Evaluating Arguments

and Truth Claims

 • “Good Argument” does not
WHAT IS necessarily agree with your views.
NOT A • “Good Argument” Does Not Mean
GOOD “Persuasive Argument”
ARGUMENT • “Good Argument” Does Not Mean
“Well-Written or Well-Spoken
? Argument”
 WHAT IS A GOOD ARGUMENT?

• Just two things:

• All premises are true
• Premises provide good reason to accept the conclusion
• If argument is deductive, it is valid
• If argument is inductive, it is strong
• Criterion 1: deductively Sound/Inductively Cogent
 WHAT IS A GOOD ARGUMENT?

However, this is not enough:

There are other criteria for critical thinking:
Fairness, completeness, clarity, precision, accuracy,
relevance
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Boosely,
This letter is to inform you that your son, Binger Boosely, has been expelled
from Wexford College. I deemed this action to be necessary for the following
reasons:
• Paris is the capital of France.
• The capital of France is Paris.
• Binger deserved to be expelled.
• Binger earned F’s in all his classes and was continuously drunk from the first
day of classes to the last day of final exams.
• Any student who earns F’s in all his classes and is continuously drunk from
the first day of classes to the last day of final exams deserves to be expelled.
• Therefore, Binger deserved to be expelled.
EVALUATE ARGUMENT
• Are the premises true?
• Is the reasoning correct? Is the argument deductively valid or
inductively strong?
• Does the arguer commit any logical fallacies?
• Do the arguer express themselves clearly and precisely?
• Are the premises relevant to the conclusion?
• Are the arguer’s claims logically consistent?
• Is the argument complete? Is the argument fair?
PRINCIPLE OF RATIONAL ACCEPTANCE

• When it is reasonable to accept that a premise is true:

1. The claim does not conflict with personal experiences
that we have no good reason to doubt.
2. The claim does not conflict with background beliefs
that we have no good reason to doubt.
3. The claim comes from a credible source
 PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

• A valuable source of evidence if used judiciously

• Remember the problems of system 1 thinking when
thinking about personal experiences
• Biases
• Egocentrism
• Risk averseness
 BACKGROUND BELIEFS

• Vast network of conscious and unconscious convictions we use as a

framework to assess the credibility of claims that can’t be (or are not
needed to be) verified directly.
• Some examples of background beliefs
• Time and date
• Name of country you live in
• Your parents
• DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN IT
 CREDIBLE SOURCE

• Genuine expert or authority.

• Speaking in their area of expertise.
• Not biased or have no motive to lie or mislead.
• Source is generally considered reliable (sensational websites and tabloids)
• Cited correctly.
• Claim is not improbable
• Issue is not contentious.
 REFUTE
ARGUMENTS
 REFUTATION IS NOT CRITICISM

• To refute an argument is to defeat it

• To show that the premises do not provide convincing reasons to
accept the conclusion
• Show that a premise—or a critical group of premises—is false
or dubious.
• Show that the conclusion does not follow from the premises.
 STRATEGY 1: PREMISE IS
FALSE/DUBIOUS

• Find the critical premise/s

• CRITICAL PREMISE: One that is necessary to prove the conclusion
• I ran 5 miles on Saturday. I ran 10 miles on Sunday. So, I ran 15 miles this
weekend.
• Bob, who was drunk at the time and doesn’t see very well, claims he saw
Buster rob the bank. Bank surveillance tapes show Buster in the act of
robbing the bank. So, Buster robbed the bank.
• TJ is a bachelor. TJ is an uncle. So, TJ is a male.
 STRATEGY 1: PREMISE IS
FALSE/DUBIOUS

• Proving that a premise is false is not necessary to refute an

argument
• Creating sufficient doubt is also enough
• EXAMPLE:
• The last surviving dinosaur was a Triceratops. Triceratops had
horns. So, the last surviving dinosaur had horns.
STRATEGY 1: PREMISE IS
FALSE/DUBIOUS
• Appeal to personal experience (“What do you mean ‘There are no bears in New
Jersey’? I’ve seen several.”)
• Appeal to common knowledge (“Everybody knows Germany lost the Second World
War.”)
• Appeal to a reputable reference source
• Note that the premise is self-contradictory or otherwise false or dubious on its face.
• Point out that the premise conflicts with some other premise in the argument (“You
say it’s wrong to eat animals, yet you say it’s OK to eat fish. But aren’t fish
animals?”).
• Show that the premise is based on an unwarranted assumption or stereotype
(“How can you say that most illegal immigrants don’t want to learn English?”)
STRATEGY 1: PREMISE IS
FALSE/DUBIOUS
• REDUCING TO THE ABSURD (REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM)
• Show that a statement is false by proving that it logically implies
something that is clearly false or absurd.
• All killing is wrong!
• Then don’t breath
• Don’t brush your teeth or wash your clothes
• Don’t eat anything
STRATEGY 1: PREMISE IS
FALSE/DUBIOUS
• Refutation by counter-example
• An example that proves that a general statement can be wrong in
some instances.
• General statements are in the form of All A’s are B’s/Most A’s are B’s
• All micro-organisms are harmful.
• But wait a minute: we use yeast to bake bread and pizza! Isn’t that a
micro-organism too?
 SUM IT UP

• Prove critical premise/s are false

• Introduce reasonable doubt in critical premises
• Show argument has a fallacy
• Refute by reducing it to absurdity
• Refute by giving a counter-example
REFUTE
• Why should I go to college? It costs a fortune, it’s boring, and I can get a
high-paying job in trucking or construction without a college education.
• Don’t marry career women. Research shows that women tend to be
happier when their husband is the primary breadwinner. It also shows
that career women are more likely to cheat, more likely to get divorced,
less likely to have kids, and more likely to be unhappy if they do have kids.
• My buddy keeps telling me I should save for retirement, but I tell him, “
Look: I’m overweight. I smoke. Neither of my parents lived past sixty-five.
Honestly, I’d rather enjoy my money now than save it for a nursing home.
I’ll never need.”
REFUTE
• Drugs like LSD and cocaine should be legal. Let’s face it, the “war on
drugs” has failed. Legalizing drugs would drastically reduce drug-
related crime, alleviate prison overcrowding, unclog the courts, and
allow police to concentrate on catching robbers and rapists, instead of
petty dealers or substance abusers. Plus, we could tax these legalized
drugs and use the money for more productive purposes.
• Tanning booths are great. They’re available day or night and at any
season of the year. You don’t have to worry about getting burned, and
you can get a great, even tan quick .
WRITING
ESSAYS
CRITICAL
 TYPES OF ESSAYS

• CRITICAL ESSAY
• You already have an argument.
• You want to critically analyze/refute/weaken it
• ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
• You want to present an argument.
 CRITICAL ESSAY: STEP 1

First paragraph:
Introduce:
Who wrote this? Where? In what context?
1-2 sentences about your position.
 CRITICAL ESSAY: STEP 2

Summarize the argument given.

Standardize it (if it is asked)
If not, standardize/diagram it on a scratch pad for your reference.
This makes it easier to identify critical premises and evidence
provided.
EXAMPLE
1. Unborn are alive
I. Because they take in nutrients and grow via cellular reproduction
2. Unborn are human
I. Because they are off springs of humans
II. They have human DNA
3. [Unborn are whole organism]
I. Because they have a capacity to develop in organisms that tissues/body
parts don’t.
II. Unborn are a very early stage of development in human organism
4. Experts, even those who are pro-choice, say that life begins at
fertilization
I. Reports from Keith & Parasad; Langman, Gilbert, Boonin, Singer
5. Hence, human life begins at conception. (from 1-4)
6. All human beings have right-to-life
7. Therefore abortion is wrong. (From 5-6)
HOW TO ANALYZE IT?
• Are unborn “whole organism” (Eggs are unborn chicken)
• Can they grow independently? Be alive independently?
• What does whole mean? (Is egg whole chicken?)
• What does alive mean? (Is egg alive?)
• Also, if right “things” are provided eggs and sperms can also develop
in independent organisms.
• Moral: definitions are very important.
HOW TO ANALYZE IT?
• However, all this side is not critical as it does not say that life begins at
fertilization.
• That side is only from expert testimony.
• Are these people experts?
• What exactly is a separate life (hidden premise here is a that a
separate, new life begins).
• Also does every human has a right to life?
• What if existence of one means death of the other?
 CRITICAL ESSAY: STEP 3

Critical Evaluation:
• One paragraph on the truthfulness of each premise.
• One paragraph on the strength/validity of reasoning.
• One paragraph on the aspects of critical thinking:
• Is argument consistent? Fair? Accurate?
• Are there any compelling counter arguments there? Does the arguer
mention them?
 CRITICAL ESSAY: STEP 4

• Conclude:
• Restate your position by briefly mentioning all the above points.
WRITING
ESSAYS
ARGUMENTATIVE
 WRITING IS A MUSCLE:
FLEX IT
• There is no short-cut to writing
essays.
• You can only improve by writing
more and more.
• And reading well!
• Song of ice and fire and Harry
Potter count.
 TAKE TIME BEFORE YOU WRITE

• What are you writing about?

• Think about your topic carefully.
• A good topic is:
• Somewhat controversial
• Interesting
• Something which people know and have an opinion about
• Focused
• You can make whatever you picked a good topic!
 • Assume that audience is skeptical
• They are tired, possibly hungry.
KNOW THY • They have a lot more going on in
their lives.
AUDIENCE • They have other interesting
things to do than read boring fluff
pieces.
NOW
BRAINSTORM!
Making Concept maps.
CONCEPT MAPS Define
To do it?

Not do
it? How? What?
Types

Concept
Why?

So
what?
 • Read other articles.
• Get relevant statistics if any.
RESEARCH • There is always another side!
• Refine your concept map as
you go.
 • How do you want to tell your
story?
• Narration
• Description and
illustration.
DECIDE • Cause and effect
• Classificatory schemes
• Compare and contrast
• You may already have
decided in concept map.
 • Organize according to your
concept map.
• Each level of “bubbles”
ORGANIZE YOUR can become a separate
ESSAY paragraph in your essay.
• You can then use any of
the above strategies to
introduce each concept.
 • Intro and conclusion are the
most important parts of any
writing.
• Get a good hook.
• Begin with a good story
• Or a catchy line.
WRITING • Then get on with it already!
• Thesis statements.
• Standardize your argument.
• Grand tour statements.
• Tell us what you are going to
do next.
WRITING
• A basic paragraph:
• First sentence should say what this paragraph is about.
• Body of paragraph will expand on that idea.
• Last sentence will sum it up.
• Transition words:
• Build your vocabulary of transition words.
• It is important that your paragraphs connect to each other for a bigger
picture.
• So, therefore, however, moreover, additionally, also, so on.
CONCLUSION
• Briefly sum up what you said.
• Briefly also state the opposing argument and your refutation of it.
• You can also start by another hook (be careful).
• Now ask the so what? question.
• Pose a question that is unresolved.
• Give recommendation for a social change.
AFTER WRITING
• Revise, revise, revise.
• Get a second pair of eyes on it.
DOING
RESEARCH
Using and Evaluating Resources
 FINDING • Directional Resources
RESOURCES • Informational Resources
 Bibliographies

DIRECTION
AL Indices and databases (ERIC,
JSTOR, PubMed, etc.)
RESOURCES

Electronic Search Engines

 PAGERANK SYSTEM:

Prioritizes your language.

Directional Adjusts queries (spelling errors, key words like map,

time, address, etc.)
Resources:
Googling Number of times keywords are used.

Relative importance of site based of visits and links

to visited websites.

Your past history!

DIRECTIONAL RESOURCES:
GOOGLING
• Exact words

• Restrict domain

• Force searching

• Excluding words

• Searching synonyms
DIRECTIONAL RESOURCES:
GOOGLING
• For synonyms, definitions etc. Define:
• For titles authored by specific people author:
• For words in title intitle:
• Specifying a time period.
• Finding related stuff.
 Encyclopedias

Subject specific books, handbooks, manuals etc.

INFORMATION Dictionaries.
AL
Journal articles
RESOURCES
Government websites and documents

Human resources
 I like an article.

Look for “related articles”

TOP TIP: MINE
BIBLIOGRAPH
IES Look for “cited”

Open the article and look through its

bibliography (sometimes no access required)
 • Separate facts from opinions and
unverifiable facts.
EVALUATIN • Use reliable databases for statistics.
• Know what the bias of the source or
G author may be before using them.
RESOURCES • Opinions can be used from articles
etc. if correctly cited and the source
is considered reliable.
DO’s AND DON’Ts
• DO start your search at Wikipedia if wiki is present.
• DON’T quote Wikipedia or cite it!
• Go to the references below wiki articles and look over them.
• DO look at big statistical databases (ILO, UNESCO, WHO, so
on)
• DON’T use outdated or irrelevant statistics
• Carefully understand how the statistics are defined before
reporting them.
DO’s AND DON’Ts
• DON’T use websites where author information
and their affiliation is not readily available
• DO research the author on google to
understand their context, potential biases and
links.
• It is generally better to stick to academic
articles for scholarly work
 • Use the skills you (hopefully) learnt
in this course to paraphrase what
you read.
USING • If you want to use a source, create a
RESOURCES brief summary of their argument.
• Refer to that summary instead of
original source (avoids unconscious
copying)
 • AVOID PLAIGARISM
USING • Word for word copying.
RESOURCES • Copying the idea (not words).
• Insufficient acknowledgement.
 • Word for word copying is not OK under
any circumstance without
acknowledgement.
• Quotations are appropriate if the words
are especially moving.
USING • If paraphrasing is going to destroy the
RESOURCES affect.
• Give authors’ name, year, page number.
• Rules for quotations vary depending on
citation system.
• Avoid using too many quotations.
 • Put quotations in quote marks and block
them.
• If you have omitted something use … to
RULES OF show omitted text.
• If you have added something put that in [
QUOTATION ].
S • Don’t correct grammatical/other errors.
Instead put (sic) after it.
• If you italicize something, write
[emphasize mine].
USING RESOURCES

It is OK to use others’ ideas but give proper

acknowledgement.
Familiarize yourself with some of the citation
systems being used in your discipline.
APA in management, Chicago in anthropology
and sociology, etc. etc.