critical thinking_arguments and images

8/18/2019 Critical Thinking_Arguments and Images

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ARGUMENTS

CRITICAL THINKING

SPRING 2016


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The art of getting what you want

PERSUASION

• by giving reasons (that is, by

argument) (logos)

• by appealing to the emotions

(pathos)

• By gaining trust and

credibility (ethos)

• by using torture (negative

sanctions) or other forms of

leverage


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“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little.”

ARGUMENTS

• Offers statements as reasons

for other statements

• Appeals to reason:

• Physical evidence;

• The testimony of experts;

• Common sense; and

• Probability.


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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

REASONING VS. RATIONALISATION

I believe I have omitted mentioning that in my first voyage from Boston, being

becalmed off Block Island, our people set about catching cod and hauled up a great

many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating animal food, and on this

occasion, I considered with my master Tryon the taking of every fish as a kind of

unprovoked murder, since none of them had or ever could do us any injury that might justify the slaughter. All this seemed very reasonable. But I had formerly been a great

lover of fish, and when this came hot out of the frying pan, it smelt admirably well. I

balanced some time between principle and inclination, till I recollected that when the

fish were opened I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs. Then thought I, if you

eat one another, I don’t see why we mayn’t eat you. So I dined upon cod very heartily

and continued to eat with other people, returning only now and then occasionally to avegetable diet. So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it

enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.


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DEFINITION

PROCEDURES

• Definition by synonym

• Definition by example

•

Definition by stipulation

• Statement of necessary and

sufficient conditions


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DEFINITION

• If there’s anything everyoneis against in these electiontimes, it’s “identity

politics,”a phrase that

covers a multitude of sins.

Let me start with a

definition. (It may not be

yours, but it will at leastallow the discussion to be

framed.) You’re practicing

identity politics when you

vote for or against someone

because of his or her skin

color, ethnicity, religion,gender, sexual orientation,

or any other marker that

leads you to say yes or not

independently of a

candidates’ ideas or

policies.

“Pornography, simply stated, is obscenity.”

“Pornography is easily seen in D.H. Lawrence’sLady Chatterly’s Lover in the scene where . . .”

“For the purposes of this essay, pornography refersto . . .”

“Something can be called pornography if and onlyif it presents sexually stimulating material without

offering anything of redeeming social value.”


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ASSUMPTIONS

PROCEDURES

• Assumptions are usually

unstated

• Assumptions are used to

move the argument frompoint A to point B

• Assumptions can be

unexamined beliefs

• Many assumptions areculturally shared


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Weak arguments are dangerous


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PREMISES AND SYLLOGISMS

PROCEDURES

• Premises are stated

assumptions

• They are used as reasons in

an argument

• They are set down before the

beginning of an argument

• The joining of two premises

to lead to a third statement(or conclusion) is a syllogism


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EXAMPLE

PREMISE AND SYLLOGISM

• Premise 1:

• Premise 2:

•

Conclusion:


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DEDUCTION

PREMISE AND SYLLOGISM

• Premise 1: All women are

incapable

• Premise 2: Sushil Koirala is

incapable

• Conclusion: Therefore, Sushil

Koirala is a woman.

• Deduction moves from a

general premise (supportedby facts) to a particular claim.


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DEDUCTION

PROCEDURES


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SOUND ARGUMENTS

PROCEDURES

• All the premises must be true

• The syllogism must be valid

• If the premises are true and

the conclusion is valid, the

argument must be sound.

All terrorists seek publicity for their violent acts.

John Doe seeks publicity for his violent acts.

Therefore, John Doe is a terrorist.

All Americans prefer vanilla ice cream to other flavors.

Tiger Woods is an American.

Therefore, Tiger Woods prefers vanilla ice cream to other flavors.


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INDUCTION

PROCEDURES

• Induction uses information

about observed cases to reach

a conclusion about

unobserved cases

• Several specific facts lead to a

general conclusion.

• Moves from particular grounds

to the general (claim).

• Therefore, much depends on

the size and the quality of the

sample.


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EVIDENCE

PROCEDURES

• Different disciplines use

different kinds of evidence

• In literary studies, the texts

are usually the chiefevidence.

• In the social sciences, field

research (interviews, surveys)

usually provides evidence.

• In the sciences, reports of

experiments are the usual

evidence.

• Experimentation

• Authoritative testimony

• Statistics

• Examples:• Real events• Invented instances

• Analogy


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ANALOGICAL REASONING

PROCEDURES

• An analogy asserts that

things that are alike in some

ways are alike in yet another

way.

• They can make complex

issues simple

• Can be helpful in developing

our thoughts


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NON-RATIONAL APPEALS

• Satire, irony, sarcasm, humor

are also means of irrational

but effective persuasion

• Emotional appeals


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IMAGES

AS ARGUMENTS

CRITICAL THINKING

SPRING 2016


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PHOTOGRAPHS

IMAGES AS ARGUMENTS


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WHAT’S IN A PICTURE?

PHOTOGRAPHS


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WHAT’S IN A PICTURE?

PHOTOGRAPHS

• Who or what do you

see?

• When was this

photograph taken

— what is

happening in the

photograph?

• Where was this

photograph taken?• Why• elements• emphasis/focus• moment• angle


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PHOTOGRAPHER’S DECISIONS

PHOTOGRAPHS

• What is the

photograph’s

composition?

•

What moment in timedoes the photograph

capture?

• What is the setting of

this photograph?

• What is the focal point

of the photograph?


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THE VIEWER’S DECISIONS

PHOTOGRAPHS


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ADVERTISEMENTS

IMAGES AS ARGUMENTS


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PERSUASIVE STRATEGY

ADVERTISEMENTS

• Form, design

• Content

• Argument

• Purpose

• Effect


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CARTOONS

IMAGES AS ARGUMENTS


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