CMS1008 Clear Thinking and Argument

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CMS1008 Clear Thinking and Argument
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This Weeks Objectives

• Appreciate the importance of using logical and
  sound arguments in day-to-day communication
• Determine what constitutes an argument and how to
  identify its structure and validity
• Judge the quality/strength of an argument
• Identify, explain and counter fallacies used in
  arguments
• Apply theory to practice by analysing specific
  arguments
• Stop yourself from losing 20 marks in assignment 3

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Logical Thinking Test
The following short quiz consists of 4 questions
and tells whether you are qualified to be a
"professional".  
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Question Number 1 How do you put a giraffe into a
refrigerator?
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The correct answer is   Open the refrigerator,
put in the giraffe and close the door.   This
question tests whether you tend to do simple
things in an overly complicated way.
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Question Number 2 How do you put an elephant into
a refrigerator?
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Wrong Answer Open the refrigerator, put in the
elephant and close the refrigerator. Correct
Answer Open the refrigerator, take out the
giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.
This tests your ability to think through the
repercussions of your actions.
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Question Number 3 The Lion King is hosting an
animal conference. All the animals attend except
one. Which animal does not attend?
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Correct Answer The Elephant. The Elephant is
in the refrigerator. Remember? This tests
your memory.
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OK, even if you did not answer the first three
questions correctly, you still have one more
chance to show your abilities.
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Question Number 4 There is a river you must
cross. But crocodiles inhabit it.   How do you
manage it?
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Correct Answer You swim across. Why? All the
Crocodiles are attending the Animal Conference.
This tests whether you learn quickly
from your mistakes.
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According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide,
around 90 of the professionals they tested got
all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got
several correct answers. Anderson Consulting
says this conclusively disproves the theory that
most professionals have the brains of a four year
old.
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Activity.. in pairs

• Discuss 2 or 3 times when someone tried to
  persuade you to do something or think in a
  certain way
• Now discuss 2 or 3 occasions where you tried to
  persuade someone to do something or think in a
  certain way
• (Think of family, friends, tutors etc)

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Definition of an argument identifying its
structure and validity

• What is an argument? (see p.146, Tyler et al.
  2002)
• An argument is a persuasive device where one or
  more statements (called premises) support a
  conclusion
• Cue words for premises include words such as
  because. since, due to the fact that, if,
  given that and in view of
• Cue words for conclusions include hence,
  thus, therefore, so, consequently and it
  follows that

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Activity

• Provide a statement
• Turn it into an argument by adding
• either a conclusion
• or a premise

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Identifying the quality (validity) of the argument

• Is there a problem in the argument?
• These problems are called fallacies
• A fallacy is simply a weakness or flaw in an
  argument that affects its logic.
• It may or may not affect its ability to persuade,
  depending upon whether the person being
  persuaded is aware of these fallacies or not.

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How to find a fallacy!

• It could be either
• In the premise or
• In the relationship between the premise and the
  conclusion
• Either
• Relate to a flaw in the reasoning or logic or
• Try to either undermine or sidestep reason and
  logic by appealing to the heart
• See Tyler et al. (2002, pp. 150-155) for examples
  of fallacies

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Using faulty reason and logic to persuade you!

• Faulty generalisation a generalisation based on
  insufficient evidence or developed from an
  unrepresentative sample.
• University students drink a lot of beer so they
  must have too much spare time and money
• We had Jill for a class so all Arts lecturers
  must be crazy
• Every body who lives in Toowoomba is boring
• Nursing cultures are too regimented

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False analogy

• Tries to compare two things/situations which do
  not have enough in common
• The university, with its small rooms and long
  corridors, is like a prison
• Our love is like a beautiful red rose - sweet
  and alive
• Not supporting America in going to war with Iraq
  is like siding with Saddam Hussein
• Communicating with other cultures is like
  communicating blindfold.

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• False cause/effect relationships when the link
  between one event and another is not strong
  enough.
• Look for if then, therefore, because,
  since, as a result
• Since the mayor was elected crime has
  escalated.
• After she changed to Nike running shoes her
  academic record improved.
• She got better because she took vitamin c
  tablets.
• I have done a lot of work on this assignment and
  therefore it should get more marks.

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• False dilemma Where the argument is phrased an
  either /or situation and where there are in fact
  other alternatives.
• We can either agree to the unions demands or go
  out of business.
• Either you sleep with me or we are through (on
  an American soap).
• If I fail this course I will be thrown out of
  uni.
• If you value the ANZACs then you should agree
  that we should keep the flag.
• Either Santa is very quiet or he comes down the
  chimney when I am asleep.

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• Misuse of statistics
• Look for an numbers not supported by an in-text
  reference
• Fallacy of the small sample 80 of people
  agreed that Toowoomba needs a new pub. No. of
  respondents not given actual number 10.
• Fallacy of faulty comparison - There is more
  crime than 100 years ago. Official statistics
  prove this.
• Unknowable statistics 80 of all people in the
  1920s drank bootleg whisky..1,432,657 people
  were affected by the Chernobyle incident.
• Biased statistics 60 of all Australians agree
  that nurses should receive higher wages
  (collected on a current affairs ring in-poll)

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• Appeals to authority
• While an appeal to authority or to experts is a
  pivotal part of supporting your argument in
  university study you need to be sure that the
  experts/ authority quoted is an expert in the
  field and a reference is provided
• As one of our respected surgeons we welcome his
  arguments that the government should ban the new
  agricultural legislation
• My gran says that you should take this
  antibiotic to get better
• Brad Pitt drinks ecosoft so you should too
• Research says thatwithout an in-text reference
• Use of a general dictionary

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• Ambiguity
• Using vague or double meanings to obscure the
  meaning and change the argument
• Our dog is like one of the family. Which one?
• Sugar is an essential component of the human
  body therefore we should eat as much sugar as
  possible
• Not defining the essays key terms culture
  cultural awareness
• Begging the question
• This is a circular argument
• We can believe what the USQ Handbook says
  because it is the official publication of the
  university
• Rainy days are depressing as they can make you
  feel rather unhappy

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Fallacies which try to undermine or sidestep
reason and logic by appealing to the heart / to
the emotions

• Ad hominem Attacks against the person rather
  than addressing the issue. A personal attack that
  seeks to discredit the source of the argument by
  identifying personal shortcomings which are
  irrelevant to the issue
• Dont listen to that doctor, she is a cranky old
  fusspot!
• How can you have a personal opinion about
  abortion you are not a woman so this is a
  decision you will not have to make
• That patient is really plump and shouldnt be
  given priority treatment
• He cant stop smoking so he shouldnt be given a
  new heart

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• Appeal to pity
• An appeal to pathetic circumstances in an attempt
  to substitute feelings of sympathy and mercy for
  a cold weighting of merit.
• Letter about the old age pension signed by John
  Smith (War veteran)
• May I please have an assignment extension because
  Ive got 2 assignments and 3 exams due this week,
  my boy friend dumped me and my cat got sick
• Im sorry I havent marked your assignments but I
  was too stressed tired

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• Emotive language
• Where emotive language is used to provoke
  feelings, for example, fear, hate, shame etc to
  get you think with your heart not your head
• You cant even be bothered doing the dishes
• Think what would happen if nurses went on
  strike, patients would die, disease would spread,
  children would be left fatherless and motherless

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• Absolute terms
• Use of absolutes such as all always, hopeless,
  countless, vast, infinite, never, everybody, no
  one, every
• All students drink whisky
• Lecturers are always sensitive and kind
• Students are never helpful

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• Appeal to the masses an idea held by a majority
  of people, plays on the likes and dislikes of the
  audience you should think this way because
  everyone else does peer pressure Look for use
  of first person here we, our, rhetorical
  question
• All thinking Australians would agree that there
  is no need to change our flag
• All true Australians know that this is a great
  country
• As we all know communication is a great subject

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Impact on academic writing

• Use 3rd person
• It helps you be objective
• Avoid appeals to the masses
• Avoid emotive/creative language ideal, merely,
  even, of course, still, even, very, truth
• Helps you avoid emotive language
• Avoid absolute terms all, extremely, never,
  every, countless
• Helps you avoid an absolute fallacy
• Avoid qualifying words like adjectives and
  adverbs probably, perhaps, somewhat, seemingly
• Helps you avoid emotive terms

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• Never define key terms out of an ordinary
  dictionary
• Helps you avoid appeals to authority
• Never give a definition or say research says.
  without providing a reference
• Otherwise it will be an appeal to authority
• Giving statistics without an in-text reference
• Otherwise it will be an appeal to statistics
• Give a generalisation without an in-text
  reference
• Otherwise it will be a faulty generalisation
• In assignment 3 you will lose up to 20 marks
  altogether if your marker spots you using
  fallacies

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• Develop a repertoire of academic phrases
• According to, Jones (1999) found that,
  investigated, asserted, argued, claims,
  demonstrates, explores, presents the following
  case, reveals the importance of, testifies to,
  verifies, observes, discloses, examines,
  endorses, contends that, implies, indicates,
  justifies, regards, expands this concept further,
  comments on, shows that, affirms, challenges,
  questions the belief that,

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So now?

• You know
• What a strong academic argument looks like?
• What fallacies are?
• That we all use useless, awful fallacies
  everyday?
• How to avoid using fallacies when you write at
  university?
• How to look out for them when someone is trying
  to persuade you to think or do something
• How you can save yourself from losing 20 marks in
  assignment 3