Symbolic and Critical Reasoning - IAP 101

How Good Is the Evidence Part 1

The Critical Questions!!!

1. What are the Issue and the Conclusion? 2. What are the Reasons? 3. What Words or Phrases are Ambiguous? 4. What are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions? 5. What are the Descriptive Assumptions? 6. Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning? 7. How Good is the Evidence?

Fallacies List
Ad Hominem Slippery slope Searching for a perfect solution Equivocation Appeal to Popularity Appeal to Questionable Authority Appeal to Emotions Straw Person Either-Or (False Dilemma) Wishful Thinking Explaining by Naming Glittering Generality Red Herring Begging the Question (Circular Reasoning)

If I say... Global warming is a good thing or War is never the best option for this world or Playing video games increases hand-eye coordination These are Factual Claims To be a critical thinker you must ask Why should I believe it?

After you ask Why should I believe it? you check to see if the reasons match the conclusion. War is never the best option for the world because political scientist Dr. John Yoder says so.

Frequent use of headphones may cause hearing loss.Researchers studied the frequency and duration of headphone use among 251 college students and found that 49% of the students showed evidence of hearing impairment. Frequent use of headphones may cause hearing loss. Researchers studied the frequency and duration of headphone use among 251 college students and found that 49% of the students showed evidence of hearing impairment. Does this match?

How Good is the Evidence?

What is Evidence?
Evidence: Explicit information shared by the communicator that is used to back up or to justify the dependability of a factual claim. Intuition, Personal Experience, Personal Testimonials and Authority

Intuition: Knowledge that comes from immediately just knowing. There is no process or justification. It is your gut feelings or hunches. Advantages: 1. Very quick. 2. Personal. Disadvantages: 1. Others have no way to judge its dependability. 2. It ignores relevant evidence. 3. Intuition can often be wrong. 4. It can have prejudice or bias. Example: You should not vote for PM Gonzalez because I just have a bad feeling about him.

Intuition

Personal Experience
Personal Experience: Knowledge that comes from
one's past experience. situation.

Advantages: 1. Can be good for a specific person or Disadvantages: 1. It generalizes people and
situations instead of judging each on a personal basis. of chocolate cake, so I think that anyone who is depressed just needs to eat more chocolate cake.

Example: I always feel better after having a big slice

Personal Testimonials
Personal Testimonials: Persuasive appeals from one's personal experience. Advantages: 1. Can be good for a specific person or situation. Disadvantages: 1. selectivity people select information that confirms their beliefs and ignore information that doesn't confirm their beliefs. 2. Personal interest 3. The Human Factor We want to believe honest and enthusiastic people more than graphs or statistics. Example

Appeals to Authority
Authority: A source outside of ourselves that gives us information. Advantages: 1. Efficient. 2. Provides inaccessible information. 3. Provides context past, present, future. Disadvantages: 1. Knowledge from an authority is only as good/reliable as the source. 2. Authority can be confused with power. 3. suspension of one's judgment.

In Class Reflection
Passage 3, page 115 What is the conclusion? What are the reasons? What kind of evidence is used? How good is the evidence?

Homework
Read Chapter 9 of Asking the Right Questions.