6060--207207• Dr. P. Boulos• Make sure you are properly registered• Course web page : www.uwindsor.ca/boulos or through

Class Notes link from University Page• Assignment 1 is posted• Today: issues, conclusions, and reason!

Assignment #1Assignment #1• Question 1. Download from the Internet four (4) letters

to the editor in some recent editions of a local newspaper. For each of these short letters, do the writers engage in rational argument analysis, or do they use argument stoppers and other evasions?

•• Question 2. For each of the examples you collected in

Question 1 state the issue and the conclusion. If the author did not engage in a rational argument, state what you would do to the piece to change it into a rational argument.

Question 3. Write a short letter to the editor on one of the following topics:

1.Property value assessments.2.University tuition rates.3.Gasoline prices.

On your letter, underline your conclusion and indicate the issue.

Reasoning:Reasoning:• Reasoning is basically the process of "drawing"

conclusions. (1) investigate or inquire or (2) deliberate. (1) is problem solving and (2) is decision making.

Issues and Conclusions????Issues and Conclusions????• Issues motivate discussions and reasoned argument.

• Think of an argument as a rational means of persuasion in which the conclusion is the claim which the author hopes you will accept.

• The conclusion, then, is the claim that answers the issue!

Kinds of Issues:Kinds of Issues:• Issues are questions or “whether or nots”1. Descriptive issues: accuracy of descriptions of the

past, present, or future2. Prescriptive issues: what we SHOULD/OUGHT do or

what is right/wrong, good/bad ..

How to find the conclusion:How to find the conclusion:1. The conclusion should answer the issue, so ask what

the issue is.2. Look for indicator words (list on page 20)3. Likely locations – King-Ace4. Eliminate what it is not: examples, stats, defs, bkgd

info, evidence5. And so …? And therefore …?

Identify the issue and conclusion in Identify the issue and conclusion in each of the following paragraphs.each of the following paragraphs.

1. Corporate managers are always interested in techniques for increasing the productivity of their workers. One interesting suggestion made by productivity consultants is to pipe music into the work area. Several recent studies have explored the extent to which different types of music affect workers' output. The primary hypothesis examined in the studies was that soft-rock music would prove the greatest aid to productivity. The research has found almost universally that country and western music is the greatest inducement to efficiency. Therefore, corporate officials should seriously consider playing country and western music as a stimulus to worker productivity.

2. For a better college learning environment, all classes should begin in the afternoon. Most students try to schedule afternoon or evening classes anyway; you rarely hear of a student who is upset at being closed out of the 8 a.m. section of a class. Also, experts say that students who are alert learn more and learn more quickly. For example, at Southern State University, one group of students took an 8 a.m. psychology course from Dr. Miller while another group took the same course from Dr. Miller at 2 p.m. The students in the afternoon course had slightly higher averages than those in the morning class. Changing the starting time for classes at universities to the afternoon will help students.

3. People suffering from mental illness are nearly twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as people with no mental illness, according to a new study by Harvard Medical School researchers. The researchers found that people with diagnosable mental illness comprise nearly 45 percent of the total U.S. tobacco market. The study suggests that people with mental illness often use the nicotine from cigarettes to enhance their mood, relieve anxiety and cope with stress.

4. A recent court case in Hawaii involved the question of the legality of same-sex marriages. Because the majority of the United States is conservative, most people are probably against same-sex marriages. While most people consider the issue to be a clash ofvalues, the question is really based on financial problems. Same-sex couples face many financial problems that heterosexual couples do not face. For example, if a married person dies without a will, the property automatically transfers to the surviving spouse. However, same-sex couples must draft wills that leave their property to their partner. The cost of drafting these wills can range from $5,000 to $30,000. This cost is simply unfair to same-sex couples. Furthermore, health insurance for a heterosexual partner is usually offered through an employer. However, same-sex partners are not covered through employer insurance.

Although there are many financial biases against same-sex couples, these people face the problems because of their love for one another. In a country in which one out of every two new marriages ends in a divorce, we must not discriminate against those who practice love.

More examples More examples ……..#1. If a car has reliable brakes, it has brakes that work

in wet weather. The brakes on my car don't work very well in wet weather. You can see that my car does not have reliable brakes.

Standardization:Standardization:• (1) If a car has reliable brakes then its brakes work well

in wet weather.• (2) My car does not have brakes that work well in wet

weather.• Therefore,• (3) My car does not have reliable brakes.

#2. Weapons tend to make people fearful and distrustful. Fear and distrust often lead to hostility. Therefore, building up weapons is likely to cause hostility between nations.

Standardization:Standardization:• (1) Weapons tend to make people fearful and

distrustful.• (2) Fear and distrust often lead to hostility.• Therefore,• (3) Building up weapons is likely to cause hostility

between nations.

• Either the butler committed the murder or the judge committed the murder. Since the butler was passionately in love with the victim, it was not he who committed the murder. Therefore, the judge committed the murder.

Standardization:Standardization:• (1) The butler was passionately in love with the victim.• Thus,• (2) It was not the butler who committed the murder.• (3) Either the butler committed the murder or the judge

committed the murder.• Therefore,• (4) The judge committed the murder.

S1S1 Thanksgiving is always the second Monday of October.Thanksgiving is always the second Monday of October.S2S2 The second Monday of October this year is the 14The second Monday of October this year is the 14thth..

• Which of the following may be correctly inferred from the preceding statements:

1. Thanksgiving is later this year than last.2. Thanksgiving is on October 14th this year.3. The first Monday of October this year is the 8th.

S1S1 Thanksgiving is always the first Monday of October.Thanksgiving is always the first Monday of October.S2S2 The second Monday of October this year is the 14The second Monday of October this year is the 14thth..

• Which of the following may be correctly inferred from the preceding statements:

1. Thanksgiving is on October 14th this year.2. Thanksgiving is on October 7th this year.3. October 10th falls on a Monday this year.

Conclusion:Conclusion:My car needs a tuneMy car needs a tune--up.up.

A. My car doesn’t start easily.B. My car stalls when I stop at red lights.

• Which of the following should be added to A and B to enhance thesupport they give to the conclusion?

1. My car is ten years old.2. My car didn’t give me trouble last year.3. Stalling and not starting easily are signs a tune-up is needed.4. I get a tune-up on a regular basis.

Sesame Street:Sesame Street:Conclusion: The alarm clock may break again if it dropped.1. I dropped that alarm clock once already and it broke.2. I had it fixed and it works now.3. It is a cheap alarm clock.4. The warranty on the clock has expired.

Conclusion: Employment equity for women need not be unfair to meConclusion: Employment equity for women need not be unfair to men.n.

1. Employment equity for women is unfair to men only if it results in fewer opportunities for men than they would get if the society had a totally fair distribution of opportunities between the sexes.

2. Men may be complaining needlessly.3. Some employment equity programs for women provide no more

opportunities for women than would be available to them in a society with fair opportunities.