, it’ll turn brown later.

If you don’t mow your lawn at least once a week, what happens is that when you do mow it, it’ll turn brown later. Answer: An argument in most contexts, for the unstated conclusion that you ought to mow your lawn at least once a week.

Supply a general principle that, assuming it is true, makes the following into a relatively strong inductive argument: Sydney is ten; therefore she likes horses.

Supply a general principle that, assuming it is true, makes the following into a relatively strong inductive argument: Sydney is ten; therefore she likes horses. Answer: "Ten-year-olds" like horses.

Supply a General Principle
Her home is in Santa Cruz, so I doubt it has depreciated in the last 5 years.

Her home is in Santa Cruz, so I doubt it has depreciated in the last 5 years. Answer: Home prices in Santa Cruz have depreciated in the last 5 years.

Monica may have trouble sleeping tonight, since she drank tea at 10 pm.

Monica may have trouble sleeping tonight, since she drank tea at 10 pm. Answer: Drinking caffeinated tea late in the day tends to keep people awake.

I’d bet the TV doesn’t work right. Josh was messing with it.

I’d bet the TV doesn’t work right. Josh was messing with it. Answer: When people mess with TVs, the TVs usually don’t work right.

Deborah loves American Idol. It’s a good bet she watches Dancing with the Stars, too.

Deborah loves American Idol. It’s a good bet she watches Dancing with the Stars, too. Answer: People who like American Idol generally watch shows like Dancing with the Stars, too.

Mr. Zing has a background in psychology. He is bound to make a good chairman.

Mr. Zing has a background in psychology. He is bound to make a good chairman. Answer: People versed in psychology tent to make good administrators.

Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking and Clear Writing

Organization and Focus
You can’t write well if you are not organized! Your essay should support your position or answer anticipated objections.

Organization and Focus
Use good examples! Make your point, back it up, give an example, and then move on to your next point.

Five Good Writing Practices
1. Outlining is important. 2. Revising is very important. 3. Have someone else read your essay and make suggestions. 4. Read your essay out loud. 5. Come back to it later.

The Principle of Focus Make clear at the outset what issue you intend to address and what your position on the issue will be.

The Principle of Sticking to the Issue
All points you make in an essay should be connected to the issue under discussion.

The Principle of Logical Sequencing
Make a point before clarifying it and make sure your reader can discern the relationship between any given sentence and your ultimate goal.

The Principle of Completeness
Support fully and adequately whatever position you take on an issue.

Five Common Problems 1. Define your terms! Any serious attempt to support or sustain a position requires a clear statement of what is at issue. Sometimes stating what is at issue involves a careful definition of key terms.

Types of Definitions 1. Definition by example
2. Definition by synonym, and 3. Analytical definition

Definition by Example Pointing to, naming, or describing one or more examples of something to which the defined term applies. Example: What I mean by setting a good example is not putting your feet on the table.

Definition by Example Examples: Happiness is having your own DVD burner. A professional bureaucrat is anyone like our former Governor Davis, who spent a lifetime in government. Real property? Why, your house and land are real property.

Definition by Synonym Giving another word or phrase that means the same thing. Examples: “Poltroonery” means the same thing as “cowardice.” “Dacha” is another word for “Russian country house.”

Definition by Synonym Examples: “Hit me” means the same as “Give me another card.” Being an octogenarian is being in one’s eighties. To fledge an arrow is to fletch or feather it.

Analytical Definition
Specifying (a) the type of thing the term applies to and (b) the difference between the things the term applies to and other things of the same type. Example: A deciduous tree is a hardwood tree that loses its leaves during the winter.

Analytical Definition
Examples: “Widow” refers to a woman whose husband has died. Honor means being willing to lay down your life for a just cause. Meat that contains larval worms is said to be measly.

Five Common Problems 2. Keep your word choices simple. Good writing is often simple writing: It avoids redundancy, unnecessary complexity, and wordiness. Example: Why write armed gunmen? Gunmen are automatically armed.

Simple Word Choices Example: Why write: “They expressed their belief that at that point in time it would accord with their desire not to delay their departure” when all that is necessary is “They said they wanted to leave”?

Simple Word Choices Because the world is a complicated place, the language we use to describe it often has to be correspondingly complicated. Sometimes it is necessary to be complicated to be clear. But, in general, simplicity is the best policy.

Five Common Problems 3. Avoiding ambiguity. A claim is an ambiguous claim if it can be assigned more than one meaning and if the particular meaning it should be assigned is not made clear by context.

Avoiding Ambiguity 3. Avoiding ambiguity
A. Semantic ambiguity is ambiguous due to a particular word or phrase. Examples: She disputed his claim. Did she dispute his statement or his claim to a gold mine?

Semantic Ambiguity Example: My brother doesn’t use glasses. What does “glasses” mean? He does not drink out of glasses or he does not have eye glasses? Avoid ambiguity by substituting an unambiguous word such as eyeglasses for glasses. Sometimes you will need several extra words.

Five Common Problems 3. Avoiding ambiguity
B.Syntactic ambiguity is ambiguous because of the structure of the sentence rather than a word or phrase as with semantic ambiguity. The words are not confusing but the word order is.

Syntactic Ambiguity Example: He chased the girl in his car. What does this mean? Did he chase a girl already inside his car? Or did he chase a girl (perhaps in another car) with his car?

Syntactic Ambiguity Example:There’s somebody in the bed next to me. What does this mean? Whose bed? Are you in a dorm room where there are more than one bed and in another bed there is a body, or did you wake up to find someone in your bed?

Pronouns The boys chased the girls, and they giggled a lot. Who giggled? Who does the pronoun “they” refer to?

Avoiding Ambiguity The only way to eliminate syntactic ambiguity is to rewrite the claim. For example, “he brushed his teeth on the carpet” could be rewritten as “he brushed his teeth while standing on the carpet.”

C. A grouping ambiguity means “whenever we refer to a collection of individuals, we must clearly show whether the reference is to the collection as a group or as individuals.”

Grouping Ambiguity Example: Secretaries make more money than physicians. Individually, no; as a group, yes. Whenever we refer to a a collection of individuals, we must clearly show whether the reference is to the collection as a group or as individuals.

D. The fallacy of composition means that we confuse when something holds true of a group of things individually then they will automatically hold true of the same things as a group.

The Fallacy of Composition
Example: Sampras and Agassi are the two best tennis players in the United States, so they would make the best doubles team. Is this true? Just because they can play best individually does not mean that if you put them together they would be the best couples team.

E. The fallacy of division is when a person who thinks that what holds true for a group will necessarily hold true of all the individuals in that group.

The Fallacy of Division
Example: The Eastman School of Music has an outstanding international reputation; therefore, so and so, who is on the faculty of Eastman, must have a good reputation. Not true. Just because you go to a good school does not mean that every teacher will be good.

Examples of Ambiguity “Priestess” was hooker to jury (AP headline).
There will be over one hundred consolation prizes worth over $10,000. The girls played with the boys. Why you want sex changes as you age.

Analytical Definitions
“Adult beverage” is anything that will get you drunk and make you act like an adolescent.

Skiing—outdoor fun combined with knocking down trees with your face. —Dave Barry

“Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from a liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.” —Ambrose Bierce

Five Common Problems 4. Vague claims can be confused with ambiguous claims, but they are different. Ambiguous claims can mean different things and we are unsure what to pick. Vague claims mean we are unsure of any meaning.

Vague Claims Vagueness is not really the problem so much as an undesirable degree of vagueness. Even though a claim may be less precise than it could be, that does not mean it is less precise than is should be. It depends on what you need the information for.

Vague Claims Example: If you want to move your car and you ask the usher how long you have until the play begins, the reply “Only a minute or two” is less precise than is possible, but it will work. It means you don’t have enough time. But you might want a more precise time if you are the lead actor in the film.

Examples of Vagueness Men burn off 438 calories per hour gardening.
Doctor: The arrhythmia you are experiencing indicates that you should lay off jogging for awhile. “Your satisfaction is guaranteed with our two-year limited guarantee.”

Five Common Problems 5. Making faulty comparisons. This is especially a problem with politicians and advertisers. Think about things like “Cut by up to half.” But how much really? “Now 25 percent larger.” Larger than what?

Questions for Comparisons
Is important information missing? Is the same standard of comparison being used? Are the items comparable? Is the comparison expressed as an average?

Averages Statistics are notoriously slippery partially because there are three different ways of talking about averages, the mean, the median, and the mode.

Mean Average The arithmetic mean of a group of numbers is the number that results when their sum is divided by the number of members in the group. Example: “The average grade in the class is total of all the grade points divided by the number of people in the class.”

Median Average In a group of numbers, as many numbers of the group are larger than the median as smaller. Example: “The average grade in the class is the halfway grade, which half the class exceeded and half the class fell short of.”

Mode Average In a group of numbers, the mode is the number occurring most frequently. Example: The average grade in the class is the most common grade given.”

Writing in a Diverse Society
Part of what people have to decide when listening to you (or reading your work) is whether or not you are credible. And using poor language lowers your credibility, just as using poor arguments does.

“it is important to avoid writing in a manner that reinforces questionable assumptions and attitudes about people…”

Thinking critically is about being better able to think in more depth about more complex issues. So much of our stereotypic use of language is a result of lazy thinking and easy clichés.

Exercises A loquacious person is a talkative one.
For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. A loquacious person is a talkative one.

Exercises A loquacious person is a talkative one. By synonym
For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. A loquacious person is a talkative one. By synonym

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. A diode is a solid-state electronic device that allows the passage of an electric current in only one direction.

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. A diode is a solid-state electronic device that allows the passage of an electric current in only one direction. Analytical

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. The oud is a stringed musical instrument shaped much like a guitar and played primarily in Middle Eastern countries.

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. The oud is a stringed musical instrument shaped much like a guitar and played primarily in Middle Eastern countries. Analytical

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. “Epistemologist” means a philosopher or other intellectual who studies the nature of knowledge.

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. “Epistemologist” means a philosopher or other intellectual who studies the nature of knowledge. Analytical

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. “Foppish” means “dandy.”

Exercises For each of the following, indicate whether the definition given is by example, by synonym, or analytical. “Foppish” means “dandy.” Synonym

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. Semantic ambiguity is ambiguous due to a particular word or phrase.

Exercises Semantic ambiguity is ambiguous due to a particular word or phrase. Syntactic ambiguity is ambiguous because of the structure of the sentence rather than a word or phrase as with semantic ambiguity. The words are not confusing but the word order is.

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. People who go shopping often go broke.

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. People who go shopping often go broke. Semantically ambiguous: “go broke,” and syntactically ambiguous: does “often” go with “shopping” or with “go broke”?

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. All snakes are not poisonous.

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. All snakes are not poisonous. Syntactically ambiguous

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. He went to the store but was held up in the process.

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. He went to the store but was held up in the process. Semantically ambiguous

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. The team was upset.

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. The team was upset. Semantical ambiguity on “upset” and grouping ambiguity on “team”

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. She watched him dance with intensity.

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. She watched him dance with intensity. Syntactically ambiguous

Exercises Determine which of these claims are best classified as semantically ambiguous (and which of those contain grouping ambiguities), which are syntactically ambiguous, and which are free from ambiguity. San Francisco (AP)—“A group of citizens angry about the lack of public restrooms downtown is planning a sit-in at City Hall, leaving employees no place to go.”

Exercises San Francisco (AP)—“A group of citizens angry about the lack of public restrooms downtown is planning a sit-in at City Hall, leaving employees no place to go.” Semantically and syntactically ambiguous; they work together in this one.

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. During his first news conference of the year, the president said today that his administration was going to crack down even harder on international terrorism.

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. During his first news conference of the year, the president said today that his administration was going to crack down even harder on international terrorism. Too vague to be very informative; this speaks as much of an attitude as it does of plans to combat terrorism.

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Said at a party: “What did I think of the concert? I thought it was pretty good. You should have been there.”

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Said at a party: “What did I think of the concert? I thought it was pretty good. You should have been there.” Fine, under the circumstances

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. My aunt lost most of her possessions when her house burned down last month.

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. My aunt lost most of her possessions when her house burned down last month. Sufficiently precise for most contexts; too vague, of course, if the remark is directed to an insurance claims agent

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Well, let’s see. To get to the Woodward Mall, go down this street a couple of blocks, and turn right. Go through several stoplights, turn left, and go just a short way. You can’t miss it.

Exercises Hopelessly vague
Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Well, let’s see. To get to the Woodward Mall, go down this street a couple of blocks, and turn right. Go through several stoplights, turn left, and go just a short way. You can’t miss it. Hopelessly vague

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. I can’t tell you how much I love you. You make me very happy.

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. I can’t tell you how much I love you. You make me very happy. Vagueness is not inappropriate here.

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Property owner, showing his property to guests: “The lot extends back to about where that large oak tree stands.”

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Property owner, showing his property to guests: “The lot extends back to about where that large oak tree stands.” Precise enough

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Same property owner, showing his property to a potential buyer: “The lot extends back to about where that large oak tree stands.”

Exercises Determine whether these claims are too vague in the contexts that are stated or implied. Same property owner, showing his property to a potential buyer: “The lot extends back to about where that large oak tree stands.” Too vague

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is flattering. conservative (noun):

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is flattering. conservative (noun): a person whose political views are guided by the wisdom embodied in traditional institutions

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is flattering. politician:

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is flattering. politician: one dedicated to public benefit through governmental service

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is flattering. liberal:

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is flattering. liberal: a person whose political philosophy is guided by ideas of democracy, reform, and progress

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is unflattering. liberal:

Exercises liberal: a politician who can’t keep out of your wallet.
For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is unflattering. liberal: a politician who can’t keep out of your wallet.

Exercises conservative:
For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is unflattering. conservative:

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is unflattering. conservative: a politician who dictates to others what they can do in their bedrooms.

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is unflattering. physicians:

Exercises For each of the following, give an analytical definition that is unflattering. physicians: people who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing (attributed to Voltaire)

Credibility

Credibility Are you gullible?

Credibility Are you gullible? Do you get taken advantaged of?

Credibility Are you gullible? Do you get taken advantaged of?
Do people think you are naïve?

Do people think you are naïve? Are you trusting? Is there anything wrong with being trusting?

Do people think you are naïve? Are you trusting? Is there anything wrong with being trusting? Are you a skeptic?

Do people think you are naïve? Are you trusting? Is there anything wrong with being trusting? Are you a skeptic? These are the type of questions we are going to look at in this chapter.

Credibility Is a claim credible or not?
Basically credibility comes in degrees.

Credibility It is very difficult to judge the credibility of a person just by looking at them.

Credibility 1st general principle: “It is reasonable to be suspicious if a claim either lacks credibility inherently or comes from a source that lacks credibility.” So there are two issues here: When does a claim lack credibility and when does a source lack credibility?

Credibility 2nd general principle: “A claim lacks inherent credibility to the extent it conflicts with what we have observed or what we think we know (our background information), or with other credible claims.

Assessing the Contents of the Claim
Does the claim conflict with our personal observations?

Four Issues with observations:
The problem is that we are aware that observation is a trick business. There are four issues with observations: 1. Observations depend on the conditions under which they are made.

1. Observations depend on the conditions under which they are made. For Example: Perhaps the lighting is poor or the room is noisy; perhaps we are distracted, emotionally upset, or mentally fatigued.

2. The power of observation can differ with people’s expertise and experience. For Example: Some people have special training or experience that makes them better observers.

3. Expectations often influence observation. For Example: We overlook many of the mean and selfish actions of the people we love. By contrast, people we detest can hardly do anything that we don’t perceive as mean and selfish.

4. An observation made in the past suffers from the same dangers of unreliability as memory in general. Critical thinkers are always alert to the possibility that what they remember having observed may not be what they did observe!

Does the claim conflict with our background information?
Background information includes all the general and specific facts we have learned through our lives. Three points to remember:

Background information includes all the general and specific facts we have learned through our lives. Three points to remember: 1. Together with direct observation, background information forms the ground against which to pose any new claim.

Background information is that immense body of justified beliefs that consists of facts we learn from our own direct observation and facts we learn from others.

Background information:
Much of our background information is well confirmed by a variety of sources. Factual claims that conflict with this store of information are usually quite properly dismissed.

Background information:
For Example: We immediately reject the claim “Palm trees grow in abundance near the North Pole,” even though we are not in a position to confirm or disprove the statement by direct observation.

Three points to remember: 1. Together with direct observation, background information forms the ground against which to pose any new claim.

Three points to remember: 2. When two claims conflict, the burden of proof lies on the one with less initial plausibility. We have reason to be more skeptical. Example: A claim that two people swam a mile in cold water, one person is 21 and the other person is 91.

3. It is important to remember that we don’t have all the background information we need and some of our information may be false. The single most effective means of increasing your ability as a critical thinker, regardless of the subject, is to increase what you know.

Assessing the credibility of sources
The guiding principle in evaluating claims requires that they come from credible sources. The credibility of people is usually a matter of their knowledge on one hand, and their truthfulness, accuracy, and objectivity on the other. Seven points:

Sharpening and Leveling
The reports people give one another are very frequently subject to innocent sharpening and leveling--exaggerating what the speaker thinks is the main point and dropping out or de-emphasizing details that seem unimportant. The result can be a distortion of the story.

Assessing the credibility of sources: 3 points
1. Be wary of eyewitness accounts. Untrained observers are more likely to exaggerate their observations. Example: Several people seeing the same event will often describe it differently!

2. How we feel about an experience colors our ability to discern objectively. Example: if we really like a band, it may be difficult to give an objective review of their latest album.

3. Look for expert knowledge. Example: Look for education, training, experience, accomplishments, reputation, and titles. Cautions about experts: Just because someone is an expert in one thing does not make them an expert in all things!

The news media and the internet
Our abundance of sources of information is a good thing, but it can be complicated when trying to figure out what we can trust and believe. Five points:

The news media and the internet: 5 points
1. Most talk shows have a specific political agenda. Look for documentation of sources.

2. The traditional news media has to be watched for both length and depth of coverage. The accessibility of reliable reports also restricts coverage because governments, corporations, and individuals often withhold information.

3. Reporters are, for the most part, given the news. Be careful over having too romantic a view of “the investigative reporter.” Time and money often limit the ability of a reporter to investigate.

4. The media is a business. Follow the money! Good and bad sides to this. Good side: independent of government. Bad side: the need to make a profit.

5. The internet has to be treated like the media: Anyone can put up a web page saying anything, so check for credibility. Sites that represent institutions and universities tend to be more objective and reliable than a site with no backing organization, but it is always a good idea to use your critical thinking skills!

Advertising “Advertising is the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it.” Stephen Leacock

Advertising Advertising does not only sell consumer goods. Advertising is used to sell candidates, ideas, and as we have seen recently, wars.

Advertising How does advertising work?
It acts by creating desires, and it uses every persuasive technique available to excite those desires.

Advertising The usual reasons found in an advertisement are vague, ambiguous, misleading, or exaggerated. In doing this we often find ourselves needing something we might not have known existed before!

Advertising So what is a good advertisement?
Basically a good ad simply lets you know that something you already want is available somewhere at a price you can afford.

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “In the early 1800s, bears were a nuisance to settlers in upstate New York.” —Smithsonian

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “In the early 1800s, bears were a nuisance to settlers in upstate New York.” —Smithsonian Probably true

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. NO CHOLESTEROL! —Label on Crisco Corn Oil

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. NO CHOLESTEROL! —Label on Crisco Corn Oil Probably true. Vegetable oils do not contain cholesterol, and even if you didn’t know that, such claims made by national brands are usually true (despite several famous exceptions).

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade’s two little girls always tried to keep her from singing in church because, they said, every time she did, everyone would turn around and stare at her.” —Joseph McLellan, in the Washington Post

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade’s two little girls always tried to keep her from singing in church because, they said, every time she did, everyone would turn around and stare at her.” —Joseph McLellan, in the Washington Post Probably true

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “In the near future look for floods in Britain which will culminate in the flooding of Parliament.” —A prediction made by Maitreya Swami, “The World Teacher,” in the News Release of the Tara Center, N. Hollywood, Calif.

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “In the near future look for floods in Britain which will culminate in the flooding of Parliament.” —A prediction made by Maitreya Swami, “The World Teacher,” in the News Release of the Tara Center, N. Hollywood, Calif. Probably false. I won’t get into the philosophical difficulties involved in attaching truth values to future contingent events.

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “Smoking more than triples the likelihood of premature facial wrinkling.” —Dr. Donald Kadunce, lead author of a group of University of Utah scientists, reporting in Annals of Internal Medicine

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “Smoking more than triples the likelihood of premature facial wrinkling.” —Dr. Donald Kadunce, lead author of a group of University of Utah scientists, reporting in Annals of Internal Medicine Probably true, but you’d probably want to have a look at the study to see, among other things, how the degree of wrinkling is ascertained.

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. University student to professor: “I’m sorry I missed the test on Thursday, Dr. Aarsack. My grandmother unexpectedly died, and I had to go home.”

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. University student to professor: “I’m sorry I missed the test on Thursday, Dr. Aarsack. My grandmother unexpectedly died, and I had to go home.” Requires further documentation.

Exercises Assess each of the following claims as probably true, probably false, as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source. “A few years ago AT&T did two surveys showing that technically trained persons did not achieve as many top managerial jobs in the company as liberal arts graduates did.” —New York Times

Exercises “A few years ago AT&T did two surveys showing that technically trained persons did not achieve as many top managerial jobs in the company as liberal arts graduates did.” —New York Times Probably true. It is often risky to accept what secondhand reports say about what surveys “show,” but the New York Times is a credible source. This claim is probably true. Note, however, the vagueness of “did not achieve” and “top managerial jobs.”

Exercises Q: Did Marilyn Monroe keep a diary about her relationships with John and Robert Kennedy? A: No. —Walter Scott’s Personality Parade, Parade

Exercises Q: Did Marilyn Monroe keep a diary about her relationships with John and Robert Kennedy? A: No. —Walter Scott’s Personality Parade, Parade Requires further documentation. Scott’s question-and-answer column is probably a reasonably reliable source of information about the questions asked. Secret diaries are always a possibility, of course.

Exercises Comment from an acquaintance: “I saw Bigfoot with my own eyes! It was huge!”

Exercises Comment from an acquaintance: “I saw Bigfoot with my own eyes! It was huge!” Probably false; observational error is more likely than incorrect background information.

Exercises “Every day 5,000 Americans try cocaine for the first time—a total of 22 million so far— according to estimates by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. About five million people are believed to be using the drug at least once a month, and they are administering it to themselves in increasingly destructive ways.” —James Lieber, in the Atlantic

Exercises “Every day 5,000 Americans try cocaine for the first time—a total of 22 million so far—according to estimates by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. About five million people are believed to be using the drug at least once a month, and they are administering it to themselves in increasingly destructive ways.” —James Lieber, in the Atlantic Requires further documentation. I don’t know much about the National Institute on Drug Abuse, but I have found the Atlantic to be pretty reliable in factual matters. Notice that no exact figures are claimed; the first is explicitly said to be an estimate, and the phrases “about” and “believed to be” qualify the second. I would expect these claims to be close to the truth.

Exercises Reported after a debate between Al Gore and Bill Bradley, who were running for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2000: “Lt. Gov. [of California] Cruz Bustamante, a Gore supporter, declared his candidate the ‘winner’ in the debate, saying he’d made his case more strongly.”

Exercises Reported after a debate between Al Gore and Bill Bradley, who were running for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2000: “Lt. Gov. [of California] Cruz Bustamante, a Gore supporter, declared his candidate the ‘winner’ in the debate, saying he’d made his case more strongly.” Cannot properly be evaluated. Absolutely unreliable for reasons of bias. We’d reserve judgment.

Exercises “Do you feel insecure? Or are you confident about your position in life? According to Dr. Ian Cameron, how and where you stand in an elevator will reveal the answers to these questions.” —Reported in the National Examiner. Dr. Cameron is described in the article as “a noted scientist and researcher.”

Exercises “Do you feel insecure? Or are you confident about your position in life? According to Dr. Ian Cameron, how and where you stand in an elevator will reveal the answers to these questions.” —Reported in the National Examiner. Dr. Cameron is described in the article as “a noted scientist and researcher.” Cannot properly be evaluated. Is this remark the conclusion of a study? A speculation on the part of Dr. Cameron? Who is Dr. Cameron, anyway? I am suspicious because so little information is given about him. More important, the claim runs counter to my background information.

Exercises “[Atmospheric nuclear] tests do not seriously endanger either present or future generations.” —Edward Teller, physicist, one of the “fathers” of the atomic bomb, 1958

Exercises “[Atmospheric nuclear] tests do not seriously endanger either present or future generations.” —Edward Teller, physicist, one of the “fathers” of the atomic bomb, 1958 Requires further documentation. I’d expect this kind of claim, coming from such a source, to be trustworthy. That it turned out to be false probably shows either that Teller was biased or that there was not enough information on the effects of atmospheric tests in 1958, or both.

Exercises For the following, discuss which source you’d trust more, and give at least one reason why. Discuss whose opinion on the foreign policy of the current administration is more credible. a. A former U.S. president of the same political party as the current president b. A former U.S. president not of the same political party as the current president

Exercises For the following, discuss which source you’d trust more, and give at least one reason why. Discuss whose opinion on the foreign policy of the current administration is more credible. a. A Ph.D. in political science whose speciality is U.S. foreign policy b. The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Exercises Discuss whose opinion on the condition of the tires on your car is more credible. a. A salesperson at Goodyear b. A mechanic at a garage certified by the American Automobile Association

Exercises a. A spokesperson for the insurance industry b. Ralph Nader
Issue: A proposal for legislation regarding automobile insurance rates is on the ballot. Discuss whose opinion on the benefits for consumers is more credible. a. A spokesperson for the insurance industry b. Ralph Nader

Exercises Did life evolve, or was it created? Discuss whose opinion is the more credible. a. A biologist b. A minister

Exercises What percentage of American high school students have smoked marijuana? a. USA Today b. Americans for Legalized Marijuana (ALM)

Exercises How many homicides involve the use of a stolen firearm?
a. A Democratic U.S. senator b. A Republican U.S. senator

Exercises Which of two current movies you would be more apt to like?
a. One recommended by a movie critic whose opinions you enjoy listening to b. One recommended by a friend

Exercises What is the best weight-lifting regimen to follow?
a. Arnold Schwarzenegger b. Roseanne

Exercises Discuss the credibility and authority of each individual or group listed with regard to the questions or issues posed. Whom would you trust as most reliable on each subject? You are thinking of insulating your attic and need advice relative to how much insulation you should install. a. A company that sells insulation but does not install it b. A company that sells and installs insulation c. An energy consultant from your local gas and electric company d. Consumer Reports e. A friend who has recently had his attic insulated

Exercises a. A company that sells insulation but does not install it
b. A company that sells and installs insulation c. An energy consultant from your local gas and electric company d. Consumer Reports e. A friend who has recently had his attic insulated I think you are most likely to get the best information from (d), with (c) a close second; (a) and (b) are about equal in credibility, and (e)’s ranking depends on where he got his information.

Exercises You’ve purchased a wood-burning stove. You are uncertain, however, what kind of wood to burn in it. You’ve heard that some produce more smoke, some are more likely to contribute to chimney fires, some burn hotter than others, and so forth. a. The dealer from whom you purchased the stove b. A friend of yours who has used a wood-burning stove for years c. Another friend who sells firewood d. A U.S. Department of Agriculture publication, “Comparative Properties of Fuelwood” e. A professor of environmental horticulture at a state university

Exercises You’ve purchased a wood-burning stove. You are uncertain, however, what kind of wood to burn in it. You’ve heard that some produce more smoke, some are more likely to contribute to chimney fires, some burn hotter than others, and so forth. a. The dealer from whom you purchased the stove b. A friend of yours who has used a wood-burning stove for years c. Another friend who sells firewood d. A U.S. Department of Agriculture publication, “Comparative Properties of Fuelwood” e. A professor of environmental horticulture at a state university All these sources are credible, but (d) should rank first, and, most likely, (a) should rank last.

Exercises a. Your family physician b. A magazine for runners
A number of your friends have taken up jogging, and you wonder whether your taking it up might have genuine health benefits for you. a. Your family physician b. A magazine for runners c. A friend who teaches physical education in high school d. The author of a best-selling book on sports medicine e. A friend who is president of a local runners club

Exercises a. Your family physician
b. A magazine for runners c. A friend who teaches physical education in high school d. The author of a best-selling book on sports medicine e. A friend who is president of a local runners club (b), (c), and (e) might tend to be promoters of jogging, so I’d be mildly skeptical of any pro-jogging claims they might make (but less skeptical of any liabilities of jogging that they might mention). I’d find (a) a more credible source, although many general practitioners may not have the time to keep up on such specialized areas. The best potential source is probably (d), although I’d be cautious unless I knew something about the author; he or she might also tend to exaggerate either the benefits—or the risks—of jogging.

Exercises a. The boat salesman at the marina that owns the boat
You are looking at a sailboat that you’re considering buying, but you’ve never owned one before and don’t know whether you should buy this one. a. The boat salesman at the marina that owns the boat b. A boat salesman from another marina c. A friend who has owned several similar boats d. A buyer’s guide published by a sailing magazine e. Your own appraisal

Exercises Issue: Should lawyers allow their clients to lie?
For the following, discuss which source you’d trust more, and give at least one reason why. You may want to add to or otherwise modify our lists of sources. And do keep in mind that we are glad our livelihoods do not depend on a general consensus on our rankings. Issue: Should lawyers allow their clients to lie? a. The U.S. Supreme Court b. A law school professor c. A political science professor d. The American Bar Association e. A practicing defense attorney

Exercises This question is not so straightforward and simple as it might seem. For instance, has a client who is forced to tell the truth in effect been denied an effective defense? Can one even know that one’s client has lied? In forming my opinion on the subject, I’d be most influenced by the reasoning of the person who seemed to have the best grasp of the various subsidiary issues involved. In other words, in this case it’s the reasoning rather than the credentials of the reasoner that will carry the most weight. (I would not anticipate that any of the sources listed would be deficient in powers of reasoning.)

Exercises Issue: In the O. J. Simpson murder case, did the judge rule correctly in admitting evidence that was obtained at Simpson’s house before a search warrant was issued? a. A well-known defense attorney who heads the American Trial Lawyers Association b. The former district attorney for Los Angeles County c. A retired judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals

Exercises a. A well-known defense attorney who heads the American Trial Lawyers Association b. The former district attorney for Los Angeles County c. A retired judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals I put (c) way out in front, and the other two equally biased on opposite sides of the issue.

Exercises Issue: Does violence on television contribute to violent behavior on the part of young viewers? a. The president of the National Association of Broadcasters b. The president of an organization called “Parents Against TV Violence” c. A university sociologist d. Regular panel members of a program such as “Crossfire” or “The McLaughlin Group”

Exercises a. The president of the National Association of Broadcasters b. The president of an organization called “Parents Against TV Violence” c. A university sociologist d. Regular panel members of a program such as “Crossfire” or “The McLaughlin Group” I rank (c) first, followed by (b), who would be ahead of (a). I do know what side (b) is on from the outset, of course, but that’s somewhat different from having a vested interest in one side of the issue in the way that (a) does. I find most of the people like those mentioned in (d) to be full of hot air on most subjects.

Exercises Issue: Do mountain bicycles cause ecological damage when ridden on hiking trails? a. An environmental scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health b. The chair of the Sierra Club task force for determining club policy on the wilderness use of mountain bicycles c. A spokesperson for a bicycle manufacturer d. A park ranger from a state park where mountain bicycles have been permitted on hiking trails e. A representative of the Washington Mountain Bike Riders’ Association

Exercises My ranking: (d) = (b) first, then (e) = (c) = (a)
a. An environmental scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health b. The chair of the Sierra Club task force for determining club policy on the wilderness use of mountain bicycles c. A spokesperson for a bicycle manufacturer d. A park ranger from a state park where mountain bicycles have been permitted on hiking trails e. A representative of the Washington Mountain Bike Riders’ Association My ranking: (d) = (b) first, then (e) = (c) = (a)

Exercises Issue: Are schools of business turning out too many ill-prepared M.B.A. graduates? a. The dean of the school of business at the University of Chicago b. The president of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation c. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal d. A recent graduate with an M.B.A.

Exercises Issue: Are schools of business turning out too many ill-prepared M.B.A. graduates? a. The dean of the school of business at the University of Chicago b. The president of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation c. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal d. A recent graduate with an M.B.A. My ranking: (c), (b), (a), (d)

Exercises Issue: What levels of mercury and other metals in fish are high enough to make their consumption hazardous to humans? a. An article in a journal called Diet and Health, published for vegetarians b. A commercial fisherman c. A family medical doctor d. A spokeswoman for the National Institutes of Health e. A toxicologist who works for the Los Angeles coroner’s office

Exercises a. An article in a journal called Diet and Health, published for vegetarians b. A commercial fisherman c. A family medical doctor d. A spokeswoman for the National Institutes of Health e. A toxicologist who works for the Los Angeles coroner’s office My ranking: (d), then a substantial gap, then (e) and (c), another gap, then (a), (b)

Exercises Issue: Were there unjustifiable cost overruns in the construction of ships made for the U.S. Navy by Lytton Industries? a. The chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee b. The accounting director for Lytton c. The Navy Chief of Staff d. The OMB (Office of Management and Budget) e. An article in The Progressive (a left-of-center political journal)

Exercises a. The chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
b. The accounting director for Lytton c. The Navy Chief of Staff d. The OMB (Office of Management and Budget) e. An article in The Progressive (a left-of-center political journal) Our ranking: (d), (a), depending on the individual’s politics, then (c) = (e), (b)

Exercises State whether the following are true or false.
You should assume that the claims made by others are false unless you have some specific reason to believe otherwise.

You should assume that the claims made by others are false unless you have some specific reason to believe otherwise. False

If you have reason to believe that an expert is biased, you should reject that expert’s claim as false.

If you have reason to believe that an expert is biased, you should reject that expert’s claim as false. False (The possibility of bias is occasion to question his or her claims, to suspend judgment on them, to give more weight to alternative claims from unbiased experts, and so on—this is different from rejecting the original expert’s claims as false.)

Except when we have the means to record our observations immediately, they are no better than our memories happen to be.

Except when we have the means to record our observations immediately, they are no better than our memories happen to be. True

Fallible or not, our firsthand observations are still the best source of information we have.

Fallible or not, our firsthand observations are still the best source of information we have. True

Reference works such as dictionaries are utterly reliable sources of information—otherwise they wouldn’t be reference works.

Reference works such as dictionaries are utterly reliable sources of information—otherwise they wouldn’t be reference works. False

A surprising claim, one that seems to conflict with our background knowledge, requires a more credible source than one that is not surprising in this way.

A surprising claim, one that seems to conflict with our background knowledge, requires a more credible source than one that is not surprising in this way. True

Factual claims put forth by experts about subjects outside their fields are not automatically more acceptable than claims put forth by nonexperts.

Factual claims put forth by experts about subjects outside their fields are not automatically more acceptable than claims put forth by nonexperts. True

You are rationally justified in accepting the view of the majority of experts in a given subject even if this view turns out later to have been incorrect.

You are rationally justified in accepting the view of the majority of experts in a given subject even if this view turns out later to have been incorrect. True

Chapter 5: Persuasion Through Rhetoric
What is rhetoric?

Rhetoric Rhetoric denotes a broad category of linguistic techniques people use when their primary objective is to influence beliefs and attitudes and behaviors.

Argument? Notice that no argument is made, that is, no reasons are given to accept the claim being made.

Rhetoric and Arguments
An arguments persuasive force can be effectively enhanced by the use of rhetoric, but the argument is not made by rhetoric.

Influence Rhetorical force may be psychologically forceful, but by itself it adds nothing. If we allow our attitudes and beliefs to be affected by sheer rhetoric, we fall short as critical thinkers.

Psychological and Logical Force
While there is nothing wrong with using rhetoric, we must be able to distinguish the argument contained in what someone says or writes from the rhetoric; we must be able to distinguish the logical force of a set of arguments from their psychological force.

Euphemism Euphemism: A neutral or positive expression instead of one that carries negative associations.

Euphemism Example: We will fund this program through revenue enhancements from the sale of beer and cigarettes.

Euphemism: True or False?
It is fair to say that euphemisms can sometimes be helpful and constructive. True!

Dysphemism Example: Rush Limbaugh said: “‘The basic right to life of an animal’ - which is the source of energy for many animal rights wackos - must be inferred from the anticruelty laws humans have written.”

Rhetorical Comparison
Rhetorical comparison: A comparison used to express or influence attitudes or affect behavior; such comparisons make use of images with positive or negative emotional associations. “He had a laugh like an old car trying to start.”

Rhetorical Comparison
Example: “Some feminists edge nervously away from Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon, who are the Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan of feminism …”

Rhetorical Definition
Rhetorical definition: A definition used to convey or evoke an attitude about the defined term and its denotation. It uses loaded language while supposedly trying to clarify a term: “Animals are our fellow conscious beings.”

Rhetorical Definition
Example: A “provost” is the head academic officer in a university, whose chief function is to dream up work for faculty committees to do.

Rhetorical Explanation
Rhetorical explanation: An explanation intended to influence attitudes or affect behavior. They use loaded language while pretending merely to tell the reason for an event. “She lost the fight because she’s lost her nerve.”

Rhetorical Explanation
Example: “Smokers unite! The reason the antismoking crowd doesn’t want you to smoke can be summed up in a single word: dictatorship.”

Stereotype A stereotype is a popularly held image of a group that rests on little or no evidence. Rhetoric uses stereotypes to associate a usually negative image with the point being made.

Stereotype Language that reduces people or things to categories can induce an audience to accept a claim unthinkingly or to make snap judgments concerning groups of individuals about whom they no little.

Stereotype Example: Handguns are made only for the purpose of killing people.

Innuendo Innuendo is a form of suggestion. An innuendo works by implying what it does not say. Sometimes an innuendo suggests while pretending or even claiming not to: “Far be it from me to call my opponents liars.”

Innuendo Innuendo lies between the lines.
Example: I don’t know what my opponents will base their speeches on; I’m basing mine on love for my country.

Loaded Question A loaded question follows the logic of innuendo, illegitimately suggesting something through the very existence of the question. “Have you stopped beating your wife?” rests on the assumption that the person asked has in the past beaten his wife.

Loaded Question A loaded question is a rhetorical device that is phrased as a question that rests upon one or more unwarranted or unjustified assumptions.

Loaded Question Example: is this going to be another bright suggestion like your proposal that we take scuba lessons?

Weaselers Weaselers are linguistic methods of hedging a bet. As a persuasive device it aims at shielding a claim from criticism by qualifying it.

Weaselers Words like “perhaps” and “possibly,” and qualifying phrases like “as far as we know” or “within reasonable limits,” most commonly signal the work of weaselers.

Weaselers Example: At the end of the day, the reasons for our view tend to preponderate over the reasons for the contrary view. Example: Yes, well, in a way I agree with you.

Weaselers Claims that might otherwise convey strong and specific information, but possibly be false, can be made more nearly true through the use of weaselers: “She is quite possibly one of the most gifted students I am now teaching.”

Weaselers Weasely words can also plant an innuendo: “It’s not impossible for him to have ulterior motives.

Weaselers It is important to be watchful when qualifying phrases turn up. Is the speaker or writer adding a reasonable qualification, insinuating a bit of innuendo, or preparing a way out?

Weaselers You need to assess the speaker, the context, and the subject to establish the grounds for the right judgment.

Downplayers Downplaying is an attempt to make someone or something look less important or significant. Certain words like “merely” “so-called” and putting words in quotation marks can all signal the use of downplayers.

Downplayers Example: Open this envelope and you’ll get a check for three million dollars. If your name appears on our list of winners.

Downplayers Example:Yes, of course, we must protect the rights of innocent people - up to a point. The main thing is to make the streets safe again. Something must be done to reduce crime.

The Horse Laugh The horse laugh, ridicule, or sarcasm are rhetorical devices used to avoid arguing about a position by laughing at it. Satire is a form of ridicule.

The Horse Laugh Example: Comedy shows and cartoons. One may simply laugh outright at a claim (“Send aid to Russia? Har, har, har!”).

The Horse Laugh Example: One may laugh at another claim that reminds us of the first (“Support the Equal Rights Amendment? Sure, when the ladies start buying the drinks! Ho, ho, ho!”).

The Horse Laugh Example: We can also tell an unrelated joke, use sarcastic language, or simply laugh at the person who is trying to make the point.

The Horse Laugh Being funny might be entertaining, but it is not making an argument!

Hyperbole Hyperbole is extravagant overstatement. It’s when the colorfulness of language becomes excessive-a matter of judgment-that the claim is likely to turn into hyperbole.

Hyperbole Example: Marilyn French said: “All men are rapists.”

Proof Surrogate An expression used to suggest that there is evidence or authority for a claim without actually citing such evidence or authority is a proof surrogate. Such a proof or evidence may exist, but until it has been presented, the claim at issue remains unsupported.

Proof Surrogate Example: Chewing tobacco is not only messy, it is also unhealthy (just check the latest statistics). Example: That the latest proposal before us is a good one is, surely, obvious.

Exercises Isolate and discuss rhetorical devices that appear in these passages. 1. Not everyone thinks that [former] Senator Jesse Helms is the least admired American public figure (as some opinion polls show). Even now, one or two southern Republicans lust after a Helms endorsement.

Exercises 1. Not everyone thinks that [former] Senator Jesse Helms is the least admired American public figure (as some opinion polls show). Even now, one or two southern Republicans lust after a Helms endorsement. “Not everyone” implies that most do—innuendo. The parenthetical remark is a proof surrogate. “Even now” insinuates (innuendo) that by this time hardly anyone has regard for Helms or for a Helms endorsement. “One or two” is a weaseler. “Lust after” belittles the desire for a Helms endorsement: It cheapens both Helms and those who want his support.

Exercises Perhaps the “religious leaders” who testified at the state board of education’s public hearing on textbooks think they speak for all Christians, but they do not.

Exercises Perhaps the “religious leaders” who testified at the state board of education’s public hearing on textbooks think they speak for all Christians, but they do not. Note especially how quotation marks around “religious leaders” serves to question the credentials of those individuals.

Exercises The United States will not have an effective antiterrorist force until the army and the air force quit bickering about equipment and responsibilities.

Exercises “Bickering” belittles the nature of the controversy.
The United States will not have an effective antiterrorist force until the army and the air force quit bickering about equipment and responsibilities. “Bickering” belittles the nature of the controversy.

Exercises Maybe it’s possible, after all, to sympathize with the Internal Revenue Service. The woes that have piled up in its Philadelphia office make the IRS look almost human.

Exercises Maybe it’s possible, after all, to sympathize with the Internal Revenue Service. The woes that have piled up in its Philadelphia office make the IRS look almost human. “After all” suggests that the IRS usually deserves no sympathy; “almost human” implies that the IRS is actually inhuman.

Exercises We clearly can’t trust the television networks, not when they’ve just spent two days interviewing young children on their feelings about the recent shootings at the elementary school. This attempt to wring every drop of human interest from the tragedy is either frighteningly cynical or criminally thoughtless regarding the damage that can be done both to the children interviewed and to children who see the interviews.

Exercises We clearly can’t trust the television networks, not when they’ve just spent two days interviewing young children on their feelings about the recent shootings at the elementary school. This attempt to wring every drop of human interest from the tragedy is either frighteningly cynical or criminally thoughtless regarding the damage that can be done both to the children interviewed and to children who see the interviews. “Wring every drop” is a cliché and an exaggeration; the adverbs “frighteningly” and “criminally” approach hyperbole, especially the latter.

Exercises The antigun people think that just as soon as guns are outlawed, crime will disappear, and we’ll all live together as one big, happy family.

Exercises The antigun people think that just as soon as guns are outlawed, crime will disappear, and we’ll all live together as one big, happy family. This trades on a stereotype; it’s an excellent opening for a straw man.

Exercises “Early in the third phase of the Vietnam War the U.S. command recognized that the term ‘search and destroy’ had unfortunately become associated with ‘aimless searches in the jungle and the destruction of property.’ In April 1968 General Westmoreland therefore directed that the use of the term be discontinued. Operations thereafter were defined and discussed in basic military terms which described the type of operation, for example, reconnaissance in force.” —Lieutenant General John H. Hay, Jr., Vietnam Studies

Exercises “Early in the third phase of the Vietnam War the U.S. command recognized that the term ‘search and destroy’ had unfortunately become associated with ‘aimless searches in the jungle and the destruction of property.’ In April 1968 General Westmoreland therefore directed that the use of the term be discontinued. Operations thereafter were defined and discussed in basic military terms which described the type of operation, for example, reconnaissance in force.” —Lieutenant General John H. Hay, Jr., Vietnam Studies Euphemism

Exercises Robert may be a pretty good gardener, all right, but you’ll notice he lost nearly everything to the bugs this year.

Exercises Robert may be a pretty good gardener, all right, but you’ll notice he lost nearly everything to the bugs this year. Innuendo, downplayer (“but”)

Exercises “The Soviet regime [once] promulgated a law providing fines for motorists who alter their lights or grills or otherwise make their cars distinguishable. A regime that makes it a crime to personalize a car is apt to make it a crime to transmit a cultural heritage.” —George Will

Exercises “The Soviet regime [once] promulgated a law providing fines for motorists who alter their lights or grills or otherwise make their cars distinguishable. A regime that makes it a crime to personalize a car is apt to make it a crime to transmit a cultural heritage.” —George Will A rhetorical comparison

Exercises “to Chico's wholesalers and retailers of pornography: do you honestly believe that pornography has no effect on the behavior of people?” —From an ad in the Chico Enterprise-Record

Exercises “to Chico's wholesalers and retailers of pornography: do you honestly believe that pornography has no effect on the behavior of people?” —From an ad in the Chico Enterprise-Record The phrase “do you honestly believe” is almost always used to refute without argument the claim that follows it. It isn’t a type of slanter discussed in the text, though you might get away with calling it a proof surrogate.

Exercises Rodney Dangerfield? Yeah, he’s about as funny as a terminal illness.

Exercises Rodney Dangerfield? Yeah, he’s about as funny as a terminal illness. Rhetorical comparison

Exercises “Within the context of total ignorance, you are absolutely correct.” —Caption in a National Review cartoon

Exercises “Within the context of total ignorance, you are absolutely correct.” —Caption in a National Review cartoon The height of downplaying, as it were, although the remark is clearly designed more to amuse than to persuade.

Exercises “If we stop the shuttle program now, there are seven astronauts who will have died for nothing.” —An unidentified U.S. congressman, after the space shuttle disaster of January 1986

Exercises “If we stop the shuttle program now, there are seven astronauts who will have died for nothing.” —An unidentified U.S. congressman, after the space shuttle disaster of January 1986 You’ll recognize this as primarily a piece of pseudoreasoning (false dilemma), but the phrase “will have died for nothing [or in vain]” is a highly charged cliché.

Exercises If the governor is so dedicated to civil rights, why is it that the black citizens of this state are worse off now than when he took office?

Exercises If the governor is so dedicated to civil rights, why is it that the black citizens of this state are worse off now than when he took office? Loaded question

Exercises Professor Jones, who normally confines his remarks to his own subject, ventured out on a high-wire to comment on the commission’s findings.

Exercises Professor Jones, who normally confines his remarks to his own subject, ventured out on a high-wire to comment on the commission’s findings. Jones’s credentials regarding evaluation of the commission’s findings are impugned (innuendo), and the significance of his comments is downplayed.

Exercises I simply won’t go into those cowboy bars; they’re full of guys who disguise their insecurities with cowboy boots and hats.

Exercises Stereotyping
I simply won’t go into those cowboy bars; they’re full of guys who disguise their insecurities with cowboy boots and hats. Stereotyping

Exercises “Trivial pursuit” is the name of a game played by the California Supreme Court, which will seek any nit-picking excuse preventing murderers from receiving justice.

Exercises “Trivial pursuit” is the name of a game played by the California Supreme Court, which will seek any nit-picking excuse preventing murderers from receiving justice. Rhetorical definition. Notice the switch in this one: Usually the slant is against the word or idea being defined; here the object of the attack occurs in the definition.

Exercises “Any person who thinks that Libya is not involved in terrorism has the same kind of mentality as people who think that Hitler was not involved in persecuting Jews.” —Robert Oakley, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism, in an interview on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered

Exercises “Any person who thinks that Libya is not involved in terrorism has the same kind of mentality as people who think that Hitler was not involved in persecuting Jews.” —Robert Oakley, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism, in an interview on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered Rhetorical comparison

Exercises “Although you were not selected to receive the award, I congratulate you for your achievements at California State University, Chico.” —Excerpt from a letter written by a university president and sent to an unsuccessful contender for a campus award.

Exercises “Although you were not selected to receive the award, I congratulate you for your achievements at California State University, Chico.” —Excerpt from a letter written by a university president and sent to an unsuccessful contender for a campus award. Downplayer: “although”

Exercises Voting is the method for obtaining legal power to coerce others. —From a commentary on a grocery bag urging citizens not to vote and thus not to encourage the majority to take away the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of the minority.

Exercises Rhetorical definition
Voting is the method for obtaining legal power to coerce others. —From a commentary on a grocery bag urging citizens not to vote and thus not to encourage the majority to take away the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of the minority. Rhetorical definition

Exercises “To those who say that the analogy of Hitler is extremist and inflammatory in reference to abortion, I would contend that the comparison is legitimate The Supreme Court, by refusing to acknowledge their personhood, has relegated the entire class of unborn children to a subhuman legal status without protection under the law—the same accorded Jews under the Third Reich.” —Jerry Nims, writing in the Moral Majority’s Liberty Report

Exercises “To those who say that the analogy of Hitler is extremist and inflammatory in reference to abortion, I would contend that the comparison is legitimate The Supreme Court, by refusing to acknowledge their personhood, has relegated the entire class of unborn children to a subhuman legal status without protection under the law—the same accorded Jews under the Third Reich.” —Jerry Nims, writing in the Moral Majority’s Liberty Report Rhetorical comparison

Exercises “Who is to blame for this lackluster political campaign?”
—Television network anchor

Exercises Loaded question
“Who is to blame for this lackluster political campaign?” —Television network anchor Loaded question

Exercises Libya’s strongman, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, is the kingpin of Mideast terrorism, as Israeli and Western intelligence sources assert. Qaddafi’s ‘who, me?’ denials are as believable as would be his announcing conversion to Judaism.

Exercises Libya’s strongman, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, is the kingpin of Mideast terrorism, as Israeli and Western intelligence sources assert. Qaddafi’s ‘who, me?’ denials are as believable as would be his announcing conversion to Judaism. Both “strongman” and “kingpin” are slanters, and the second sentence is a rhetorical comparison.

Exercises A political endorsement by the Reverend Jerry Falwell, the high priest of holier-than-thou and “let’s hear it for apartheid,” would help a political candidate as much as an endorsement from the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Exercises A political endorsement by the Reverend Jerry Falwell, the high priest of holier-than-thou and “let’s hear it for apartheid,” would help a political candidate as much as an endorsement from the Ayatollah Khomeini. “Holier-than-thou” is a clichéd slanter; and the “let’s hear it for apartheid” epithet is a jeer, regardless of the fact that Falwell supported apartheid in South Africa. The whole is, of course, a rhetorical comparison.

Exercises “The people who [fought] the Soviet-backed government in Nicaragua [were] freedom fighters just as George Washington was in our country.” —Ronald Reagan

Exercises “The people who [fought] the Soviet-backed government in Nicaragua [were] freedom fighters just as George Washington was in our country.” —Ronald Reagan Rhetorical comparison

Exercises Surely you can’t say that the American people have ever been behind Bill Clinton. After all, he got a mere 43 million votes in 1992, which is five million fewer than George Bush got when he beat Dukakis in 1988.

Exercises Surely you can’t say that the American people have ever been behind Bill Clinton. After all, he got a mere 43 million votes in 1992, which is five million fewer than George Bush got when he beat Dukakis in 1988. “Mere” is a downplayer.

Exercises In March 1997, thirty-nine members of the so-called Heaven’s Gate cult committed suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The event was connected with the Hale-Bopp comet, which was at that time making its brightest appearance to observers on earth. The cultists believed a spaceship following the comet would “take them away” from earthly matters, provided they had undergone sufficient “spiritual metamorphosis.”

Exercises In March 1997, thirty-nine members of the so-called Heaven’s Gate cult committed suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The event was connected with the Hale-Bopp comet, which was at that time making its brightest appearance to observers on earth. The cultists believed a spaceship following the comet would “take them away” from earthly matters, provided they had undergone sufficient “spiritual metamorphosis.” “So-called” is a downplayer, used sarcastically here. “Take them away” and “spiritual metamorphosis” may simply be direct quotations from remarks made by the cultists, but they may also be sarcastically intended, in which case they are downplayers.

Exercises With her keen instinct for political survival on full alert, Governor Whitman suddenly saw the wisdom of the proposal that she had opposed for so many years.

Exercises With her keen instinct for political survival on full alert, Governor Whitman suddenly saw the wisdom of the proposal that she had opposed for so many years. Innuendo—insinuates that her changed mind on the proposal was politically motivated and unprincipled

Exercises The Best Way to Clean Up Congress
—Title of article by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak

Exercises Innuendo The Best Way to Clean Up Congress
—Title of article by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak Innuendo

More Rhetorical Devices: Psychological and Related Devices

Psychological and Related Devices
A good argument provides a justification for accepting its conclusion.

Psychological and Related Devices
Some rhetorical devices can be made to look like arguments containing premises and conclusions. But they don’t really provide legitimate proof of what they supposedly are proving. This is called pseudoreasoning.

The “argument” from outrage
A fallacy is a mistake in reasoning. It is a mistake to think that something is wrong simply because it makes us angry.

The “argument” from outrage consists in inflammatory words (or thoughts) followed by a “conclusion” of some sort. It substitutes anger for reason and judgment in considering an issue.

Scapegoating is a breed of “argument” from outrage in which one person, or a group, gets blamed for everything bad.

Example: Dear Editors: When Al Jones wrote in to criticize city workers, he didn’t mention his occupation. Maybe he’s a millionaire without a care in the world, that he has the time to criticize people working for him--if he’s even a taxpayer.

Scare Tactics When the emotion appealed to is fear, rather than anger, this is the fallacy known as a scare tactic. A rhetorical device that uses a threat instead of good reasons to get someone to accept a claim.

Scare Tactics In a special case of scare tactics, the “argument” by force amounts to saying, “Agree with me or I will hurt you.”

Scare Tactics Legitimate warnings are not scare tactics even though they may be scary. “If you don’t check your parachute before jumping, you may die” is an excellent argument!

Scare Tactics Example: You bet I’ll explain why Fantasy Land [an adult bookstore] should be closed down! You go in there, and we’ll send your license plate number to the newspaper. Are you going to like people knowing what kind of stuff you read?

Argument from Pity “Argument” from pity. You need a job and although you are not qualified you try to get it by making the employer feel bad for you. The name of a rhetorical device that plays on your compassion to get you to accept a claim instead of relying on sound reasons.

Argument from Pity Example: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: My client stands before you accused of three bank robberies. But the prosecution has not told you about three little children in this story, who will have a hard time getting food on their table if their daddy goes to prison.

Apple Polishing Fallacy
The apple polishing fallacy is when we allow praise of ourselves to substitute for judgment about the truth of a claim, or when we do this to others.

Apple Polishing Fallacy
Officer: Excuse me, sir. Do you know how fast you were going? Driver: I never get over the sight of you mounted policemen. How do you leap down off the horse’s back so fast? And you must have them well trained, not to run away when you dismount.

Wishful Thinking Fallacy
Wishful thinking: Happens when we accept or reject a claim simply because it would be pleasant (or unpleasant) if it were true.

Wishful Thinking Fallacy
Example: There must be life on other planets. Imagine how lonely we’ll find the universe if we discover that we’re the only ones here.

Peer Pressure Fallacy Peer pressure “argument”: Plays on our desire for acceptance and our fear of rejection. It is the name of the rhetorical device that argues for a course of action on the grounds that taking this course will win the approval of others and especially of one’s friends.

Peer Pressure Fallacy Example: Are you telling me that you’re twenty-one years old and still a virgin? I’d keep quiet about that if I were you--you’d be the laughing stock of the dorm if that were widely known.

Group Think Fallacy Group think fallacy occurs when someone lets identification with a group take the place of reason and deliberation when arriving at a position on an issue.

Group Think Fallacy Example: “My country right or wrong.”
Example: Pynchon is where it’s at. All the Alpha Kappas read him.

Fallacies based on emotions
Remember: When “arguments” evoke emotions that make us want to accept the conclusion without support, look for fallacies and rhetoric.

Rationalizing Rationalizing is when we use a false pretext to satisfy our own desires or interests. Rationalizing involves a confusion in thinking. It involves an element of self-deception about our true motivation.

Rationalizing Example: She’ll be glad I spent the night out drinking. I’m giving her some personal space.

Argument From Popularity
“Argument” from popularity is when we accept the conclusion of an argument because a lot of other people have accepted the same conclusion. The name of a rhetorical device that encourages the acceptance of a claim on the grounds that it is already accepted by some substantial number of others.

Example: There must be an afterlife. Wherever you find human beings you find their minds naturally returning to this thought. Example: Obviously it was right for the United States to attack Iraq in Polls at the time showed that over 90 percent of Americans thought the war was justified.

Example: My opponent would like to see TV networks label their programming, on the grounds that violent shows make children who watch them violent. But everyone knows a couple of shows can’t change your personality.

Common Practice Fallacy
The name of a rhetorical device that tries to justify an action on the grounds that it is normal behavior, accepted by all or most people. Example: Why do you take a bus to work when most people drive?

Relativism Review of Chapter 1: “Truth is relative.” Opinions are relative, but not factual claims. Remember: factual claims can be tested or verified.

Subjectivist Fallacy The name of a rhetorical device that is based on the view called relativism, that what is true for one is not true for another.

Subjectivist Fallacy Example: Professor: I gave you a D on your essay because your grammar was faulty and your organization was difficult to follow. Student: That’s just your opinion!

Subjectivist Fallacy Example: Biker: I refuse to buy a Japanese motorcycle. I don’t believe in doing business with Communist countries. Reporter: But Japan isn’t communist. Biker: Well to me they are.

Two wrongs make a right Two wrongs make a right is a fallacy because wrongful behavior on someone else’s part doesn’t convert wrongful behavior on your part into rightful behavior.

Two wrongs make a right Example: Well! Finally after all these years, the telephone company makes an error on my bill in my favor! And I’m surely not going to point it out to them. They’ve been gouging me since the telephones first came into existence.

Red Herring A red herring fallacy is caused when a person brings a topic into a conversation that distracts from the original point, especially if the new topic is introduced in order to distract.

Red Herring Example: It’s clear enough to me that Senator John McCain would have made a great president. Look, it isn’t often that we get a chance to elect a guy who’s a war hero, a prisoner of war in an enemy prison camp, and we ought to have done it when we had the chance.

Smokescreen Basically the same as a red herring. A smokescreen is when you pile up so many issues the original issue gets lost. The name of a rhetorical device that tries to side-track someone by bringing up a related but irrelevant topic.

Smokescreen “To the people who brought you ‘The Great American Smokeout,’ we make The Great American Challenge. We challenge the American Cancer Society to clean up the air in its ‘smoke free’ offices. We are willing to bet there isn’t much cigarette smoking at American Cancer Society offices. But, according to a recent study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), cigarette smoke also wasn’t the problem in 98 percent of 203 buildings reported to have indoor air problems Indoor air inspections resulting from worker complaints typically find viruses, fungal spores, bacteria, gases, closed fresh air ducts, and ventilation systems in need of maintenance.” —Full-page ad in USA Today, sponsored by the Tobacco Institute

Smokescreen A real, literal smokescreen! The Tobacco Institute is playing off reports of dangerous office environments, but the ad is meant to divert attention away from the even greater dangers of cigarette smoking. The ad may also hint that those who feel ill at the office should not blame the smoker; but the “Smokeout” was directed to actual smokers.

Exercises Identify instances of pseudoreasoning in the following passages: “Listen, Higgins. I need your vote in the next department election or I may not get elected chair. Remember, if I do get elected, it will be me who decides what hours your classes meet next year.”

Exercises “Listen, Higgins. I need your vote in the next department election or I may not get elected chair. Remember, if I do get elected, it will be me who decides what hours your classes meet next year.” Scare tactics

Exercises When several people in Harvey’s department get new computers, he is annoyed because he is not among them. “I’ll tell you what,” Harvey says to his wife, “if they want to rip me off by not getting a new computer for me, I’ll just rip them off for extra office supplies. They’ve got a lot of stuff at work we could use around here, and they’ll have no way of knowing that it’s gone. Turnabout’s fair play.”

Exercises When several people in Harvey’s department get new computers, he is annoyed because he is not among them. “I’ll tell you what,” Harvey says to his wife, “if they want to rip me off by not getting a new computer for me, I’ll just rip them off for extra office supplies. They’ve got a lot of stuff at work we could use around here, and they’ll have no way of knowing that it’s gone. Turnabout’s fair play.” Two wrongs

Exercises You saw what the former governor of Illinois did: He declared a moratorium on executions in the state. It was a good thing, too, because it turns out that a large number of the inmates on death row had to be turned loose because DNA evidence proved them innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt. It’s about time we got serious about the fact that we’ve been convicting innocent people and sentencing them to death.

Exercises You saw what the former governor of Illinois did: He declared a moratorium on executions in the state. It was a good thing, too, because it turns out that a large number of the inmates on death row had to be turned loose because DNA evidence proved them innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt. It’s about time we got serious about the fact that we’ve been convicting innocent people and sentencing them to death. No fallacy. I think it’s about time too.

Exercises No, I do NOT believe that a murderer has a right to live, and here’s why. The criminal justice system in this country has gotten completely out of control, what with rapists, murderers, you name it—all getting off scot-free. It’s got to change!

Exercises No, I do NOT believe that a murderer has a right to live, and here’s why. The criminal justice system in this country has gotten completely out of control, what with rapists, murderers, you name it—all getting off scot-free. It’s got to change! Red herring

Exercises Those four officers who killed the innocent man in New York by mistake should be found not guilty of any crime. None of them had ever been in any kind of trouble before, and, tragically, this kind of thing is just going to happen when we have aggressive police work.

Exercises Those four officers who killed the innocent man in New York by mistake should be found not guilty of any crime. None of them had ever been in any kind of trouble before, and, tragically, this kind of thing is just going to happen when we have aggressive police work. Red herring; in fact, two red herrings

Exercises Gays in the military? No way. Clinton promoted the idea just to get the homosexual vote.

Exercises Gays in the military? No way. Clinton promoted the idea just to get the homosexual vote. Red herring

Exercises Gays in the military? Yes. There are no valid grounds for opposing the measure, as can be seen in the fact that policies of nondiscrimination to gays are common practice throughout Western democracies.

Exercises Gays in the military? Yes. There are no valid grounds for opposing the measure, as can be seen in the fact that policies of nondiscrimination to gays are common practice throughout Western democracies. Common practice

Exercises From a prosecutor’s closing statement at a trial: “In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there can be absolutely no doubt that this defendant committed these terrible murders. Look at the mother of the victim, sitting over there, and the father—their lives are forever destroyed by this evil deed. Never again will they know the peace and happiness that was their due. Put yourselves in their shoes, and you will know whether or not this man is guilty.”

Exercises From a prosecutor’s closing statement at a trial: “In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there can be absolutely no doubt that this defendant committed these terrible murders. Look at the mother of the victim, sitting over there, and the father—their lives are forever destroyed by this evil deed. Never again will they know the peace and happiness that was their due. Put yourselves in their shoes, and you will know whether or not this man is guilty.” Red herring

Exercises Is the president guilty of sexual harassment, as the Republicans are yelping? Hey, give me a break! What’s important is jobs, health care, welfare reform.

Exercises Is the president guilty of sexual harassment, as the Republicans are yelping? Hey, give me a break! What’s important is jobs, health care, welfare reform. Red herring

Exercises No, I don’t believe that Uncle Bob is really gone forever. He was like a father to me, and I believe that someday, somehow or other, we’ll see one another again; I don’t think I could go on if I didn’t believe that.

Exercises Wishful thinking
No, I don’t believe that Uncle Bob is really gone forever. He was like a father to me, and I believe that someday, somehow or other, we’ll see one another again; I don’t think I could go on if I didn’t believe that. Wishful thinking

Exercises Listen, friends, it’s our money the board of supervisors wants to spend putting sewers and other improvements out there in that Antelope Creek development. And you know who’s going to profit from it the most? The developers, who don’t even live around here. I tell you, we have sat back and done nothing long enough! It’s high time we told these out-of-town interlopers or antelopers or whatever they are to go mess with somebody else’s town. I won’t stand for it any more!

Exercises Listen, friends, it’s our money the board of supervisors wants to spend putting sewers and other improvements out there in that Antelope Creek development. And you know who’s going to profit from it the most? The developers, who don’t even live around here. I tell you, we have sat back and done nothing long enough! It’s high time we told these out-of-town interlopers or antelopers or whatever they are to go mess with somebody else’s town. I won’t stand for it any more! “Argument” from outrage (There is a relevant appeal here, but the speaker is clearly trying to evoke outrage from his audience as well.)

Exercises I’ll tell you why a hundred dollars is enough child support. You go into court and ask for more, and I’ll have my lawyer file a countersuit that will set you back a bundle in legal fees!

Exercises I’ll tell you why a hundred dollars is enough child support. You go into court and ask for more, and I’ll have my lawyer file a countersuit that will set you back a bundle in legal fees! Scare tactics

Exercises I know it was not very nice to overcharge them like that for the room, but all’s fair in love, war, and business, my dear. Besides, if the situation were reversed and we were desperate for lodging, they would have bled us for all we’re worth.

Exercises I know it was not very nice to overcharge them like that for the room, but all’s fair in love, war, and business, my dear. Besides, if the situation were reversed and we were desperate for lodging, they would have bled us for all we’re worth. Two wrongs make a right

Exercises George, I speak for the rest of the neighbors on our street. Frankly, your front yard is a mess, and we’d appreciate it if you would do something about it. We put the time and money into making our places look nice, but the effort is largely ruined by one awful looking place right here in the middle of the block. We hope you’ll do something about it.

Exercises George, I speak for the rest of the neighbors on our street. Frankly, your front yard is a mess, and we’d appreciate it if you would do something about it. We put the time and money into making our places look nice, but the effort is largely ruined by one awful looking place right here in the middle of the block. We hope you’ll do something about it. This might look like peer pressure or common practice, but I don’t believe it’s a fallacy at all.

Exercises Letter to the editor: “Your food section frequently features recipes with veal, and you say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. I disagree. Do you know how veal comes to be on your plate? At birth a newborn calf is separated from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that it cannot move freely. This limits muscular development so that the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly slaughtered.” —Cascade News

Exercises Letter to the editor: “Your food section frequently features recipes with veal, and you say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. I disagree. Do you know how veal comes to be on your plate? At birth a newborn calf is separated from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that it cannot move freely. This limits muscular development so that the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly slaughtered.” —Cascade News Argument from pity

Exercises Letter to the editor: “Your food section frequently features recipes with veal, and you say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. It may be wholesome and nutritious, but it is produced in a gruesome, inhumane way. At birth a newborn calf is separated from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that it cannot move freely. This limits muscular development so that the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly slaughtered.” —Cascade News

Exercises Letter to the editor: “Your food section frequently features recipes with veal, and you say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. It may be wholesome and nutritious, but it is produced in a gruesome, inhumane way. At birth a newborn calf is separated from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that it cannot move freely. This limits muscular development so that the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly slaughtered.” —Cascade News No fallacy. What is the difference?

Exercises Ad for a store that sells pianos: “Pianos are our only business. You’ll get the best deal at the piano experts.”

Exercises Ad for a store that sells pianos: “Pianos are our only business. You’ll get the best deal at the piano experts.” Red herring (That they sell nothing but pianos is irrelevant to how much they sell them for.)

Exercises Frankly, I don’t think you would be satisfied with anything less than our Model 24, which allows for more expansion than any other personal computer in its class. The way you catch on to things— something I can tell just from the questions you’ve asked here in the store—you’re not going to be happy with a machine whose limits you’ll soon reach.

Exercises Frankly, I don’t think you would be satisfied with anything less than our Model 24, which allows for more expansion than any other personal computer in its class. The way you catch on to things— something I can tell just from the questions you’ve asked here in the store—you’re not going to be happy with a machine whose limits you’ll soon reach. Apple polishing

Exercises Sure, driving after you’ve been drinking can get you into trouble with the law, but if you’re careful I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. After all, everyone does it, right?

Exercises Sure, driving after you’ve been drinking can get you into trouble with the law, but if you’re careful I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. After all, everyone does it, right? Common practice

Exercises Getting on Senator Davis’s case about the propriety of some of his financial dealings strikes me as just plain carping. Davis made a considerable economic sacrifice when he left private industry and entered politics; the people of this district are lucky to have him there.

Exercises Getting on Senator Davis’s case about the propriety of some of his financial dealings strikes me as just plain carping. Davis made a considerable economic sacrifice when he left private industry and entered politics; the people of this district are lucky to have him there. Red herring

Exercises —Cascade News
From a letter to the editor: “They’re wrong again, the doctors who say that the sun causes cancer. The four substances for all life are water, food, air, and sun. Everybody knows the sun opens the pores of your skin to release poisons; it cannot cause cancer. Cancer is caused by the toxins man puts in the air, not by sunlight.” —Cascade News

Exercises From a letter to the editor: “They’re wrong again, the doctors who say that the sun causes cancer. The four substances for all life are water, food, air, and sun. Everybody knows the sun opens the pores of your skin to release poisons; it cannot cause cancer. Cancer is caused by the toxins man puts in the air, not by sunlight.” —Cascade News Argument from popularity, although I don’t think this view is popular among many

Exercises Listen. As long as you’re going to live here at home and let your mother and me support you, you can rest assured that you’re going to cooperate. And that goes for your opinions as well as for your behavior.

Exercises Scare tactics
Listen. As long as you’re going to live here at home and let your mother and me support you, you can rest assured that you’re going to cooperate. And that goes for your opinions as well as for your behavior. Scare tactics

Exercises It’s clear enough to me that Senator John McCain would have made a great president. Look, it isn’t often that we get a chance to elect a guy who’s a war hero, a prisoner of war in an enemy prison camp, and we ought to have done it when we had the chance.

Exercises It’s clear enough to me that Senator John McCain would have made a great president. Look, it isn’t often that we get a chance to elect a guy who’s a war hero, a prisoner of war in an enemy prison camp, and we ought to have done it when we had the chance. Reference to the prisoner-of-war experience remains a red herring until it’s at least indicated how it is relevant to performance as president.

Exercises Look, you can argue about it all day long, but I believe that Carmichael is the best person for the job, and I hope he gets it. That’s my opinion, and it’s as good as any other opinion, so we may as well change the subject. .

Exercises Look, you can argue about it all day long, but I believe that Carmichael is the best person for the job, and I hope he gets it. That’s my opinion, and it’s as good as any other opinion, so we may as well change the subject. A version of the subjectivism. One person may be as good as another, and one may have as much right to an opinion as another, but not all opinions are created equal; those with better reasons are better opinions.

Exercises Toads do too cause warts. People have known that for centuries.

Exercises Toads do too cause warts. People have known that for centuries. A version of appeal to popularity

Exercises “It says here that smoke from wood-burning stoves, no matter how airtight they’re supposed to be, gets into your house and is a health hazard.” “No way. We just spent close to a thousand dollars on this new stove; what you’re reading can’t be true.”

Exercises “It says here that smoke from wood-burning stoves, no matter how airtight they’re supposed to be, gets into your house and is a health hazard.” “No way. We just spent close to a thousand dollars on this new stove; what you’re reading can’t be true.” Wishful thinking

Exercises —Greyhound advertisement
“Greyhound reminds you that when you travel by car, you take chances, especially if you are traveling alone. Anything can happen: dangerous thunderstorms [sound effect: thunder], engine trouble [sound of car failing to start], blowouts [tire blowing out, car screeching to a stop]. Next time [upbeat music] don’t take chances. It’s time to go Greyhound and leave the driving to us.” —Greyhound advertisement

Exercises —Greyhound advertisement
“Greyhound reminds you that when you travel by car, you take chances, especially if you are traveling alone. Anything can happen: dangerous thunderstorms [sound effect: thunder], engine trouble [sound of car failing to start], blowouts [tire blowing out, car screeching to a stop]. Next time [upbeat music] don’t take chances. It’s time to go Greyhound and leave the driving to us.” —Greyhound advertisement This may look like scare tactics, but the points made are relevant to the claim that alternatives to the automobile may be safer. Of course it doesn’t follow that Greyhound is the best alternative.

Exercises MARTY: If we keep on the way we are going, we will destroy civilization on this planet. TRACY: That’s so depressing. I think we need to think well of things.

Exercises MARTY: If we keep on the way we are going, we will destroy civilization on this planet. TRACY: That’s so depressing. I think we need to think well of things. Wishful thinking

Exercises he: Well, things didn’t work out quite the way I wanted, but that’s the way life often is. she: That’s not my philosophy. Your dreams will come true if you want them to, but you really have to want them to.

Exercises he: Well, things didn’t work out quite the way I wanted, but that’s the way life often is. she: That’s not my philosophy. Your dreams will come true if you want them to, but you really have to want them to. Wishful thinking

Exercises first speaker: Think about it. A seven-day waiting period to buy a gun would give people a chance to cool off; it would also give police a chance to make background checks. Are seven days that much of an inconvenience? second speaker: I wouldn’t talk that way around here, friend. Lots of people ’round here own guns, and they don’t take kindly to people who want to make them register their guns.

Exercises first speaker: Think about it. A seven-day waiting period to buy a gun would give people a chance to cool off; it would also give police a chance to make background checks. Are seven days that much of an inconvenience? second speaker: I wouldn’t talk that way around here, friend. Lots of people ’round here own guns, and they don’t take kindly to people who want to make them register their guns. Scare tactics

More Fallacies

The Ad Hominem Fallacy The ad hominem fallacy rests on a confusion between the qualities of the person making a claim and the qualities of the claim itself. It is a rhetorical device that attacks the arguer instead of the argument.

The Ad Hominem Fallacy A proposal made by an oddball is an oddball’s proposal, but it does not follow that it is an oddball proposal.

Personal Attack Ad Hominem
A pattern of fallacious reasoning in which we refuse to accept another’s argument because there is something about the person we don’t like or of which we disapprove.

Personal Attack Ad Hominem
Example: Are you really going to believe her about librarians’ salaries not being excessive? I’ll have you know she herself is a librarian, or don’t you think that matters?

The Inconsistency Ad Hominem
A pattern of fallacious reasoning of the sort, “I reject your claim because you act inconsistently with it yourself,” or “You can’t make that claim now because you have in the past rejected it.”

The double standard argument is actually the inconsistency ad hominem.

Example: Did you ever notice how the people who favor abortion on demand are the same people who are against the death penalty?

Example: It really gripes me to see Bill Clinton talking about how cigarette smoking is a big contributor to public health costs. How can we trust him? Even he himself admits to smoking cigars!

Circumstantial Ad Hominem
Attempting to discredit a person’s claim by referring to the person’s circumstances.

Example: Of course the Task Force on Crime is going to conclude that crime is on the way up. If they conclude it’s on the way down, they’d have to disband the task force, wouldn’t they?

Example: Of course that can’t be a legitimate proposal. They’re just trying to get the city council to pass a regulation that will stir up some business for them.

Poisoning the Well Poisoning the well can be thought of as an ad hominem in advance.

Poisoning the Well Example: I wouldn’t take a course from anyone in the Poly Sci department, if I were you. They are all anti-U.S., ultraliberal types, at least that’s what I hear.

Poisoning the Well Example:The next speaker is going to speak in favor of the idea. But she works for the gun lobby Don’t even bother listening to what she says.

Genetic Fallacy The genetic fallacy occurs when we try to refute a claim on the basis of its origin or history. Rejecting a proposition because it is supported by a group you don’t like is a genetic fallacy.

Genetic Fallacy Example: You can’t trust the arguments you find in that magazine. It’s well known as a right-wing apologist for the wealthy.

Genetic Fallacy Example: I don’t think postmodern expressionism is decent art. It’s another style spawned by the East Coast art establishment, and, frankly, I’m tired of that group’s dictating to the rest of the art world.

Positive Ad Hominem Fallacies
If we automatically transfer the positive or favorable attributes of a person to what he or she says, that is a mistake in reasoning, as well.

Example: The fact that in your view the NRA represents all that is good and proper does not enable you to infer that any specific proposal from the NRA is good and proper.

Example: The fact that you think your mom is clever does not logically entitle you to conclude that any specific opinion of your mom’s is clever.

The Straw Man Fallacy The straw man fallacy happens when you refute a position or claim by distorting or oversimplifying or misrepresenting it, all the while ignoring the person’s actual position.

The Straw Man Fallacy Example: Gays in the military? Yes. Maybe you favor excluding everyone except for white Anglo-Saxon males with adolescent personalities, but not me.

The Straw Man Fallacy Example: Do I want the police department to take charge of writing parking tickets? You mean, do I want to get shot if I pull up next to a fire hydrant? What do you think?

The False Dilemma Fallacy
The false dilemma fallacy occurs when you limit considerations to only two alternatives although other alternatives may be available. A straw man is often used as part of a false dilemma.

Example: Overheard: “I don’t know why Barbara won’t go out with me. She must think I’m too intense for her.”

Example: Gays in the military? Either let them in, or keep out all minorities; take your choice. I’m for letting them in. the alternative is ridiculous.

The Perfectionist Fallacy
The perfectionist fallacy is a subspecies of false dilemma and a common rhetorical ploy. This principle downgrades policy X simply because it isn’t perfect.

Example: No, I don’t believe we ought to reinstate the death penalty in this state. Doing it isn’t going to prevent all crime, and you know it.

Example:Don’t stay in the army. You were ROTC instead of going to one of the academies, and that means they might promote you for a while, but you’ll never get above lieutenant colonel.

The Line-Drawing Fallacy
Another version of the false dilemma is called the line-drawing fallacy, the fallacy of insisting that a line must be drawn at some point when in fact it is not necessary that such a line be drawn.

Example: All this talk about secondhand smoke causing cancer, I just don’t get it. How does it happen? WHEN does it happen? The first time you take a breath in a smoky room? The second time? You can never pin it down exactly.

Example:What do you mean, I broke my curfew? All I did was walk to the curb. You wouldn’t cite me if I stood on the porch, would you? And if I’d just stepped off the porch, that wouldn’t be any different. So what’s so magical about the curb?

Slippery Slope A form of fallacious reasoning in which it is assumed that some event must inevitably follow from some other, but in which no argument is made for the inevitability.

Slippery Slope Example: No, I don’t believe in “three strikes and you’re out” for convicted felons. Next thing it will be two strikes, then one strike. Then we will be sticking people in jail for life for misdemeanors. It’s not good policy.

Slippery Slope Example:Gays in the military? If we allow that, then next time we’ll be letting women into the men’s barracks. And the next thing you know, women, men, gays, everyone--they’ll all be showering together and sleeping in the same bunks. Get real.

Misplacing the Burden of Proof
Misplacing the burden of proof occurs when the burden of proof is placed on the wrong side of an issue.

1. The less initial plausibility a claim has, the greater the burden of proof we place on someone who asserts that claim.

2. Other things being equal, the burden of proof falls automatically on those supporting the affirmative side of an issue rather than on those supporting the negative side.

When someone claims that we should believe in such-and-such because nobody has proved it isn’t so, we have a subtype known as appeal to ignorance.

3. Special circumstances like court or contracts will specify where the burden of proof lies so there are no doubts or confusion about who needs to prove what.

Example: I beg to differ, Officer, but sometimes you people go overboard talking about the dangers of fast driving. If you can prove that there’s actually a child near the street right now, and that the child would have stepped out in front of my car, then I’ll grant you that going fifty-five was dangerous.

Example: Preferential treatment in hiring is something we must support; after all, can you think of a reason why we shouldn’t?

Begging the Question We are guilty of begging the question when we ask our audience to accept premises that are as controversial as the conclusion we’re arguing for and are controversial on the same grounds.

Begging the Question Example: The ACLU? Yeah, I know about them, and I don’t like them very much. They’re the ones who furnish free lawyers for criminals.

Begging the Question Example: No, I don NOT believe that a murderer ought to be allowed to live. No way! Murderers have forfeited the right to live because anyone who murders another person has lost that right.

Inductive Arguments

Arguments Before we can evaluate an argument, we need to analyze it. We need to be clear what the argument is trying to prove, what evidence it uses, and how it relates this evidence to its conclusion.

Inductive Arguments When we extend what we have already observed to things or situations we have not observed, we are reasoning inductively; we are producing inductive arguments.

Inductive Arguments Example: The dog has barked at me for the last three mornings, so I think he will bark at me this morning.

Inductive Arguments Remember: An inductive argument is an argument the premises of which are intended to provide some degree of probability for the truth of the conclusion. Therefore it is not sound or valid, but weak or strong.

Deductive Arguments Remember: A deductive argument sets out to guarantee the truth of its conclusion based on the truth of its premises.

Inductive Arguments Remember:an inductive argument attempts to offer a probability that its conclusion is true based on the truth of its premises.

Inductive Arguments Inductive arguments give us a way of extending our belief from things we know about to things unknown.

Important Definitions
Sample: The term sample refers to an item or items we believe something about.

Target: The term target refers to an item or group of items to which we wish to extend our belief.

Feature: The item we know about in the sample and we extend to the target object is the feature (or property) in question.

Example Premise: X has properties a, b, c.
Premise: Y has properties a, b, c. Premise: X has further property p. Conclusion: Y also has property p. X is our sample, Y is our target, an p is our feature (or property) in question.

Analogical Arguments and Generalizations
Inductive arguments can be divided into two categories: Analogical arguments (or argument by analogy) and inductive generalizations.

Arguments by Analogy Ordinarily, arguments by analogy have one thing or event for a target. In an analogical argument, the sample and target are distinct-one is not a part of the other.

Analogies Analogies are arguments that deal with comparing two similar things, one which is familiar and one which is unfamiliar. The key to analyzing analogies, is to determine what these two things are and how they are similar.

Analyzing Analogies So, analyzing an analogy means translating it into standard form. Example: “Three of my friends bought their computers on the internet and they were all unhappy with them. I was thinking about ordering my new computer online but now I think that if I do, I’ll be unhappy with it.”

Analyzing Analogies Such translations are made easier since you know from the standard form what parts you need to look for: The sample and the target, the similarities that are known, and the property in question “X.” Remember, the conclusion is always about the target and always asserts that the target has the property in question “X.”

Analyzing Analogies p1: Friends’ computers were: (1) bought online
p2: My computer will be: (1) bought online p3: Friends’ computers: (2) made them unhappy c: My computer will: (2) make me unhappy

Evaluating Analogies There are several things to consider when evaluating an analogy, but they all boil down to this basic rule, “the more similar the sample and the population, the higher the probability that the conclusion is true.” Each of the individual things to consider in your evaluation is concerned in some way with measuring this similarity.

Evaluating Analogies 1. The larger the sample, the stronger the argument. If our computer buyer had 10 friends who were unhappy with the computers they purchased on the internet, the argument would be stronger.

Evaluating Analogies 2. The greater the percentage of the sample that has the property in question, the greater the chance that the target has the additional attribute. Consider an analogy with a sample of 10 people who bought computers online. Suppose 3 of the 10 were unhappy. Now suppose that 8 of the 10 were unhappy. Which would make our analogy stronger?

Evaluating Analogies 1. The greater the number of relevant similarities between the sample and the target, the stronger the conclusion. If all of our friends’ computers were the same brand as the one we are buying, the analogy gets stronger. If they all ordered from the same company that we are going to use, the analogy gets stronger.

Evaluating Analogies 2. The fewer know dissimilarities between the sample and the target, the stronger the argument. If all the friends bought one type of computer and you are considering a different type, the analogy gets weaker. If theirs were refurbished and yours will be new, the analogy gets weaker.

Evaluating Analogies 1. When considering a feature of the sample that we are unsure of in the target, the greater the diversity in the sample, the better the argument. Consider processor speed. If we don’t know the speed of the processor in the target, we want a large diversity of processors in our sample. This gives a greater likelihood that the sample will be similar to our target population.

Evaluating Analogies 2. The more guarded the conclusion is, the stronger the argument is. (Consider the burden of proof!) Consider these two conclusions: (1) I will be terribly unhappy with my computer, (2) I will be less than perfectly pleased with my computer.

Evaluating Analogies Conclusion 2 is more guarded, it is much more likely that you’ll be less than pleased than it is that you’ll be terribly unhappy, thus 2 is easier to prove.

Evaluating Analogies Unlike determining the validity or invalidity of a deductive argument, evaluating an inductive argument like an analogy is somewhat subjective. The strength or weakness of an analogy will depend, in part, to how relevant and similar the two analogues seem to the reader.

Evaluating Analogies Instead of immediately trying to determine in some objective way an analogy’s absolute strength, it is prudent to evaluate it by determining what would make it stronger or by comparing it to other analogies. By comparing the relative strength of an analogy with actual or potential rivals you can get a good sense of its absolute strength.

Arguments by Analogy Example: I am scared to let Susan see me in this sweater. A couple of my other friends told me it makes me look like a child, and she’s at least as critical as they are. A weak or strong analogy? Strong.

Arguments by Analogy Example: A watch could not assemble itself, because it’s too complex. The universe is at least as complex as a watch. So the universe could not have assembled itself either. A weak or strong analogy? Weak.

Inductive Generalization
Generalizations always have a class of things or events as a target (rather than one thing or event for a target as in analogies). In all cases, generalizations have their samples drawn from the target class (while this is never true of arguments by analogy).

Inductive Generalization
Example: How can you say that people act out of self-interest? Didn’t you read the story about the airplane that skidded off the runway into the ocean? One man kept passing the life preservers to other people so they would live instead of him.

Analogical Arguments and Generalizations
In other words: In an inductive generalization, we generalize from a sample of a class or population to the entire class or population, while in an analogy we generalize from a sample of a class or population to another member of the class or population.

Fallacies What is a biased example? It is a sample that does not accurately represent its class. A biased generalization is a fallacy because its sample is not representative of the target population.

Fallacies A hasty generalization is a generalization which is made with a sample that is too small. An appeal to anecdotal evidence is a form of the hasty generalization.

Fallacies We generally reject anecdotal evidence because, while credible, an anecdote is only one experience and as such is statistically irrelevant.

When should a random sample be used?
A random sample should be used in an inductive generalization whenever the target class is heterogeneous (unrelated to or unlike each other), otherwise you would have an analogy.

When should a random sample be used?
For example, if you want to know how Republicans are going to vote, then you have to have a large sample size because people are so different from each other.

Margin of Error The larger the sample size size the smaller the margin of error.

True or False? It is fair to say the same criteria used to evaluate inductive generalizations can also be used to evaluate analogies.

True or False? True! This is because while they differ in how they are set up, the two kinds of arguments both follow the same principles.

True or False? An inductive generalization moves from something we know about the target class to a claim about a sample.

True or False? An inductive generalization moves from something we know about the target class to a claim about a sample. False! It goes the other way, from a sample to a target.

Review When we make an analogical argument or a generalization, we draw a conclusion about a target based on a sample.

Review The goal of randomness is to achieve representativeness.
A sample is random if every member of the target population has an equal chance at being selected for the sample.

Review True or False? No generalization based on an unrepresentative sample is trustworthy.

Review True! The sample must be representative to be used appropriately.

Review True or False? An inductive generalization cannot establish that some precise percentage of a target population has a given characteristic.

Review True! Remember, with inductive arguments we are talking about probabilities rather than certainties.

Critical Thinking Chapter 1.

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Critical Thinking Chapter 1.

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