1. What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?
Asking the Right Questions
Chapter 6
(Chapters 5 and 6 in earlier editions)

2. Assumptions
In all arguments the writer will make assumptions. Assumptions can be:
Hidden or unstated
Taken for granted.
Influential in determining the conclusion
Necessary, if the reasoning is to make sense
Potentially deceptive.

3. Watch Out A reason can be true and not support the conclusion.
The government should require that ergonomically designed computer equipment and furniture be provided to workers. This will decrease the incidence of repetitive stress injury, eye strain, headache, and neck and back pain.

4. Makes Sense?
The argument makes sense if you believe that it is the responsibility of government to look after the welfare of the individual.
What if you believe that it is the individual’s responsibility to take care of his own welfare? To provide for his own health and safety by demanding it from the employer or switching jobs if he can’t handle it?

5. Value Assumptions
Values are ideas that people see as worthwhile . They provide standards of conduct by which we measure the quality of human behavior.
A person’s value preferences influence the reasons he provides and the conclusion.

6. The Assumption is Necessary
The reasons will logically support the conclusion only if the value assumption is added to the reasoning.
Reason
Online gambling
feeds addictions.
Value Assumption
Public safety is
more important
than freedom of
choice.
Conclusion
Online gambling
should not be
legalized +

7. Some Commonly Held Values (You’ll see a bigger list in the Assignment)
adventure ambition privacy
autonomy needs of the collective security
comfort individual responsibility tolerance
cooperation courage wisdom
creativity equality of condition rationality
equal opportunity excellence spontaneity
flexibility freedom of speech tradition
generosity harmony competition
honesty justice
novelty order
patriotism peace

8. Value Conflicts People give different priorities to values:
Should DNA information be kept in a national database for police departments to access?
Should schools and libraries be required to provide equal access to computers for the disabled?
Is Microsoft a monopoly that should be broken up because they have an unfair advantage as the producers of the Windows system software?

9. Conflicts
Should DNA information be kept in a national database for police departments to access?
Privacy vs. security
Should schools and libraries be required to provide equal access to computers for the disabled?
Equal opportunity vs. Individual Responsibility
Is Microsoft a monopoly that should be broken up because they have an unfair advantage as the producers of the Windows system software?
Competition vs. Fairness

10. Common Value Conflicts
Loyalty-Honesty
Competition-Cooperation
Freedom of Speech-Security
Equality-Individualism
Achievement-Learning
Security-Excitement
Generosity-Material success
Rationality-spontaneity
Tradition-novelty
Individual Responsibility-Collective Responsibility
Efficiency-Social stability

11. Common Value Conflicts
The same value conflicts surface in many different social controversies and are easy to identify:
Individual freedom vs. respect for others
Should Nazi groups have web sites?
Public Safety vs. individual responsibility
Should watching TV while driving be illegal?

12. Similar Controversies
Many issues share important characteristics:
Should face-recognition software be used in public places to identify terrorists?
Should the FBI be allowed to monitor messages?
Should information about child molesters be published on the internet (Megan’s Law)?
Can you identify a value conflict that exists in all of these?
Hint: they all involve the government knowing things about you and doing things with the information.

13. Ethics
Ethics or morals are a stronger form of values that reflect right or wrong behavior, or good and evil. Is it stealing?
Your friend in the neighboring apartment can’t afford to pay for broadband Internet access. He’s taking an online class and can’t keep up with the work without it. He wants to run a cable out the window of your apartment to his so he can use yours.

14. Excuses or Rationalizations
When people violate their ethics or values, they often rationalize it with something like the following:
The ends justify the means
It’s not illegal
I did it for you
He did it to me first
Nobody got hurt
Everyone else does it
I didn’t get any money for it
I deserve it

15. Descriptive (Reality) Assumptions
Unstated beliefs about the way the world IS or will BECOME.
(Value assumptions are how the world SHOULD be)
You will be happy with your Internet access if you sign up with Comcast. They are the world’s largest ISP with over 12 million subscribers.

16. What is being assumed? Is biggest always the best?
Just because Comcast is the largest ISP in the world, does it mean that they will provide the best Internet service?
These kinds of assumptions are also called reality assumptions

17. Is the assumption reliable?
The argument holds together only because this assumption was made. Should you accept it?
Comcast is the
largest
ISP.
Number of
subscribers
indicates quality
of service.
You will be happy
With Comcast +

18. Both at once
Examine the following statement. Can you find both a value and a descriptive assumption?
Trials and executions should be televised-the public has the right to know what’s going on in our courts. Information about the judicial system needs to be more widely disseminated.
From Becoming a Critical Thinker p. 66

19. The Value Assumption Freedom of information is important
Trials and executions should be televised-the public has the right to know what’s going on in our courts. Information about the judicial system needs to be more widely disseminated.

20. The Descriptive Assumption
Televising the trials and executions would inform the public about the judicial system.
Is this a valid assumption? Would people really watch trials and executions on TV?

21. Identifying Assumptions
Investigate the author’s background
Use reverse role-playing. Take the opposite position.
Look for common value conflicts. There may be more than one.
Ask “Why do the consequences of the author’s position seem so important to him or her?” Look for a gap between the reasons and conclusion.
Get more information about the issue or similar controversies.
Search for similar social controversies to find comparable assumptions

22. Look at the Author’s Background
A clue can come from the preferences usually held by a person like the writer. What interests does such a person naturally wish to protect?
doctor, politician, computer professional, marketer, college professor, student, longshoreman, etc.

23. An Example During a recent dockworkers
labor action, the Los Angeles Times presented this conflict:
ILWU wants to control data on shipping.
Shipping companies want the data to be on the Internet.
Value social stability (union jobs) vs. automation/efficiency

24. Consequences
Each position with respect to an issue leads to different consequences or outcomes. How desirable a consequence is depends on the writer’s or reader’s value preferences.
Anonymous digital cash should not go into widespread use because government control of cash stabilizes the economy.

25. Consequence Example
Digital cash is designed to be an electronic replacement for cash that is stored on your PC and spent on the Internet-without leaving a trail to its source.
The statement assumes that stability from government control of the monetary system is a more important consequence than the freedom of consumers to purchase goods anonymously (not using a credit card number).

26. Gap between Reasons and Conclusion
You look for assumptions because you want to judge how well the reasons support the conclusion. Ask:
How do you get from the reason to the conclusion?
If the reason is true, what else must be true for the conclusion to follow?
Supposing the reason(s) were true, is there any way in which the conclusion nevertheless could be false?

27. Look for ideas that support reasons
A reason is presented with no clear support; yet the believability of the reason depends on the acceptability of ideas that have been taken for granted. From Oct 7
In thumbing through the classifieds, it becomes apparent that despite the sagging economy, there is real demand for customer service reps. That's the good news. More disheartening, though, is that an alarming number of companies listed people skills and personality -- not computer skills -- as the most sought-after qualities for candidates. The last people you want as your first -- maybe your only -- customer touchpoint are personable dimwits who are working for you because they can't get jobs anywhere else.

28. The Idea?
Conclusion: Companies should hire customer service reps for technical skills, not people skills.
Reasons:
Candidates with people skills are dimwits.
Personable candidates can’t get jobs anywhere else.
Customer service reps are the customer touchpoint.
Assumption:
Job seekers with good personalities do not have computer skills.

29. Identify with the opposition
First take the role of the writer. Crawl into his skin.
If you can’t locate assumptions that way, reverse roles. Ask why anyone might disagree.

30. Are there other means of attaining the advantages?
A conclusion is often supported by reasons that indicate the various advantages of acting on the author’s conclusion.
What if there are many ways to reach the same advantages?
An important assumption linking the reasons to the conclusion is that the BEST way to obtain the advantages is through the one advocated by the communicator.

31. Other Means? Excerpt from: L.A. Schools Can Soda
Officials Ban Soda to Combat Student Weight Problem
By Louinn Lota The Associated Press
An audience of about 100 people burst into applause as the ban was adopted after 2 ½ hours of debate Tuesday night. It will take effect in January Board member Julie Korenstein, who co-sponsored the measure, said it was needed to fight obesity among students.

32. A Student Reply From: Press-Telegram, Sunday Forum, p. A21 Soda Ban
As a high school student and soda fanatic, I find the idea of banning sodas from campus useless. I realize that studies show most children are overweight or malnourished, but that doesn’t have much to do with what they consume at school. It has much more to do with home cooking and lack of exercise. If they don’t sell on campus, then students will buy the sodas outside of school.
Natalie Aleman
Long Beach

33. Incomplete Reasons
When you try to find assumptions you may locate a reason, because the reason has not been adequately established.
The government should restrict public access to information to protect the nation from terrorists.

34. Incomplete Reasons
Conclusion: The government should restrict public access to information.
Reason: It will protect the nation from terrorists.
This is an incomplete reason that needs to be supported by some evidence, not an assumption.

35. Your Own Writing and Speaking
You will make numerous assumptions.
Communication requires them.
You should:
Acknowledge those assumptions
Provide a rationale for why you are making the assumptions
Try to locate the descriptive assumptions on the next 2 slides (answers follow)

36. Find Descriptive Assumptions
This is a receptionist position, so we need a mature woman for the job. It's important that our clients feel comfortable as soon as they walk in here.
You can't go to the party in that outfit. Everyone will think you're completely clueless about how to dress, and no one will want to been seen with you.
The death penalty is proof that we value revenge more than we value people. We should save and rehabilitate people rather than giving up on them.
Latoya is really successful-she's only 28 and she's making $170,000 a year.
There is good news in that rape is on the decline in this country-there are 20% fewer police reports this year than last year at this time.
The people in that city don't care about the homeless-their city council voted against contributing $2,000 to a county fund to help the homeless.
Drugs and prostitution should be legalized. They are legal in Amsterdam and they solve more problems than they cause.
From Becoming a Critical Thinker by Sherry Diestler.

37. Did you get it?
Clients only feel comfortable around mature women (ambiguous too, what does “mature” mean?)
The speaker knows how everyone will respond to the outfit or everyone at the party judges you by your clothing
People who favor the death penalty only want revenge or every criminal can be rehabilitated
Money is the measure of success
All rapes are reported.
Spending public money is the way to care for the homeless.
What worked in Amsterdam will work in the U.S.
You may have worded yours a little differently.

38. Descriptive Assumptions by the Jury?
ACQUITTAL OUTRAGES WOMEN: Jury Blames Provocative Miniskirt for Assault Brian Murphy, Associated Press
LAUDERDALE, FLA-Sexual assault counselors and women's groups reacted with anger and disbelief Thursday to a jury's acquittal of a rape suspect on the grounds that the woman wore a lace miniskirt without underwear.
"It's a fairly horrendous verdict," said Ellen Vargyas at the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. "No one, regardless of how they are dressed, should be allowed to be raped under a knife."
The three male and three female Broward Circuit Court jurors publicly justified their verdict Wednesday to acquit a 26-year-old drifter, who then was ordered returned to Georgia to face several other rape and assault charges.
"We felt she asked for it by the way she was dressed," said jury foreman Roy Diamond. "The way she was dressed with that skirt, you could see everything she had. She was advertising for sex."
"She was obviously dressed for a good time, but we felt she may have bit off more than she could chew," said juror Mary Bradshaw.
The 22-year-old woman testified that Steven Lord abducted her at knifepoint from a Fort Lauderdale restaurant parking lot in November 1988 and raped her repeatedly during a trip north on Interstate 95. She said she escaped five hours later.
Defense attorney Tim Day told jurors the woman agreed to have sex with Lord in exchange for $100 and cocaine, but later changed her mind.
Jurors said they also were swayed by the woman's calm demeanor in court, compared to the emotional testimony of a 24-year-old Georgia woman who claims Lord raped her at knife-point last year.
"When the Georgia woman testified, my heart sank," said juror Dan Medeiros. "But when the other one testified, she didn't appear to be shaken up. Basically, we didn't believe the story.
..."The whole idea that a woman is asking for it is horrendous," said Dorothea Gallagher of the National Organization for Women's Broward County chapter.

39. Women who wear seductive clothing are advertising for sex.
The Jury Assumed:
Women who wear seductive clothing are advertising for sex.
Once a woman agrees to sex it’s too late to change her mind.
A calm, unemotional witness is not believable.
End of Lecture