Transcript erickjramirez.weebly.com
Basic Terms for Arguments
Introductions...
Claims
Issues
Premises
Conclusions
Arguments
For Wed: Ch.1 pages 17-24
Reminder
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Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking distinguishes between at least two kinds of thinking: Thinking: making claims, accepting claims, providing arguments and making decisions
Critical
Thinking: a process where we
evaluate
the claims we make, the claims we accept, the arguments we provide, etc. When we think critically we want to make sure that we provide
good
arguments and avoid accepting arguments because of rhetorical tricks and cognitive biases instead of the merits of the argument itself
Claims
Claims are the most basic components of all arguments and it's important to get a handle on the differences between claims and non-claims and between different
kinds
of claims. Claims are
propositional
. That means that in order for something to BE a claim it must be able to be
TRUE or FALSE.
For our purposes all sentences with propositional structure are claims: beliefs, statements, opinions, judgments, etc.
But is it a claim?
All critical thinking courses are easy to pass if you do all the reading.
What do you think? Is this a claim?
But is it a claim?
“All critical thinking courses are easy to pass if you do all the reading.” -YES. This is a claim because it must be either true or false. What about the following example: “
Leave me alone
!” Is that a claim or is it something else?
But is it a claim?
“
Leave me alone!
” This is NOT a claim. Why not? The sentence is not a proposition, it can be neither true nor false. This is an example of an
imperative
sentence.
An imperative sentence is a command. Commands can be obeyed or disobeyed but they cannot be true or false and hence declarative sentences are not claims.
But is it a claim?
How about the following examples? Are all moral judgments purely subjective? Is getting a college degree the best way to get a good paying job? If I want to get an A in this course how well do I have to do on the midterms? Which of these, if any, are claims?
But is it a claim?
None of the previous examples are claims. Questions are not propositional sentences, they are instead
interrogative
sentences.
An interrogative sentence is neither true nor false. Questions demand answers. It makes little sense to declare a question 'true' or 'false.' Questions however are
Issues.
an issue.
Every argument is an attempt to
settle
An
answer
to a question/issue therefore IS a claim. “Yes, morality is subjective.” Is something that can be true or false.
But is it a claim?
How about this last set of examples?
-It is impossible for anything to travel faster than light in my opinion.
-I really want you to leave me alone. -Gelato is way better than regular ice cream -The Eurozone economy is larger than the United States economy
Types of Claims
In the book you get introduced to two different kinds of claims: objective and subjective. An objective claim is a claim whose truth is independent of our thoughts or opinions.
A subjective claim is a claim whose truth is dependent on our thoughts or opinions.
Types of Claims
Here are a few more distinctions between types of claims: Claims of fact: claims about the way the world is -Water boils at 212 degrees F -Most people are subject to framing effects Claims of value: claims about what is good or bad or better or worse -It is better to be safe than sorry -Murder is wrong Claims of policy: claims about how the world
should
be -We really should have universalized healthcare
Types of Claims
The importance of these distinctions: A claim of fact can be objective or subjective. -The claim that “water boils at 212 degrees F” is independent of our thoughts or beliefs or judgments -The claim that “most of us fall prey to framing effects” is dependent in a strong way on our thoughts or beliefs or judgments
Types of Claims
Similarly, claims of value can be objective or subjective.
-The claim that “it is better to be safe than sorry” might be dependent on your thoughts or beliefs or judgments -Many philosophers, moral realists, argue however that the claim that “murder is wrong” is independent of our thoughts or beliefs or judgments.
-These philosophers argue that murder would be wrong even if you thought that it wasn't or even if we all thought that it wasn't.
Types of Claims
Claims of policy can be a mix of objective & subjective value claims What makes a claim of policy a
claim of policy normative
and
social
is that it is both A
normative
claim is just a claim that we
ought
to do something A
social
claim is a claim that it meant to apply to all of us So claims of policy tell us that we should do something about the world: - “We need to stop global warming” or “A Flat tax rate is the only fair tax rate”
From Claims to Arguments
Now that we have a handle on claims we can get an easy handle on arguments. Arguments are
not
disagreements. We do tend to call disagreements arguments but in this course we will reserve the term for something more specific than this.
Argument
: a set of claims meant to establish the truth of another claim. This last claim addresses an issue.
Arguments
Argument
: a set of claims meant to establish the truth of another claim. This last claim addresses an issue. Arguments therefore have two parts: 1. Premises -The premises of an argument are the claims that are meant to function as
evidence
2. Conclusion -The conclusion is the claim that the evidence is meant to show us is true
Is it an Argument?
Federer is unlikely to win the U.S. Open this year. He has a nagging leg injury, plus he just doesn't seem to have the drive he once had.* Is this an argument? If it is then identify the premises and conclusion. If it is not, why not?
*Moore, Brooke and Richard Parker. 2012.
Critical Thinking
, 10 th ed. : pp. 13
Is it an Argument?
Some people argue that morality is objective and independent of our judgments or opinions. Other people argue the opposite and claim that morality is entirely dependent on social agreements. This latter group are called moral subjectivists. I think that the second group of people are right. Is this an argument? If it is then identify the premises and conclusion. If it is not, why not?