PHI 103 Documentary Assignment Notes
Do the filmmakers follow the rules from “A Workbook for Arguments”?
Rule 1: Identify Premises and Conclusion
Rule 2: Develop your ideas in an natural order
Rule 3: Start from reliable premises
Rule 4: Be concrete and precise
Rule 5: Build on substance, not overtone (subtle/secondary quality)
Rule 6: Use consistent terms
Rule 7: Use more than one example
Rule 8: Use representative examples
Rule 9: Background rates may be crucial
Rule 10: Statistics needs a critical eye
Rule 11: Consider counterexamples
Rule 12: Analogies require relevantly simple examples
Rule 13: Cite your sources
Rule 14: Seek informed sources
Rule 15: Seek impartial sources
Rule 16: Cross-check sources
Rule 17: Use the Web with care
Rule 18: Causal arguments start with correlations
Rule 19: Correlations may have alternative explanations
Rule 20: Work towards the most likely explanation
Rule 21: Expect complexity
Do they use any of the bad forms of arguments discussed in “Nonsense”?
-Does anything make you doubtful of the movie’s argument?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F39ZQ3F
A WORKBOOK FOR ARGUMENTS
A Complete Course in Critical Thinking
Second Edition
2
A WORKBOOK FOR ARGUMENTS
A Complete Course in Critical Thinking
Second Edition
David R. Morrow
&
Anthony Weston
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge
3
Copyright © 2016 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 15
1234567
For further information, please address
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 44937
Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937
www.hackettpublishing.com
Cover design by Deborah Wilkes
Interior design by Elizabeth L. Wilson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morrow, David R.
A workbook for arguments : a complete course in critical thinking / David R.
Morrow & Anthony Weston. — Second edition.
pages cm
Also contains the entire text of the fourth edition of Weston’s Rulebook, while
supplementing this core text with extensive further explanations and exercises.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-62466-427-4 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-62466-428-1 (cloth)
1. Critical thinking. 2. Reasoning. 3. Logic. 4. Persuasion (Rhetoric)
5. English language—Rhetoric. I. Weston, Anthony, 1954– II. Weston, Anthony,
1954– Rulebook for arguments. III. Title.
BF441.M687
2015
168—dc23
2015019230
PRC ISBN: 978-1-62466-580-6
4
Titles of Related Interest Available from Hackett
Publishing
Sharon Bailin and Mark Battersby, Reason in the Balance: An Inquiry
Approach to Critical Thinking, Second Edition.
George Pullman, A Rulebook for Decision Making.
George Pullman, Persuasion: History, Theory, Practice.
5
Contents
The page numbers in curly braces {} correspond to the print edition of this
title.
Preface to the Second Edition
Note about Companion Web Site
Introduction
Part 1
Chapter I: Short Arguments: Some General Rules
Rule 1: Identify premises and conclusion
Exercise Set 1.1: Distinguishing premises from conclusions
Rule 2: Develop your ideas in a natural order
Exercise Set 1.2: Outlining arguments in premise-and-conclusion
form
Exercise Set 1.3: Analyzing visual arguments
Rule 3: Start from reliable premises
Exercise Set 1.4: Identifying reliable and unreliable premises
Rule 4: Be concrete and concise
Exercise Set 1.5: Decomplexifying artificially abstruse quotations
Rule 5: Build on substance, not overtone
Exercise Set 1.6: Diagnosing loaded language
Rule 6: Use consistent terms
Exercise Set 1.7: Evaluating letters to the editor
Chapter II: Generalizations
Rule 7: Use more than one example
Exercise Set 2.1: Finding relevant examples
Rule 8: Use representative examples
Exercise Set 2.2: Improving biased samples
6
Rule 9: Background rates may be crucial
Exercise Set 2.3: Identifying relevant background rates
Rule 10: Statistics need a critical eye
Exercise Set 2.4: Evaluating simple arguments that use numbers
Rule 11: Consider counterexamples
Exercise Set 2.5: Finding counterexamples
Exercise Set 2.6: Evaluating arguments for generalizations
Exercise Set 2.7: Arguing for and against generalizations
Chapter III: Arguments by Analogy
Rule 12: Analogies require relevantly similar examples
Exercise Set 3.1: Identifying important similarities
Exercise Set 3.2: Identifying important differences
Exercise Set 3.3: Evaluating arguments by analogy
Exercise Set 3.4: Constructing arguments by analogy
Chapter IV: Sources
Rule 13: Cite your sources
Rule 14: Seek informed sources
Rule 15: Seek impartial sources
Exercise Set 4.1: Identifying biased sources
Rule 16: Cross-check sources
Exercise Set 4.2: Identifying independent sources
Rule 17: Use the Web with care
Exercise Set 4.3: Evaluating arguments that use sources
Exercise Set 4.4: Using sources in arguments
Chapter V: Arguments about Causes
Rule 18: Causal arguments start with correlations
Rule 19: Correlations may have alternative explanations
Exercise Set 5.1: Brainstorming explanations for correlations
Rule 20: Work toward the most likely explanation
Exercise Set 5.2: Identifying the most likely explanation
Rule 21: Expect complexity
Exercise Set 5.3: Evaluating arguments about causes
Exercise Set 5.4: Constructing arguments about causes
7
Chapter VI: Deductive Arguments
Rule 22: Modus ponens
Rule 23: Modus tollens
Rule 24: Hypothetical syllogism
Rule 25: Disjunctive syllogism
Rule 26: Dilemma
Exercise Set 6.1: Identifying deductive argument forms
Exercise Set 6.2: Identifying deductive arguments in more complex
passages
Exercise Set 6.3: Drawing conclusions with deductive arguments
Rule 27: Reductio ad absurdum
Exercise Set 6.4: Working with reductio ad absurdum
Rule 28: Deductive arguments in several steps
Exercise Set 6.5: Identifying deductive arguments in several steps
Chapter VII: Extended Arguments
Rule 29: Explore the issue
Exercise Set 7.1: Identifying possible positions
Exercise Set 7.2: Exploring issues of your choice
Rule 30: Spell out basic ideas as arguments
Exercise Set 7.3: Sketching arguments for and against positions
Exercise Set 7.4: Sketching arguments about your own topic
Rule 31: Defend basic premises with arguments of their own
Exercise Set 7.5: Developing arguments in more detail
Exercise Set 7.6: Developing your own arguments
Rule 32: Consider objections
Exercise Set 7.7: Working out objections
Exercise Set 7.8: Working out objections to your own arguments
Rule 33: Consider alternatives
Exercise Set 7.9: Brainstorming alternatives
Exercise Set 7.10: Considering alternatives to your own conclusions
Chapter VIII: Argumentative Essays
Rule 34: Jump right in
Exercise Set 8.1: Writing good leads
Rule 35: Make a definite claim or proposal
Exercise Set 8.2: Making definite claims and proposals
Rule 36: Your argument is your outline
Exercise Set 8.3: Writing out your arguments
8
Rule 37: Detail objections and meet them
Exercise Set 8.4: Detailing and meeting objections
Exercise Set 8.5: Considering objections to your own arguments
Rule 38: Get feedback and use it
Rule 39. Modesty, please!
Chapter IX: Oral Arguments
Rule 40: Reach out to your audience
Exercise Set 9.1: Reaching out to your audience
Rule 41: Be fully present
Rule 42: Signpost your argument
Exercise Set 9.2: Signposting your own arguments
Rule 43: Offer something positive
Exercise Set 9.3: Reframing arguments in a positive way
Rule 44: Use visual aids sparingly
Rule 45: End in style
Exercise Set 9.4: Ending in style
Exercise Set 9.5: Evaluating oral presentations
Appendix I: Some Common Fallacies
Exercise Set 10.1: Identifying fallacies (part 1)
Exercise Set 10.2: Reinterpreting and revising fallacious arguments (part
1)
Exercise Set 10.3: Identifying fallacies (part 2)
Exercise Set 10.4: Reinterpreting and revising fallacious arguments (part
2)
Exercise Set 10.5: Two deductive fallacies
Exercise Set 10.6: Constructing fallacious arguments
Appendix II: Definitions
Rule D1:When terms are unclear, get specific
Exercise Set 11.1: Making definitions more precise
Rule D2: When terms are contested, work from the clear cases
Exercise Set 11.2: Starting from clear cases
Rule D3: Definitions don’t replace arguments
Appendix III: Argument Mapping
9
Exercise Set 12.1: Mapping simple arguments
Exercise Set 12.2: Mapping complex arguments
Part 2
Model Responses for Chapter I: Short Arguments
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.4
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.5
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.6
Model responses for Exercise Set 1.7
Model Responses for Chapter II: Generalizations
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.4
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.5
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.6
Model responses for Exercise Set 2.7
Model Responses for Chapter III: Arguments by Analogy
Model responses for Exercise Set 3.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 3.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 3.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 3.4
Model Responses for Chapter IV: Sources
Model responses for Exercise Set 4.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 4.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 4.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 4.4
Model Responses for Chapter V: Arguments about Causes
Model responses for Exercise Set 5.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 5.2
10
Model responses for Exercise Set 5.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 5.4
Model Responses for Chapter VI: Deductive Arguments
Model responses for Exercise Set 6.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 6.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 6.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 6.4
Model responses for Exercise Set 6.5
Model Responses for Chapter VII: Extended Arguments
Model responses for Exercise Set 7.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 7.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 7.5
Model responses for Exercise Set 7.7
Model responses for Exercise Set 7.9
Model Responses for Chapter VIII: Argumentative Essays
Model responses for Exercise Set 8.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 8.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 8.4
Model Responses for Chapter IX: Oral Arguments
Model responses for Exercise Set 9.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 9.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 9.4
Model Responses for Appendix I: Some Common Fallacies
Model responses for Exercise Set 10.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 10.2
Model responses for Exercise Set 10.3
Model responses for Exercise Set 10.4
Model responses for Exercise Set 10.5
Model responses for Exercise Set 10.6
Model Responses for Appendix II: Definitions
Model responses for Exercise Set 11.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 11.2
11
Model Responses for Appendix III: Argument Mapping
Model responses for Exercise Set 12.1
Model responses for Exercise Set 12.2
Part 3
Critical Thinking Activities
Activities for Chapter I
Found arguments
Creating a visual argument
Writing a letter to the editor
Analyzing unadapted arguments
Activities for Chapter II
Finding misleading statistics
Generalizations about your classroom
Activities for Chapter III
Using analogies to understand unusual objects
Using analogies in ethical reasoning
Activities for Chapter IV
Recognizing reliable Web sources
Finding good sources
Activities for Chapter V
Bluffing about causal explanations
Reconstructing scientific reasoning
Analyzing arguments in scientific reasoning
Activities for Chapter VI
Recognizing deductive argument forms
Activities for Chapter VII
Compiling your research into an extended outline
Activities for Chapter VIII
Improving a sample paper
Compiling a draft of an argumentative essay
Peer-review workshop
Activities for Chapter IX
Writing opening lines
Creating a visual aid
Oral presentations
In-class debates
12
Extended in-class group debates
Activities for Appendix I
Relating rules and fallacies
Identifying, reinterpreting, and revising fallacies
Critical-thinking public service announcements
Activities for Appendix II
Defining key terms in an essay
Defining difficult terms
Activities for Appendix III
Argument mapping workshop
Developing your own arguments using argument maps
Index
Titles of Related Interest Available from Hackett Publishing
13
{xiii} Preface to the Second Edition
A Workbook for Arguments builds on Anthony Weston’s Rulebook for
Arguments to offer a complete textbook for a course in critical thinking.
Like the first edition, the Workbook contains the entire text of the fourth
edition of the Rulebook while supplementing this core text with extensive
further explanations and exercises:
Homework exercises adapted from a wide range of actual arguments
from newspapers, philosophical texts, literature, movies, YouTube
videos, and other sources.
Practical advice to help students succeed when applying the
Rulebook’s rules to the examples in the homework exercises.
Suggestions for further practice that outline activities students can
do by themselves or with classmates to improve their critical thinking
skills or that point them to online resources to do the same.
Detailed instructions for in-class activities and take-home
assignments designed to engage students in critical thinking.
An appendix on mapping arguments, a topic not included in the
Rulebook, that introduces students to this vital skill in evaluating or
constructing complex and multi-step arguments.
Model responses to odd-numbered exercises, including
commentaries on the strengths and weaknesses of selected model
responses as well as further discussion of some of the substantive
intellectual, philosophical, and ethical issues raised by the exercises.
This second edition improves on the first by offering
Updated and improved homework exercises to ensure that the
examples continue to resonate with today’s students. About one-third
14
of the exercises in the book have been replaced with updated, better
tested, or more science-focused examples. The exercises carried over
from the first edition have not been changed.
{xiv} An increased focus on scientific reasoning throughout the
text, including homework exercises and in-class activities covering a
range of scientific disciplines. Nearly every exercise set in the first six
chapters includes at least one example of scientific reasoning.
(Exercise 5 in each exercise set is a scientific example. See the model
responses to Exercise 5 in each set for discussion of scientific
reasoning.) The goal of dispersing these examples across the text is to
make it clearer to students how scientific reasoning dovetails with
critical thinking more generally.
Two new in-class activities that ask students to analyze arguments
in their original form, rather than in the simplified form found in the
exercise sets. Look for these activities in Part III.
A Rulebook for Arguments will continue to be available in its original brief
and slim format, while in this greatly expanded version it can be used as a
full-scale textbook in its own right.
The Rulebook first appeared in 1986—nearly thirty years ago. When it
first came out, we had no idea how much interest there would be in such a
book, a little rule-based handbook for argumentation on the model of
Strunk and White’s classic The Elements of Style. It turned out there was a
great deal of interest! Since then the Rulebook has gone through four
editions and has become a bit of a classic itself. It has been used in classes
across the curriculum, from high schools and law schools to graduate
schools and community colleges, and in the study not just of critical
thinking but also of rhetoric, applied ethics, journalism, and many other
subjects. It has been translated into ten languages—plus bootlegged into a
few more—and even transcribed into braille.
The field of critical thinking has also changed dramatically since
the’80s. Then commonly called “informal logic,” at least by philosophers,
it was relatively new, still half-wishing to be formal logic and accustomed
mainly to treating the wider realm of reasoning as a matter mostly of
avoiding “fallacies,” a grab-bag of seemingly random types of mistakes.
Now, by contrast, critical thinking is a field in its own right, much better
tuned to the variety and texture of actual argumentation and focused not
15
merely or mainly on pitfalls to be avoided but on the underlying principles
of good argumentation. In some small ways, the Rulebook may have
helped to forward this wider-angled and more constructive vision of
critical thinking. In any case its rules, quite on purpose, represent just such
principles.
Rulebook has always been a slim little volume, though: always
supplementary, appealing both to writers who want a brief argument
handbook {xv} on their shelves alongside The Elements of Style and to
students and classroom instructors who need, in the words of the original
Preface, “a list of reminders and rules … a treatment that students can
consult and understand on their own and that therefore does not claim too
much class time.” It has fulfilled that role very well. The Workbook, by
contrast, was intended for instructors who wanted to devote more time—or
an entire course—to the principles of critical thinking.
The success of the first edition of the Workbook suggests that the field is
ready for a full-fledged textbook in the same key as the Rulebook. Here the
same rules are laid out, but then systematically elaborated and practiced,
first in sets of exercises specific to nearly every rule and then in general
exercises keyed to each of the Rulebook’s chapters. Here you can make the
rules your own by using them repeatedly in the context of real-world
arguments. While the Rulebook will continue to be published on its own,
there is now a much more developed alternative as well—you hold it in
your hands.
Especially for beginning students, learning to apply these rules
effectively requires a great deal of practice. That is why this Workbook is
full of exercises! But it also requires more than just practice. It requires
guidance, too. To that end, Part II of the Workbook provides model
responses (sometimes several different model responses) to every oddnumbered exercise—half of the execises in this book—along with detailed
commentaries on those model responses. In our view, these model
responses and commentaries are almost as important a part of the textbook
as Part I. Key themes are more thoroughly explained and reviewed there,
and sometimes new themes are introduced there as well. Thus, Part II can
be key to a richer and fuller learning. Be sure to check it out! Instructors
are encouraged to make the relevant model responses part of their classes’
regular assigned reading as well.
The Rulebook is authored by Anthony Weston, and appears here, though
divided into pieces, almost exactly as it also appears in its fourth edition.
16
The Workbook sections that develop and apply each of the rules, along
with the model responses (Part 2) and critical thinking activities (Part 3),
are authored by David Morrow in close collaboration with Anthony
Weston.
Deborah Wilkes, publisher of Hackett Publishing Company, has guided
this project from the beginning with a perfect combination of editorial
acumen, flexibility, and good humor. Thanks also to Liz Wilson, Hackett’s
production director, for her intrepid assistance throughout the production
process, and to Jennifer Albert for her eagle-eyed copyediting. Multiple
publisher’s reviewers looked over the emerging Workbook at various
points as well. For many suggestions and much useful critical feedback
(see Rule 38!) we are grateful to Patricia Allen, Massachusetts Bay {xvi}
Community College; Peter Amato, Drexel University; Christian Bauer,
Sacramento City College; Lisa Bellantoni, Albright College; Jason
Burrows, Hennepin Technical College; Joanne Ciulla, University of
Richmond; Cynthia Gobatie, Riverside Community College; Conan
Griffin, Florida Gulf Coast University; Julianna Griffin, Florida Gulf
Coast University; Kenya Grooms, DePaul University; John Ellingwood
Kay, San Francisco State University; Paul Mattick, Adelphi University;
George Pullman, Georgia State University; Ryan Scherbart, Cabrillo
College; Michael Strawser, University of Central Florida; and Daniela
Vallega-Neu, University of Oregon. What errors and infelicities remain, of
course, should be laid only to us—and we’d be delighted to hear about
them, along with any other suggestions and reactions to this text. Please
send feedback to us in care of the publisher.
Meantime, we wish all the best to every user of this book. Use it well—
and use it often!
AW, DM
17
Note about Companion Web Site
There is a companion Web site for this book at
http://www.hackettpublishing.com/workbookforarguments
which contains links to relevant online and printed resources. Many of the
exercise sets point you to this Web site for additional practice, and a few
point you to the Web site for the exercises themselves. The Web site also
contains ideas for additional critical thinking activities.
18
{xvii} Introduction
What’s the point of arguing?
Many people think that arguing is simply stating their prejudices in a new
form. This is why many people also think that arguments are unpleasant
and pointless. One dictionary definition for “argument” is “disputation.” In
this sense we sometimes say that two people “have an argument”: a verbal
fistfight. It happens often enough. But it is not what arguments really are.
In this book, “to give an argument” means to offer a set of reasons or
evidence in support of a conclusion. Here an argument is not simply a
statement of certain views, and it is not simply a dispute. Arguments are
efforts to support certain views with reasons. Arguments in this sense are
not pointless; in fact, they are essential.
Argument is essential, in the first place, because it is a way of finding
out which views are better than others. Not all views are equal. Some
conclusions can be supported by good reasons; others have much weaker
support. But often we don’t know which are which. We need to give
arguments for different conclusions and then assess those arguments to see
how strong they really are.
Here argument is a means of inquiry. Some philosophers and activists
have argued, for instance, that the factory farming of animals for meat
causes immense suffering to animals and is therefore unjustified and
immoral. Are they right? We can’t necessarily tell just by consulting our
current opinions. Many issues are involved—we need to examine the
arguments. Do we have moral obligations to other species, for instance, or
is only human suffering really bad? How well can humans live without
meat? Some vegetarians have lived to very old ages. Does this show that
vegetarian diets are healthier? Or is it irrelevant when you consider that
some non-vegetarians also have lived to very old ages? (You might make
some progress by asking whether vegetarians live to old age at a higher
rate.) Or might healthier people tend to become vegetarians, rather than
vice versa? All of these questions need to be considered carefully, and the
answers are not clear in advance.
19
Argument is essential for another reason too. Once we have arrived at a
conclusion that is well supported by reasons, we use arguments to explain
and defend it. A good argument doesn’t merely repeat conclusions. Instead
it offers reasons and evidence so that other people can make up their minds
for themselves. If you become convinced that we should indeed change the
{xviii} way we raise and use animals, for example, you must use
arguments to explain how you arrived at your conclusion. That is how you
will convince others: by offering the reasons and evidence that convinced
you. It is not a mistake to have strong views. The mistake is to have
nothing else.
Argument grows on you
Typically we learn to “argue” by assertion. That is, we tend to start with
our conclusions—our desires or opinions—without a whole lot to back
them up. And it works, sometimes, at least when we’re very young. What
could be better?
Real argument, by contrast, takes time and practice. Marshaling our
reasons, proportioning our conclusions to the actual evidence, considering
objections, and all the rest—these are acquired skills. We have to grow up
a little. We have to put aside our desires and our opinions for a while and
actually think.
School may help—or not. In courses concerned with teaching everlarger sets of facts or techniques, students are seldom encouraged to ask
the sorts of questions that arguments answer. Sure, the Constitution
mandates an Electoral College—that’s a fact—but is it still a good idea?
(For that matter, was it ever a good idea? What were the reasons for it,
anyway?) Sure, many scientists believe that there is life elsewhere in the
universe, but why? What’s the argument? Reasons can be given for
different answers. In the end, ideally, you will both learn some of those
reasons and also learn how to weigh them up—and how to seek out more
yourself.
Mostly, again, it takes time and practice. This book can help! Moreover,
the practice of argument turns out to have some attractions of its own. Our
minds become more flexible, open-ended, and alert. We come to
appreciate how much difference our own critical thinking can really make.
From everyday family life to politics, science, philosophy, and even
religion, arguments are constantly offered to us for our consideration, and
we may in turn offer back our own. Think of argument as a way to make
20
your own place within these unfolding, ongoing dialogues. What could be
better than that?
Outline of this book
This book begins by discussing fairly simple arguments and moves to
extended arguments and their use in essays and oral presentations at the
end.
Chapters I–VI are about composing and assessing short arguments.
Short arguments simply offer their reasons and evidence briefly, usually in
{xix} a few sentences or a paragraph. We begin with short arguments for
several reasons. First, they are common: in fact so common that they are
part of everyday conversation. Second, longer arguments are usually
elaborations of short arguments, or a series of short arguments linked
together. If you learn to write and assess short arguments first, then you
can extend your skills to longer arguments in essays or presentations.
A third reason for beginning with short arguments is that they are the
best illustrations both of the common argument forms and of the typical
mistakes in arguments. In longer arguments it can be harder to pick out the
main points—and the main problems. Therefore, although some of the
rules may seem obvious when first stated, remember that you have the
benefit of a simple example. Other rules are hard enough to appreciate
even in short arguments.
Chapter VII guides you into sketching and then elaborating an extended
argument, considering objections and alternatives as you do. Chapter VIII
guides you from there into writing an argumentative essay. Chapter IX
then adds rules specifically about oral presentation. Again, all of these
chapters depend on Chapters I–VI, since extended arguments like these
essentially combine and elaborate the kinds of short arguments that
Chapters I–VI discuss. Don’t skip ahead to the later chapters, then, even if
you come to this book primarily for help writing an essay or doing a
presentation. At the very least, read through the shaded sections of the
earlier chapters—the parts from the Rulebook for Arguments, on which
this book is based—so that when you arrive at those later chapters you will
have the tools you need to use them well. Instructors might wish to assign
Chapters I–VI early in the term and Chapters VII–IX when the time comes
for essays and presentations.
Three appendixes close out Part 1 of the Workbook. The first is a listing
of fallacies: types of misleading arguments that are so tempting and
21
common, they even have their own names. The second offers three rules
for constructing and evaluating definitions. The third, which is not
included in the original Rulebook, covers argument mapping, which is a
powerful technique for understanding how the pieces of an argument fit
together. Use them when you need them!
Part 2 of the Workbook offers model responses to the odd-numbered
exercises in nearly every exercise set. Most model responses have
commentaries that explain the strengths and weaknesses of each response.
Part 3 of the Workbook contains longer critical thinking activities that
build on the rules and exercises in Part 1. Some of these you can do on
your own. Others you will need to do in class or with a group of
classmates.
{xx} How to use the Workbook
Throughout Part 1 of this book, you will notice that some passages have a
shaded bar beside them. The passages with the sidebar come from
Anthony Weston’s Rulebook for Arguments. The passages without the
sidebar are only in the Workbook for Arguments. The additions in Part 1
consist mainly of exercise sets designed to help you learn how to apply the
lessons from the passages with the sidebars. You can get the main ideas of
each chapter by reading just the passages with the sidebars. Before
attempting an exercise set, though, be sure to read both the Rulebook text
before it and the “Tips for success” that accompany the exercise set.
After you have completed an exercise set—or at any rate, after you’ve
given it your best shot—take a look at the model responses for that
exercise set. (You’ll find the model responses in Part 2.) We strongly
encourage you to read them even if you don’t need help doing the
exercises. The model responses often contain important further
discussions. Moreover, part of their aim, considered as a whole, is to paint
a wide-ranging and compelling picture of critical intelligence at work. The
spirit of critical thinking is just as vital as the letter, so to speak, and in the
Workbook you will find both.
Every exercise set ends with a suggestion about how to get more
practice applying the skills used in that exercise set. Many of these
suggestions are most effective if you work in a group. If you find that you
consistently want more practice, form a study group with some of your
classmates.
From time to time, your instructor may have you complete one of the
22
critical thinking activities from Part 3. These activities are designed to be
especially enjoyable and engaging and to help you connect the material in
this book to your own life. Be sure to find out whether your instructor has
any additional or alternative instructions for the activity, or if he or she
wants you to complete one of the variations listed at the end of the
activity’s assignment sheet.
Critical thinking is a skill—and like most skills, it’s a skill that you can
always improve, even if you’re already good at it. Reading about
guidelines for critical thinking, such as the rules presented in this book, is
an important part of honing your skill, but there is no substitute for
practice. (That could even be Rule 46: Practice, practice, practice.) The
aim of this workbook is to give you an opportunity for guidance, practice,
and feedback. With some persistence and hard work, you’ll find yourself
thinking more clearly and more critically than ever.
23
{1} Part 1
24
{3} Chapter I
Short Arguments: Some General Rules
Arguments begin by marshaling reasons and organizing them in a clear
and fair way. Chapter I offers general rules for composing short
arguments. Chapters II–VI discuss specific kinds of short arguments.
Rule 1: Identify premises and conclusion
The very first step in making an argument is to ask yourself what you
are trying to prove. What is your conclusion? Remember that the
conclusion is the statement for which you are giving reasons. The
statements that give your reasons are your premises.
Consider these lines from Winston Churchill:
I am an optimist. It does not seem to be much use being anything
else.
This is an argument—as well as an amusing quip—because Churchill is
giving a reason to be an optimist: his premise is that “It does not seem
to be much use being anything else.”
Premises and conclusion are not always so obvious. Sherlock Holmes
has to explain one of his deductions in “The Adventure of Silver Blaze”:
A dog was kept in the stalls, and yet, though someone had been
in and fetched out a horse, [the dog] had not barked….
Obviously the … visitor was someone whom the dog knew
well.1
Holmes has two premises. One is explicit: the dog did not bark at the
visitor. The other is a general fact that Holmes assumes we know about
dogs: dogs bark at strangers. Together these premises imply that the
visitor was not a stranger. It turns out that this is the key to solving the
mystery.
25
When you are using arguments as a means of inquiry, you sometimes
may start with no more than the conclusion you wish to defend. State it
clearly, first of all. Maybe you want to take Churchill a step farther and
{4} argue that you and I should be optimists too. If so, say so explicitly.
Then ask yourself what reasons you have for drawing that conclusion.
What reasons can you give to prove that we should be optimists?
You could appeal to Churchill’s authority. If Churchill recommends
optimism, who are we to quibble? This appeal will not get you very far,
however, since equally famous people have recommended pessimism.
You need to think about the question on your own. Again, what is your
reason for thinking that we should be optimists?
One reason could be that optimism boosts your energy to work for
success, whereas if you feel defeated in advance you may never even
try. Optimists are more likely to succeed, to achieve their goals. (Maybe
this is what Churchill meant as well.) If this is your premise, say so
explicitly.
This book offers you a ready list of different forms that arguments
can take. Use this list to develop your premises. To defend a
generalization, for instance, check Chapter II. It will remind you that
you need to give a series of examples as premises, and it will tell you
what sorts of examples to look for. If your conclusion requires a
deductive argument like those explained in Chapter VI, the rules
outlined in that chapter will tell you what types of premises you need.
You may have to try several different arguments before you find one
that works well.
Exercise Set 1.1: Distinguishing premises from conclusions
Objective: To give you practice distinguishing premises from conclusions
in other people’s arguments.
Instructions: Rewrite each argument below, underlining the conclusion of
each argument and putting brackets around each premise.
Tips for success: Distinguishing premises from conclusions is sometimes
more of an art than a science. We wish people were always clear about the
premises and conclusions of their argument, but that’s just not the case.
Therefore, learning to distinguish premises from conclusions takes
26
practice. As you practice, there are two strategies that you should keep in
mind.
The first strategy is simply to ask yourself what the author of this
argument is trying to convince you to believe. The claim that the author is
trying to get you to believe is the argument’s conclusion. Then you can ask
what reasons the author gives to try to convince you. These will be the
argument’s premises.
{5} The second strategy for distinguishing premises from conclusions is
to look for indicator words. Some words or phrases are conclusion
indicators. These are words or phrases that tell you that you’re about to
read or hear the conclusion of an argument. Other words or phrases are
premise indicators. These tell you that you’re about to read or hear a
premise. Here’s a sample of the most common conclusion and premise
indicators:
Conclusion Indicators
therefore
thus
hence
so
consequently
this shows that
Premise Indicators
because
since
given that
for
on the grounds that
this follows from
You’ll start to notice more indicator words as you get better at analyzing
arguments.
Two more pieces of advice: First, don’t rely solely on indicator words.
Some arguments will not use any indicator words. Others will use
indicator words in other ways. Some words, like because, since, and so,
have many other uses; not every use of because indicates that you’re about
to hear a premise. When in doubt, fall back on our first strategy: ask
yourself whether the author is giving you a reason for the conclusion. If
your answer is no, you haven’t found a premise, even if the sentence
includes because or since.
Second, don’t assume that everything in a passage is either a premise or
a conclusion. Not all passages contain arguments. Some passages are
telling stories, describing things, giving explanations, issuing commands,
making jokes, or doing other things besides giving reasons for a
conclusion. Even in passages that do contain arguments, some sentences or
27
clauses will provide background information, make side comments, and so
on. Again, the key is to ask yourself, “Is this sentence stating a conclusion
or giving me a reason to believe that conclusion?” If it is doing either, it’s
part of an argument; if not, it’s not.
{6} Sample
[In order to prosper, a democracy needs its citizens to be able to
carry out their responsibilities competently.] [Being a
competent citizen requires familiarity with the basics of math,
natural science, social science, history, and literature, as well as
the ability to read and write well and the ability to think
critically.] [A liberal education is essential to developing these
skills.] Therefore, in order for a democracy to prosper, its
citizens must get a liberal education.
Adapted from: Steven M. Cahn, letter to the editor, New York Times,
May 21, 2004
The markings in this sample problem indicate that the last sentence is
the conclusion and that each of the first three sentences is a separate
premise. Although each sentence in this letter to the editor expresses
either a premise or a conclusion, remember that many passages contain
sentences (or parts of sentences) that are neither premises nor
conclusions. You don’t need to bracket or underline those (parts of)
sentences.
1. Racial segregation reduces some persons to the status of things. Hence,
segregation is morally wrong.
Adapted from: Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,”
Liberation: An Independent Monthly, Jun 1963
2. While performing an autopsy on a dead sea turtle, Dr. Stacy found
shrimp in the turtle’s throat. Sea turtles can only catch shrimp if the
turtles are stuck in nets with the shrimp. Therefore, the dead sea turtle
was probably caught in a net.
Adapted from: Shaila Dewan, “Animal Autopsies in Gulf Yield Mystery,”
New York Times, Jul 14, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/science/
earth/15necropsy.html
28
3. Most people experience no side effects from the yellow fever vaccine.
People with egg allergies shouldn’t get the yellow fever vaccine,
though, because some part of the vaccine is grown inside eggs.
Adapted from: Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases, “Vaccine | CDC
Yellow Fever,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/YellowFever/vaccine/
{7} 4. There are two ways of settling a dispute: by discussion and by
physical force. Since the first way is appropriate for human beings and
the second way appropriate for animals, we must resort to force only
when we cannot settle matters by discussion.
Adapted from: Cicero, De Officiis 11
5. Positron-emission tomography, better known as PET, is a method for
examining a person’s brain. Before undergoing PET, the patient
inhales a gas containing radioactive molecules. The molecules are not
dangerous for the patient because they break down within a few
minutes, before they can do any damage.
Adapted from: Bryan Kolb and Ian Q. Wishaw, Fundamentals of Human
Neuropsychology, 5th ed. (New York: Worth Publishers, 2003), 161
6. The head of the spy ring is very dangerous. He is also exceptionally
clever and a master of disguise. He has a dozen names and a hundred
different appearances. But there is one thing he cannot disguise: he is
missing the tip of his little finger. So, if you ever meet a man who is
missing the top joint of his little finger, you should be very careful!
Adapted from: The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(London: Gaumont British, 1935)
7. Some people buy college degrees on the Internet because they’re trying
to pretend that they went to college. That’s a waste of money, since it’s
easy to make a college degree on your computer, and a degree that you
make yourself is just as good as a degree that you bought on the
Internet.
Adapted from: “Fake Degrees in Government,” The Onion, Oct 18, 2006,
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fake-degrees-in-government,15092/
8. People are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights.
Governments exist to protect those rights. When a government violates
29
those rights, people have a right to rebel against that government and
create a new one. The king of Great Britain has repeatedly violated the
rights of the American colonists. Thus, the American colonists have a
right to rebel against the king of Great Britain.
Adapted from: U.S. Declaration of Independence
{8} 9. In the film Interstellar, the main characters travel through a
“wormhole,” which is a tunnel through space-time that would enable
space travelers to zip from one part of the universe to another. In
theory, wormholes are possible, but it’s probably impossible to use
wormholes to travel around the universe. Keeping wormholes open
long enough to travel through them would require enormous amounts
of “negative enery,” and it’s probably impossible to generate that much
negative energy.
Adapted from: Mike Wall, “‘Interstellar’ Science: Is Wormhole Travel Possible?”
LiveScience, Nov 24, 2014, http://www.livescience.com/48890-interstellar-moviewormhole-travel-feasibility.html
10. The only remaining question was why the man had been murdered.
Was it a politically motivated crime or a private one? I thought right
away that it must be a privately motivated crime. Political assassins
move quickly and flee. But in this case, the murderer’s footprints are
all over the room, showing that he had spent quite a while in this room.
Adapted from: Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (London:
Ward Lock & Co., 1888; repr., London: Penguin, 2001), 138
Model responses for odd-numbered exercises can be found on page
287.
Need more practice? Take a look at the editorials, op-eds, and letters to
the editor on the Web site for your favorite newspaper. Most of these will
contain arguments. Working by yourself or with a classmate, identify the
premises and conclusions in those arguments.
Rule 2: Develop your ideas in a natural order
30
Short arguments are usually developed in one or two paragraphs. Put the
conclusion first, followed by your reasons, or set out your premises first
and draw the conclusion at the end. In any case, set out your ideas in an
order that unfolds your line of thought most clearly for the reader.
Consider this short argument by Bertrand Russell:
The evils of the world are due to moral defects quite as much as
to lack of intelligence. But the human race has not hitherto
discovered any method of eradicating moral defects…. {9}
Intelligence, on the contrary, is easily improved by methods
known to every competent educator. Therefore, until some
method of teaching virtue has been discovered, progress will
have to be sought by improvement of intelligence rather than of
morals.2
Each sentence in this passage prepares the way for the next one, and
then the next one steps smoothly up to bat. Russell begins by pointing
out the two sources of evil in the world: “moral defects,” as he puts it,
and lack of intelligence. He then claims that we do not know how to
correct “moral defects,” but that we do know how to correct lack of
intelligence. Therefore—notice that the word “therefore” clearly marks
his conclusion—progress will have to come by improving intelligence.
Getting an argument to unfold in this smooth sort of way is a real
accomplishment. It’s not easy to find just the right place for each part—
and plenty of wrong places are available. Suppose Russell instead
argued like this:
The evils of the world are due to moral defects quite as much as
to lack of intelligence. Until some method of teaching virtue has
been discovered, progress will have to be sought by
improvement of intelligence rather than of morals. Intelligence is
easily improved by methods known to every competent
educator. The human race has not hitherto discovered any means
of eradicating moral defects.
These are the same premises and conclusion, but they are in a different
order, and the word “therefore” has been omitted before the conclusion.
Now the argument is much harder to understand, and therefore also
much less persuasive. The premises do not fit together naturally, and
you have to read the passage twice just to figure out what the conclusion
is. Don’t count on your readers to be so patient.
31
Expect to rearrange your argument several times to find the most
natural order. The rules discussed in this book should help. You can use
them to figure out not only what kinds of premises you need but also
how to arrange them in the best order.
{10} Exercise Set 1.2: Outlining arguments in premise-andconclusion form
Objective: To give you practice rewriting arguments in a clear, logical
structure.
Instructions: Each of the following passages contains an argument. Put
the premises in a natural, meaningful order, and write them out in a
numbered list. Then, write the conclusion at the end of the list.
Tips for success: It’s often helpful to outline arguments in premise-andconclusion form. This involves several steps.
First, identify the premises and the conclusions, just as you did in
Exercise Set 1.1.
Then, put the premises in a meaningful order—that is, an order that
helps you understand how the premises connect with one another and with
the conclusion. In many cases, there won’t be a single best ordering. Try a
few different orderings and pick the one that makes the most sense to you.
When you have settled on a meaningful order for the premises, write the
premises down in a numbered list. It’s helpful to make each premise a
complete sentence, replacing pronouns like him or it with the names of the
people or things they stand for.
Finally, write the conclusion at the end of the list. Some logicians draw
a line between the premises and the conclusion, much like the line that
mathematicians draw between an arithmetic problem and its answer. This
line shows that the premises “add up” to the conclusion. Other logicians
write therefore or include the symbol ∴ (which means therefore) before
the conclusion.
{11} Sample
Some companies are creating genetically modified animals,
such as salmon, that provide more meat for consumers. If
32
genetically modified salmon escaped into the wild, they would
compete with “natural” salmon for food. Natural salmon,
though, have been honed by natural selection to flourish in the
wild. Genetically modified salmon are not designed to flourish
in the wild. Thus, non-genetically modified salmon would
outcompete genetically modified salmon if genetically modified
salmon escaped into the wild.
Adapted from: “Dawn of the Frankenfish,” The Economist, Jun 10,
2010
(1) If genetically modified animals escaped into the wild, they would
compete with “natural” salmon for food.
(2) Natural salmon have been honed by natural selection to flourish
in the wild.
(3) Genetically modified salmon are not designed to flourish in the
wild.
Therefore, (4) Non-genetically modified salmon would outcompete
genetically modified salmon if genetically modified salmon escaped
into the wild.
This argument already presents its ideas in a natural order. The only
thing needed to put it into premise-and-conclusion form is to identify
the premises, put them in a numbered list, and add “therefore” before
the conclusion.
The first sentence in the passage is not a premise in the argument. Its
purpose is to provide context for the argument, not to give a reason to
accept the conclusion. We do not need to include it in our outline of the
argument.
1. Although he’s only halfway through his basketball career, LeBron
James will eventually surpass Michael Jordan in MVP awards, All-Star
appearances, total points scored, and many other records. It is quite
possible that he’ll win as many championships as Jordan did. So far,
Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. So, LeBron will
eventually become the greatest player of all time.
Adapted from: David Lariviere, “LeBron James Will Eventually Top
Michael Jordan as Basketball’s Greatest Player,” Forbes.com, May 24, 2013,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidlariviere/2013/05/24/lebron-james-willeventually-top-michael-jordan-as-basketballs-greatest-player/
33
{12} 2. Someone who can’t get enough to eat clearly lives in poverty.
But someone who can’t afford the things that his or her society regards
as necessities also lives in poverty. Wealthier societies will regard
more things as necessities than poorer societies. Thus, the “poverty
line,” which is the amount of money someone must have to count as
“non-poor,” will be higher in a wealthier society than in a poorer
society.
Adapted from: David Phillips, Quality of Life: Concept, Policy, and Practice
(Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2006), 110
3. A team of researchers led by Brendan Nyhan at Dartmouth wanted to
study the effects of giving parents information on the safety of
vaccines. They gave some parents information from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention stating that there is no evidence that
vaccines cause autism. Other parents received no information about
vaccine safety. When compared to parents who received no
information, parents who received information were no more likely to
vaccinate their children. Nyhan and his colleagues concluded that
simply providing information about vaccine safety does not increase
the proportion of parents who get their children vaccinated.
Adapted from: Maria Konnikova, “I Don’t Want to Be Right,” New Yorker, May
16,
2014, http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/i-dont-want-to-be-right
4. Smaller high schools are better than larger high schools since smaller
high schools have been shown to have higher graduation rates and a
higher proportion of students going on to college. New York City has
broken a number of large high schools up into several smaller schools.
Adapted from: David M. Herszenhorn, “Gates Charity Gives $51 Million to City
to Start 67 Schools,” New York Times, Sep 18, 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/
2003/09/18/nyregion/gates-charity-gives-51-million-to-city-to-start67-schools.html
5. In 1908, something flattened eight hundred square miles of forest in a
part of Siberia called Tunguska. Theories abound about “the Tunguska
event.” Some people say it was a UFO. Some even say it was a tiny
black hole. Recently, however, scientists discovered {13} that a lake in
the area has the shape of an impact crater that would have been created
by an asteroid or comet. So, the Tunguska event was caused by an
34
asteroid or comet.
Adapted from: Paul Rincon, “Fire in the Sky: Tunguska at 100,” BBC News,
Jun 30, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7470283.stm
6. There is a “generation gap” in Americans’ knowledge of politics. That
is to say, older people know more about politics than younger people.
This is not the result of older people generally being more interested in
politics than younger people. Opinion polls from the 1940s through the
mid-1970s show that younger people used to be at least as well
informed about politics as the older people of their time were.
Adapted from: Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 2000), 36
7. All cars should have a spear mounted on the steering wheel, aimed
directly at the driver’s chest. After all, we should do everything we can
to encourage cautious driving. Since people behave much more
cautiously when they know that their life is on the line, steering wheel–
mounted spears would make people drive much more cautiously.
Adapted from: Steven E. Landsburg, The Armchair Economist (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1994), 5
8. Human nature is not inherently good. Human nature consists of those
human traits that are spontaneous; these things cannot be learned.
Thus, if something can be learned, then it is not part of human nature.
Yet, goodness is not spontaneous; people must learn how to be good.
Adapted from: Xunzi, Xunzi, in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,
2nd ed., edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. van Norden (Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing Company, 2005), 298–99
9. It is possible for someone to wonder whether her life is meaningful
even if she knows that she has enjoyed her life. This shows that a
meaningful life is not the same as an enjoyable life. At the same {14}
time, someone who is alienated from her life or feels like her life is
pointless, even if she is doing things that might seem worthwhile from
an objective perspective, is not leading a meaningful life. This shows
that a meaningful life is not the same as a life spent on objectively
worthwhile projects. All of this shows that neither enjoyment nor
objectively worthwhile projects, considered separately from the other,
are sufficient for a meaningful life.
35
Adapted from: Susan Wolf, “Happiness and Meaning: Two Aspects of the Good
Life,”
Social Philosophy & Policy 14 (1997), 211
10. Suppose that Tim learns that his grandfather had done something
terrible in the 1920s, several years before the birth of Tim’s mother.
Suppose also that Tim has invented a time machine. While it may seem
that Tim could go back in time and kill his grandfather to prevent him
from doing this terrible thing, in fact, it is impossible for Tim to kill his
grandfather. The past has already happened. It cannot be changed.
Since Tim’s grandparents had Tim’s mother, who went on to have
Tim, it must be the case that Tim did not kill his grandfather.
Adapted from: David Lewis, “The Paradoxes of Time Travel,”
American Philosophical Quarterly 13 (1976), 149–50
Model responses for odd-numbered exercises can be found on page
290.
Need more practice? Following the steps described in the “Tips for
success” section, outline the arguments from Exercise Set 1.1 in premiseand-conclusion form. Work with a friend or classmate if you want to be
able to compare your work with someone else’s. For even more practice,
do the same thing with the arguments in the editorials, op-eds, and letters
to the editor that you found on your favorite newspaper’s Web site.
For a more sophisticated way to show the relationships among premises
in an argument, see Appendix III: Argument Mapping (p. 268).
Argument maps are especially helpful in understanding complex
arguments.
{15} Exercise Set 1.3: Analyzing visual arguments
Objective: To help you recognize short arguments in visual materials.
Instructions: Go to the companion Web site for this book. Click on the
link for “Chapter I” and then on the link for “Exercise Set 1.3.” You will
get a list of links to images and videos. Write a premise-and-conclusion
36
outline of the argument that you think the image or video is trying to
communicate.
Tips for success: We are constantly bombarded by visual material—from
billboards to artwork to online videos—that aims to persuade us of
something. Sometimes the material tries to persuade us to do something or
to want something. Sometimes it tries to persuade us to believe something.
You can think of many of these materials as visual arguments. They don’t
necessarily present their premises and conclusions in words, but many of
them still can be read as offering reasons in support of conclusions—that
is, as arguments.
When you’re thinking about a visual argument, it’s entirely up to you to
present the argument’s ideas in a natural order. The first thing you’ll need
to do is determine the conclusion of the visual argument. What is the
argument trying to get you to do or believe? Then you’ll need to ask
yourself whether the picture or video offers you reasons to believe that
conclusion. If so, these will be the premises of the argument.
To identify these premises, think about what the connection is between
the images that you are seeing and the conclusion that those images are
meant to support. To take an extremely simple case, suppose an
advertisement shows an athlete enjoying a Sprite. The conclusion of this
visual argument is that you ought to drink Sprite too. What is the
connection between the image of the athlete drinking Sprite and the claim
that you ought to drink it? If the athlete takes a sip after a hard game or
workout, perhaps the message is that Sprite is especially refreshing. In that
case, the argument might be something like this: “Sprite is especially
refreshing. You like refreshing drinks. Therefore, you ought to drink
Sprite.” Or maybe the athlete is sitting around with her friends, and they
are all having a good time and drinking Sprite. In that case, the message
might be that hip young adults—especially people who like this particular
athlete’s sport—drink Sprite and that if you want to be like these people,
you should drink Sprite too.
Different people are likely to come up with different interpretations of
each visual argument. In fact, you can probably come up with different
{16} interpretations of each one yourself. Don’t worry about finding the
one and only correct interpretation. Just focus on finding a plausible
interpretation—one that the creator of the visual argument might recognize
as the message he or she was trying to send.
37
The exercises for this exercise set, including a sample exercise, can be
found on the companion Web site for this book.
Need more practice? Look through a recent magazine or a Web site that
includes advertisements. Analyze the visual arguments offered in each of
the advertisements that you encounter.
Critical thinking activity: Found arguments
For an out-of-class activity that gives you practice in applying Rules 1
and 2, see the “Found arguments” assignment sheet (p. 441) in Part 3.
Critical thinking activity: Creating a visual argument
For an out-of-class activity that gives you practice in dealing with
visual arguments, see the “Creating a visual argument” assignment
sheet (p. 442) in Part 3.
Rule 3: Start from reliable premises
No matter how well you argue from premises to conclusion, your
conclusion will be weak if your premises are weak.
Nobody in the world today is really happy. Therefore, it seems
that human beings are just not made for happiness. Why should
we expect what we can never find?
The premise of this argument is the statement that nobody in the
world today is really happy. Sometimes, on certain rainy afternoons or
in certain moods, this may almost seem true. But ask yourself if this
premise really is plausible. Is nobody in the world today really happy?
Ever? At the very least, this premise needs some serious defense, and
very likely it is just not true. This argument cannot show, then, that
human beings are not made for happiness or that you or I should not
expect to be happy.
{17} Sometimes it is easy to start from reliable premises. You may
have well-known examples at hand or reliable sources that are clearly in
agreement. Other times it is harder. If you are not sure about the
reliability of a premise, you may need to do some research and/or give
38
an argument for the premise itself (see Rule 31 for more on this point).
If you find you cannot argue adequately for your premise(s), then, of
course, you need to try some other premise!
Exercise Set 1.4: Identifying reliable and unreliable premises
Objective: To give you practice recognizing reliable starting points for
arguments.
Instructions: Rewrite the following arguments in premise-and-conclusion
form, just as you did in Exercise Set 1.2. Then, state whether each premise
is reliable and explain why or why not.
Tips for success: Arguments are both a way to convince others of
something and a way to learn new things. A good argument leads you
(and/or others) from premises that you already accept to conclusions that
you (and/or they) did not previously accept. To do that, however,
arguments need to start from premises that you or they already accept.
Furthermore, when two or more people hold different views on a topic,
they can’t have a productive discussion unless they start from some kind of
common ground. Therefore, an important part of learning to give good
arguments is learning to recognize which premises are reliable and widely
acceptable starting points. Deciding whether a starting point is reliable and
acceptable in this way can be tricky, and can vary with the situation, but
there are some rules of thumb that can guide your thinking.
First, widely accepted facts are usually reliable starting points. For
instance, it’s widely accepted that there is a wide variety of species on
Earth and that these species resemble each other in various ways. Those
facts can provide reliable starting points for an argument about evolution.
It’s worth finding out how widely accepted your “facts” really are,
though. Something that seems like common knowledge to you might be
widely doubted in other social circles, other parts of the country, or other
parts of the world. For instance, it is widely accepted in many parts of the
world that the variety of species we see today evolved by natural selection,
but there are also social circles and parts of the world where that is {18}
frequently denied. If you are addressing your argument to someone who
denies what you regard as a widely accepted fact, you may need to find
another starting point for your argument.
39
Second, premises that are supported by appropriate testimony or sources
are usually reliable. For instance, if a trustworthy person tells you that she
has been to Brazil and seen pink dolphins living in the Amazon River, you
could count “There are pink dolphins living in the Amazon River” as a
reliable premise.
There are also guidelines to help you spot unreliable premises. Premises
that are widely known to be false or easily shown to be false are
unreliable. (Again, though, remember that what’s “widely known to be
false” in one context may be generally accepted elsewhere. Remember
your audience!) Other premises are unreliable not because we know that
they’re false but because we don’t know, or can’t know, whether they’re
true; such claims can’t provide a solid foundation for an argument. Wild
generalizations and overly vague claims fall into this category. So do
controversial claims offered without support, and claims that we could not
possibly verify. Remember, though, that there’s a difference between
claiming that a premise is unreliable and claiming that it is false. Saying
that a premise is unreliable could just mean that you don’t know whether
it’s true.
Later rules in this book, especially the rules in Chapter IV about using
sources, will give you further and more developed guidelines for finding
reliable starting points. Rule 31 will also invite you to offer additional
reasons for seemingly unreliable premises, turning those premises into
well-supported conclusions of their own arguments. But all of that is still
to come. For now, just look at the premises before you, and use your
common sense.
Sample
Computers will soon take over most human tasks. After all,
Deep Blue, a computer, beat Garry Kasparov, the World Chess
Champion, in 1997. And if computers can defeat the best human
alive in an activity that symbolizes intelligence more than any
other, then surely their supremacy in everything else we do is
not far off.
Adapted from: Editorial, Washington Post, May 6, 1997, http://www.
washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/tech/analysis/kasparov/editorial.htm
(1) Deep Blue, a computer, beat the World Chess Champion in 1997.
(2) If computers can beat the best human alive in chess, then their
40
supremacy in everything else we do is not far off.
Therefore, (3) Computers will soon take over most human tasks.
{19} Premise (1) is reliable, since it is a widely accepted fact. (If the
argument were intended for an audience that didn’t know about Deep
Blue’s victory, the author would probably want to point to news
reports about the match as a way of supporting the premise with
sources.)
Premise (2), however, is unreliable. It is implausible speculation to
say that a victory in chess suggests that “supremacy in everything
else we do” is just around the corner. After all, chess is a very
different kind of activity from most things that humans do. (Think
of the differences between chess and writing a novel, cooking a meal,
playing basketball, or navigating the social jungles of a school or
office.)
This response takes a nuanced approach to premise (1), explaining that
the premise is not only widely known, but easily verified in case anyone
is uncertain about it (a sad day for chess fans everywhere). The real
problem, just as this response says, is with the reliability of premise (2).
Notice that the response does not attempt to say whether the
conclusion is reliable. Rule 3 is about the reliability of premises. You
do not need to comment on the arguments’ conclusions in this exercise
set.
1. Anybody could become a zombie—a relative, a friend, or even a
neighbor. Zombies are constantly looking to eat the brains of the
living. This is why you should always be prepared to escape from or
fight back against a zombie attack.
Adapted from: “Zombies in Plain English,” YouTube, Oct 23, 2007,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnfyradCPY
2. Social networking sites have revolutionized the way we interact with
our friends. Such sites allow people to stay in contact with hundreds or
even thousands of people. Human nature, however, prevents us from
having meaningful relationships with that many people. Therefore,
most of your “friends” on those sites are not people with whom you
have meaningful relationships.
Adapted from: Robin Dunbar, “You’ve Got to Have (150) Friends,”
41
New York Times, Dec 25, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/
opinion/26dunbar.html
3. Some people scoff at a liberal education as a waste of time. But a true
education is not just about accumulating knowledge. It’s also about
educating one’s emotions. A liberal arts education exposes {20}
students not only to history, science, and math, but also to the literature
and arts that speak more directly to our emotions. Thus, a liberal arts
education is an essential part of any “real” education.
Adapted from: Martha Nussbaum, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the
Humanities (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010)
4. There are other advanced civilizations in our galaxy. To see why this
must be so, consider the following facts: There are billions of stars in
our galaxy, and many of them probably have planets around them.
Some planets may develop life, and some of those planets will
probably develop intelligent life capable of producing advanced
technology.
Adapted from: “Carl Sagan on Advanced Civilizations,” YouTube, Feb 24, 2008,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0PWOJkWgcM
5. Radioactive materials are materials that decay into other materials. For
instance, certain isotopes of carbon are radioactive; they decay into
different isotopes of carbon. By looking at the ratios of radioactive
materials to the products of radioactive decay in a piece of rock, we
can estimate the age of the rock fairly well. This process is called
“radiometric dating.” Radiometric dating reveals that some large rock
formations in the Earth’s crust are up to four billion years old. Thus,
the Earth itself is at least four billion years old.
Adapted from: G. Brent Dalrymple, The Age of the Earth (Palo Alto:
Stanford University Press, 1994), 399
6. Scholars have begun looking at the colonial period as a way of
understanding economic development. During the colonial period,
several European powers established colonies in the Americas. Some
of these colonies have become economically successful, while others
have not. The most striking difference between those that succeeded
and those that did not is that the successful colonies had much lower
levels of economic and social inequality than the unsuccessful
42
colonies. Therefore, we suggest that inequality hinders economic
development.
Adapted from: Stanley L. Engerman and Kenneth L. Sokoloff, “Colonialism,
Inequality, and Long-Run Paths of Development,” in Abhijit V. Banerjee,
Roland Bénabou, and Dilip Mookherjee, Understanding Poverty (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2006), 37–57
{21} 7. To date, smallpox is the only human disease that has been
completely eliminated from the face of the Earth. We are getting closer
to the day that polio is eliminated too. Polio used to be a serious
problem in many parts of the world. As of 1988, polio remained
endemic in only six countries: Niger, Egypt, India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and Nigeria. By 2006, two of those countries—Niger and
Egypt—were polio free, according to the World Health Organization.
Adapted from: Mark Prendergrast, Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical
Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (New York:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), 346
8. Despite what the skeptics would have you believe, many people are
capable of seeing ghosts. Ghosts are real, and anyone with the psychic
ability known as extrasensory perception (ESP) is capable of seeing
them. ESP is a real phenomenon, according to Professor Joseph Rhine
of Duke University. In fact, about half of all people have ESP,
although many never realize it.
Adapted from: Hans Holzer, Ghosts: True Encounters with the World Beyond
(New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1997), 29
9. You should be a vegetarian. Every time you eat meat, your meal is the
result of the suffering and death of an animal. Besides, it’s disgusting
to put a piece of a dead animal’s carcass into your mouth and chew it.
There is plenty of great vegetarian food, including tasty meat
alternatives. Also, vegetarianism is healthier than eating meat. One
more reason to be a vegetarian is that you’d be joining the company of
a long list of incredible people, from Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton,
and Thomas Edison to Paul McCartney, Shania Twain, and Tobey
Maguire.
Adapted from: Johnny Durham, “Reasons to Be Vegetarian,” YouTube,
Jan 7, 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t36dufpDn9g
43
10. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that at least three hundred
thousand children in the United States are forced into prostitution and
other sex-trafficking crimes every year. They estimate the average age
of entry into forced prostitution is twelve years old. {22} Forcing a
child to work as a prostitute is wrong. It is a travesty that eliminating
child prostitution is not a bigger priority for our country.
Adapted from: Angela Colwell, letter to the editor, Tulsa World, Apr 23, 2010,
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/opinion/article
.aspx?articleid=20100423_62_A18_Acrigt552416
Model responses for odd-numbered exercises can be found on page
293.
Need more practice? Go back to the arguments presented in Exercise Sets
1.1 and 1.2 and decide which of their premises are reliable. For even more
practice, go to the Web site for this book and click on the “Chapter I” link.
You’ll find a link to a list of Web sites that feature online debates. Find
debates that interest you and read the arguments presented in those
debates. Determine which premises are reliable and why.
Rule 4: Be concrete and concise
Avoid abstract, vague, and general terms. “We hiked for hours in the
sun” is a hundred times better than “It was an extended period of
laborious exertion.” Be concise too. Airy elaboration just loses everyone
in a fog of words.
NO:
For those whose roles primarily involved the performance of
services, as distinguished from assumption of leadership
responsibilities, the main pattern seems to have been a response
to the leadership’s invoking obligations that were concomitants
of the status of membership in the societal community and
various of its segmental units. The closest modern analogy is the
military service performed by an ordinary citizen, except that the
leader of the Egyptian bureaucracy did not need a special
44
emergency to invoke legitimate obligations.3
YES:
In ancient Egypt the common people were liable to be
conscripted for work.
{23} Exercise Set 1.5: Decomplexifying artificially abstruse
quotations
Objective: To help you recognize and avoid overly elaborate writing.
Instructions: Each passage in this exercise consists of a famous quote that
has been rewritten using overly abstract, vague, or obscure terms. Rewrite
the quote in simpler language.
Tips for success: Start by reading the passage in its entirety to get a sense
for the meaning of the whole passage. Then, go back over the passage
phrase by phrase, trying to figure out what each phrase means. Rewrite
each phrase in the simplest language you can find, deleting words or
phrases that don’t add to the meaning of the sentence. Don’t worry about
coming up with the exact wording of the original quotation. Just try to
express the ideas in the passage as simply and directly as possible.
Sample
Of this relatively limited extension of one of the ambulatory
limbs of this particular male of the species Homo sapiens, it
might also be possible to declare that a relatively much larger
extension of the reach of the human species as a whole, so to
speak, is also concurrently taking place at this point in time.
Adapted from: “Apollo 11 TV Broadcast—Neil Armstrong First Step
on Moon,”
YouTube, Jul 20, 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtwSgvstl8c
This small step for a man is also a giant leap for humankind.
Neil Armstrong’s original statement, which he made when he first set
foot on the moon, is, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap
45
for mankind.” In the “complexified” form of this quotation, the first
clause (“Of this relatively limited extension of one of the ambulatory
limbs of this particular male of the species Homo sapiens”)
corresponds to the phrase “That’s one small step for [a] man,” and the
rest of the quotation corresponds to “one giant leap for mankind.”
The sample response isn’t exactly what Armstrong said, and that’s
okay. It says what Armstrong said in a clear, straightforward way.
That’s what matters.
{24} 1. I seem to have the distinct impression that my canine companion
and I are no longer physically located within the geographical confines
of the midwestern American state generally known as Kansas.
Adapted from: The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming (Los Angeles:
Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, 1939)
2. Do not inquire as to what it is that your country might accomplish on
your behalf, but instead inquire what actions you might take to further
the interests of the country that you regard as your own.
Adapted from: John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan 20, 1961
3. Being able to express oneself in as concise a way as possible—that is,
using the fewest, plainest words with which it is feasible to
communicate the essential meaning of one’s thought—is at the very
core of a knack for repartee.
Adapted from: William Shakespeare, Hamlet 2.2
4. Putting aside all prevarication, my most beloved one, it would be
utterly impossible for me, even with great effort, to care any less than I
do at this precise moment.
Adapted from: Gone with the Wind, directed by Victor Fleming (Los Angeles:
Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, 1939)
5. We must strive to exhibit in our own persons the sorts of alterations
that we most fervently desire to observe in the world that we inhabit.
Adapted from: Mohandas Gandhi, quoted in John McCain & Mark Salter,
Character Is Destiny (New York: Random House, 2005), 14
6. My maternal grandmother’s daughter was in the frequent habit of
46
informing me that the period between birth and death is similar to a
container of cocoa-based confections.
Adapted from: Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis (Los Angeles:
Paramount Pictures, 1994)
7. Regularly turning in for the night at a fairly early hour, combined with
the practice of awakening at an hour that is earlier than the hour at
which most others arise, will tend to the acquisition of such desirable
personal features as good physical constitution, a {25} comfortable
financial situation, and the sort of discernment and other related
intellectual abilities that conduce to earning the respect of others.
Adapted from: Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1732; repr.,
New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2007), 13
8. It has been my constant practice to rely upon the compassionate
actions of people with whom I had not yet become acquainted prior to
the performance of said action.
Adapted from: A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan (Burbank, CA:
Warner Bros, 1951)
9. A female member of the human species who finds herself without the
company of a male of the species is akin to an aquatic, scale-covered
vertebrate with gills and fins that has not the possession of a pedaldriven, two-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a rider sitting astride a
frame to which the wheels are attached.
Adapted from: Gloria Steinem, quoted in Deborah G. Felder, The 100 Most
Influential Women of All Time (New York: Citadel Press, 2002), 258
10. I harbor an aspiration that, at some point in the future, my four
offspring, who are currently fairly young, will be assessed not
according to the pigmentation of their skin but by considering the
character traits that they possess.
Adapted from: Martin Luther King, Jr., speech in Washington, DC, Aug 28, 1963
Model responses for odd-numbered exercises can be found on page
297.
Need more practice? Make a list of famous quotations, well-known song
47
lyrics, titles of famous books, etc. Have a friend or classmate do the same.
Rewrite each item on the list in the overly abstract, complex style used in
this exercise. Trade “complexified” lists with your friend or classmate and
try to decipher the items on his or her list. For even more practice, repeat
this activity with the arguments from other exercises in this book: Rewrite
each premise and conclusion in an overly complex style and challenge
your classmate to figure out what the argument says.
A helpful way to be concrete and concise is to define your terms
carefully. For tips on giving good definitions, see Appendix II:
Definitions (p. 256).
{26} Rule 5: Build on substance, not overtone
Offer actual reasons; don’t just play on the overtones of words.
NO:
Having so disgracefully allowed her once-proud passenger
railroads to fade into obscurity, America is honor bound to
restore them now!
This is supposed to be an argument for restoring (more) passenger rail
service. But it offers no evidence for this conclusion whatsoever, just
some emotionally loaded words—shopworn words, too, like a politician
on automatic. Did passenger rail “fade” because of something
“America” did or didn’t do? What was “disgraceful” about this? Many
“once-proud” institutions outlive their times, after all—we’re not
obliged to restore them all. What does it mean to say America is “honor
bound” to do this? Have promises been made and broken? By whom?
Much can be said for restoring passenger rail, especially in this era
when the ecological and economic costs of highways are becoming
enormous. The problem is that this argument does not say it. It leaves
the emotional charge of the words to do all the work, and therefore
really does no work at all. We’re left exactly where we started.
Overtones may sometimes persuade even when they shouldn’t, of
course—but remember, here we are looking for actual, concrete
evidence.
48
Likewise, do not try to make your argument look good by using
emotionally loaded words to label the other side. Generally, people
advocate a position for serious and sincere reasons. Try to figure out
their view—try to understand their reasons—even if you disagree
entirely. For example, people who question a new technology are
probably not in favor of “going back to the caves.” (What are they in
favor of? Maybe you need to ask.) Likewise, a person who believes in
evolution is not claiming that her grandparents were monkeys. (And
again: what does she think?) In general, if you can’t imagine how
anyone could hold the view you are attacking, probably you just don’t
understand it yet.
Exercise Set 1.6: Diagnosing loaded language
Objective: To train you to recognize and avoid loaded language.
Instructions: Look for “loaded language”—that is, emotionally charged
words or phrases—in each of the following arguments. If the argument
{27} contains loaded language, indicate which words or phrases are loaded
and suggest a less loaded way of saying the same thing. If the passage does
not contain any loaded language, say so.
Tips for success: A good argument should be able to stand on the strength
of its premises and the connection between the premises and the
conclusion—not on the beauty of its rhetoric or the emotional charge of
the way it’s presented. Learning to recognize loaded language helps you
avoid being taken in by arguments that sound good but lack substance; it
also helps you avoid giving arguments yourself that sound good but don’t
actually provide good reasons for their conclusions.
Loaded language comes in both negative and positive varieties. That is,
some loaded language carries negative emotional overtones. It casts an
idea, a person, or whatever in a negative light. For instance, calling
bankers “corporate pirates” makes them sound bad. Other loaded language
carries positive emotional overtones. For instance, calling a camp for
holding prisoners of war a “pacification center” makes it sound good—
almost like the kind of place you’d want to go for a relaxing vacation.
Look out for both kinds of loaded language.
Some loaded language is subtle. Its emotional power may depend on the
49
context in which it is used. For instance, the term Ivy League school is not
necessarily emotionally charged; it refers to one of a specific group of
American universities. However, imagine two politicians in a debate. If
one says, “Now, I may not have gone to an Ivy League school like my
opponent, but …”, the term Ivy League school suddenly has an air of
elitism. It can make the politician’s opponent seem out of touch with
ordinary people. Look out for subtle loaded language, too.
When it comes to suggesting less loaded ways of saying the same thing,
look for terms that carry less—and ideally, no—emotional charge. For
instance, if you’re talking about doctors who perform abortions, don’t call
them “baby killers.” A phrase like that mostly just plays on our feelings.
Many people think that performing abortion and killing babies are
importantly different, and so they would not accept it as a neutral
description. On the other hand, you shouldn’t call them “doctors who help
women with medical problems” either. To people who think abortion is
murder, this glosses over a tremendous moral difference between doctors
who perform abortions and those who don’t. Instead, just call them
“doctors who perform abortions.”
{28} Sample
Certain irresponsible American politicians have been spewing
lies about the latest attempts at reform. Whether these lies come
from a combination of stupidity and a hysterical imagination or
from cleverness and a willingness to exploit innocent Americans
for personal political gain, these lies must be exposed for the
damaging falsehoods that they are.
Adapted from: Keith Olbermann, Countdown with Keith Olbermann,
MSNBC,
Aug 10, 2009
This argument is full of loaded language. Calling the politicians
“irresponsible” makes them sound bad without yet saying what
they’re doing wrong; it could be deleted without affecting the actual
substance of the argument. “Spewing lies” is an emotionally
evocative way of saying “making false statements.” Speculating
about whether the “lies” come from “stupidity and a hysterical
imagination” or “a willingness to exploit innocent Americans”
makes the politicians sound dumb, unstable, or evil, but it doesn’t
50
actually add any facts to support the conclusion. Even worse, it
falsely suggests that stupidity and malice are the only possible
motives for these politicians’ statements. That whole clause can be
cut, too. The argument could claim simply that some politicians are
making false statements about the latest attempts at reform and
that the falsehood of those statements should be made clear to the
public.
This response identifies specific instances of loaded language. It
explains how each instance is emotionally charged and recommends an
alternative. In cases where the loaded language adds nothing
substantive to the argument, this response rightly recommends that the
loaded language be deleted.
Notice that in rephrasing Olbermann’s statement, this response
arrives at a neutral statement that may still not be true. That is, his
claim is that some politicians are making false statements about the
latest attempts at reform. It remains to be seen if they are or are not;
now we’d expect Olbermann to go on to offer some evidence. The point
of identifying and neutralizing loaded language is simply to bring us to
the point of recognizing the need for evidence in this relatively openminded way rather than being so worked up over the alleged liespewing and irresponsibility that we don’t have the breathing room to
even notice that no evidence has yet been offered.
1. Religious fanatics lost the battle on anti-gay discrimination in the
military. This isn’t the end of their dangerous influence, though. Now
that they’ve seen that their hatemongering against {29} homosexuals
isn’t going to win elections, they may just step up their fearmongering
against other groups.
Adapted from: Juan Cole, “Senate Repeal of DADT in Global Context,” Informed
Comment, Dec 19, 2010, http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/senate-repeal
-of-dadt-in-global-context.html
2. Of course I’m going to beat Henry Cooper! He’s nothing! He’s a
tramp! He’s a bum! I’ll knock him out in five rounds—no, three!
Adapted from: “Muhammad Ali Engaging in Some of His Famous Trash Talk,”
YouTube, Nov 11, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsAC4lhbE0g
51
3. The dirty little secret behind factory farms’ profits—namely, that
there’s no good reason for their monstrously cruel mistreatment of
animals—is getting out. Since morally decent people abhor senseless
animal cruelty, people everywhere are turning against factory farms.
Adapted from: Mylan Engel, Jr., “Animal Advocates’ Successes Have Factory
Farmers Running Scared,” Animal Ethics, Feb 6, 2007, http://animalethics
.blogspot.com/2007/02/animal-advocates-successes-have-factory.html
4. If you are trying to lose weight, it’s important that you not skip meals.
If you skip meals, you’re likely to experience hunger and food cravings
later, making it harder for you to stick to your diet. Instead of skipping
meals to control your calorie intake, eat appropriately sized meals on a
regular basis.
Adapted from: Kandeel Judge, Maxine Barish-Wreden, and Karen K. Brees,
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Secrets of Longevity (New York:
Penguin, 2008), 80
5. We can all agree that the defendant bought the murder weapon earlier
that night. The pawn shop owner saw him buy it, and his friends saw
him carrying it. So how does that switchblade end up in the old man’s
chest if the boy didn’t kill him? Remember that imaginative little fable
that the boy told? He claims that the knife fell through a hole in his
pocket on his way to the movie theater. You don’t really believe that,
do you? The boy’s a murderer, plain and simple.
Adapted from: 12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet (Los Angeles:
United Artist, 1957)
{30} 6. Seriously? You’re going to try to murder a sweet, gentle, leafeating, doe-eyed deer, and you’re worried about what kind of pants
you’re going to wear? Imagine you’re a deer. You’re prancing around
the forest. You’re thirsty, so you stop at a clear, gently gurgling stream
to take a nice, refreshing drink and—BAM! A bullet blows your head
wide open, splattering bloodied bits of brains all over the place. Now,
let me ask you: Are you going to care what kind of pants the jerk who
shot you is wearing? No! It doesn’t matter what kind of pants you
wear!
Adapted from: My Cousin Vinny, directed by Jonathan Lynn (Los Angeles:
Twentieth Century Fox, 1992)
52
7. Instead of boring you with the details of the new and innovative
accomplishments that I intend to achieve while I have the honor and
privilege of serving as your class president, let me just say that when
you vote for me, you won’t just be voting for Tracy Flick. You’ll be
voting to make this school a better place for you, for me, and for all of
our other wonderful classmates. That’s why you should vote for me as
your next student body president.
Adapted from: Election, directed by Alexander Payne (Los Angeles:
Paramount Pictures, 1999)
8. Some members of Congress don’t want to raise the federal debt
ceiling. They need to understand what that would mean for the
economy. It would mean a bigger economic crisis than we saw in
2008. It would lead the U.S. government to default on its financial
obligations—the first default anywhere to be caused purely by insanity.
Adapted from: “This Week with Christiane Amanpour,” ABC, Jan 2, 2011, http://
abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-white-house-adviser-austan
-goolsbee/story?id=12522822
For exercises 9 and 10, find two examples of loaded language in the
media, online, in conversations with friends or family, or anywhere else
you can find it. Print, copy, or write down your examples. Identify the
loaded words or expressions in each example, explain why they’re loaded,
and suggest more neutral substitutes.
Model responses for odd-numbered exercises can be found on page
299.
{31} Need more practice? Find online news sites that allow comments on
their news stories. Look for instances of loaded language in the comments
on that site. See if you can tell which comments are expressing substantive
arguments and which are just spouting emotionally loaded language. For
the comments that are expressing arguments, try to find more neutral ways
to say the same thing.
Rule 6: Use consistent terms
53
Short arguments normally have a single theme or thread. They carry one
idea through several steps. Therefore, couch that idea in clear and
carefully chosen terms, and mark each new step by using those very
same terms again.
NO:
When you learn about other cultures, you start to realize the
variety of human customs. This new understanding of the
diversity of social practices may give you a new appreciation of
other ways of life. Therefore, studying anthropology tends to
make you more tolerant.
YES:
When you learn about other cultures, you start to realize the
variety of human customs. When you start to realize the variety
of human customs, you tend to become more tolerant. Therefore,
when you learn about other cultures, you tend to become more
tolerant.
The “Yes” version might not be stylish, but it is crystal clear, whereas
the “No” version hardly seems like the same argument. One simple
feature makes the difference: the “Yes” argument repeats its key terms,
while the “No” version uses a new phrase for each key idea every time
the idea recurs. For example, “learning about other cultures” is
redescribed in the “No” version’s conclusion as “studying
anthropology.” The result is that the connection between premises and
conclusion is lost in the underbrush. It’s interesting underbrush, maybe,
but you are still liable to get stuck in it.
Re-using the same key phrases can feel repetitive, of course, so you
may be tempted to reach for your thesaurus. Don’t go there! The logic
depends on clear connections between premises and between premises
and conclusion. It remains essential to use a consistent term for each
idea. If you are concerned about style—as sometimes you should be, of
course—then go for the tightest argument, not the most flowery.
{32} MOST CONCISE:
When you learn about other cultures, you start to realize the
variety of human customs, a realization that in turn tends to
make you more tolerant.
54
You can talk about studying anthropology and the like, if you wish, as
you explain each premise in turn.
Be sure, of course, to use your terms in the same sense: it may be
misleading or confusing to switch their meanings mid-stream! (See the
fallacy of equivocation in Appendix I.)
CHAPTER EXERCISES
Exercise Set 1.7: Evaluating letters to the editor
Objective: To give you practice applying Rules 1–6.
Instructions: The following arguments are adapted from letters to the
editor in various newspapers and magazines. State how well each
argument follows each of the rules presented in this chapter.
Tips for success: For each argument, proceed through this chapter’s rules
systematically. Think of each rule as asking a question about the argument:
Does the argument make clear what the conclusion of the argument is
(Rule 1)? Does it present ideas in a natural order (Rule 2)? Are the
premises reliable (Rule 3)? Could the argument be clearer or more concise
(Rule 4)? If so, which words or expressions are unclear? What might the
author have said instead? Does the argument use loaded language (Rule
5)? If so, which words or expressions are loaded? Can you suggest a more
neutral substitute? Does the author confuse the argument by using more
than one term for the same idea (Rule 6)? If so, identify the inconsistent
terminology and suggest one term that the author might use throughout the
argument.
Be as specific as possible in explaining the ways in which the argument
does or does not follow each rule. If you think some of the premises are
unreliable, say which premises those are. Explain why those premises are
unreliable. If the argument is unclear or wordy, say which words or
expressions could be improved. If the argument uses loaded language, say
which terms are loaded and briefly explain why they’re loaded. You might
even {33} suggest a more neutral substitute. Likewise, if the author would
be better off sticking to a single, consistent term for some idea, point out
55
exactly what terms he or she uses and suggest the best one to use.
Sample
Training poor farmers in developing countries how to use
organic farming practices is an effective way to fight poverty.
One organization, Harambee-Kenya, has trained hundreds of
farmers to use natural farming methods, such as drip irrigation
using buckets. These farmers have gone from food shortages to
food security and even food surpluses. Some are using the cash
they earn by selling their excess agricultural output to finance
their children’s medical and educational expenses.
Adapted from: Carol Carper, letter to the editor, Christian Science
Monitor, Jul 19, 2010, http://www.
csmonitor.com/Commentary/Letters-to-the-Editor/2010/0728/
Letters-to-the-Editor-Weekly-Issue-of-July-19-2010
This letter does a good job with Rule 1: The conclusion of the
argument is clearly stated in the first sentence. The letter then
presents the premises in a natural, understandable order (Rule 2).
The premises are not yet known to be reliable, though (Rule 3). It
would be better if the author cited a source where we could verify her
claims about the success of Harambee-Kenya’s program, since that is
not part of most Americans’ experience (and her audience consists of
Americans). Most of the letter does a good job with Rule 4, although
the last sentence could be simplified to something like: “Some are
using the cash they earn by selling their extra food to pay for their
children’s medical and school fees.” The letter does not use loaded
language (Rule 5). It has a few problems following Rule 6: it uses
“organic” in the first sentence and “natural” in the second, and it
uses “fight poverty” in the first sentence but much more elaborate
phrases and ideas in the last two.
Notice that this response addresses each rule. It also justifies most of its
claims about how well the argument follows each rule. For example,
instead of just saying, “The argument does not follow Rule 3,” it
explains why the premises are not reliable. Furthermore, it offers a
nuanced evaluation with respect to various rules. For instance,
instance of saying, “The argument does not follow Rule 4,” this
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response acknowledges that the argument follows Rule 4 for the most
part, but points out a specific sentence that could be more concrete and
concise.
{34} 1. Marijuana edibles, like marijuana-infused gummy bears, ought to
be sold and kept in childproof packaging. Adults should think of
marijuana edibles as like a loaded gun: Both are dangerous to children.
Just as responsible gun owners keep their guns locked away in a gun
safe, responsible purchasers of marijuana edibles ought to keep them
locked up where kids can’t get to them.
Adapted from: Steve Schweitzberger, letter to the editor, Denver Post, Nov 30,
2014,
http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2014/11/30/
safety-marijuana-edibles-2-letters/34973/
2. The conquest of England by French-speaking Normans in 1066
completely transformed the English language. Consider Beowulf,
written before the conquest, and Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales,
written a few centuries after the conquest. Well-educated modern
English speakers could understand The Canterbury Tales without too
much difficulty, but they probably couldn’t understand a single line of
Beowulf, which was written in Old English.
Adapted from: Robert Hellam, letter to the editor, The Economist, Jun 10, 2010
3. Politicians today are in love with 30-second sound bites. They run
screaming from anything requiring thoughtful, intelligent, or honest
discussion. We ought to be ashamed of the level of discourse in our
politics. Instead of actual debate, we get nothing but innuendo and
idiocy.
Adapted from: Margot LeRoy, letter to the editor, USA Today, Oct 31, 2010
4. Science, technology, engineering, and math education in the United
States is in a crisis. Incorporating engineering into the curriculum can
improve learning outcomes in technical fields: Engineering makes
abstract lessons about science and math more engaging. Including
engineering activities also helps improve students’ imaginations.
Adapted from: Thomas Loughlin, letter to the editor, New York Times, Oct 29,
2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/opinion/l29science.html
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5. It usually takes at least 25 years for important scientific discoveries to
translate into big changes in health care. This was the case {35} for
vaccinations, antibiotics, open-heart surgery, chemotherapy, and organ
transplants. Thus, it’s no surprise that the Human Genome Project,
which cataloged human DNA, did not immediately result in the
incredible medical advance...
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