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The ability to think critically is an important basic skill. We are faced with pleas to
change our minds, our beliefs, our ways of doing things and even how we spend our
time and our money. We are faced with thousands of persuasive appeals daily. Every
commercial we see and hear on television, radio, and the Internet is a persuasive
appeal. To avoid being overwhelmed, taken advantage of, and making critical errors in
judgment, we must develop our skills and abilities to analyze the ideas and requests of
others and evaluate the potential outcomes for us.
Whether we are using these skills and abilities to advance a claim of our own to get
others to see our way of thinking or to make an assessment of the appeals of others, we
must develop a critical spirit and keen mind. WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO
CONSTRUCT ARGUMENTS THAT ARE SOUND AND BASED ON RATIONAL
THOUGHTS AND SOUND DATA.
Arguments are developed around three elements-- the Claim or Proposition, the
Evidence, and the Reasoning Pattern, or Warrant.
Claims or Propositions
Speeches that seek to persuade an audience are usually based on one of three
claims or propositions.
CLAIMS OF VALUE-- Asserts that something is good or bad, just or unjust, fair
or unfair. Often has a moral value.
The critical listener will ask these questions.
1. By what standards are these judgments being made?
2. How does this item measure up to the accepted standards?
CLAIMS OF POLICY-- Asserts that the recommended course of action should or
should not be approved.
The critical listener will ask these four questions.
1. Is there a need for this policy or course of action?
2. Is the proposal practical or practicable?
3. Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages?
4. Is this the best possible solution to the problem?
Evidence
There are many types of evidence. When choosing the evidence to support a
specific claim, the speaker should determine what type of evidence will the
audience demand and what specific evidence will generate the desired response.
Some of the best types of evidence are: Facts (as opposed to opinions and
beliefs), Statistics, Comparisons and Contrasts, Testimony on this subject (from
authorities on the subject or witnesses), Examples both actual and hypothetical
and Cause to Effect. The speaker's reputation, goodwill, and knowledge are also
evidence in many cases. In all cases evidence should come from reputable,
recent and reliable sources.
Patterns of Reasoning
The ability to reason accurately from the evidence is probably the most important
single characteristic of an effective speaker. Reasoning has been described as
the detection of relationships. Speakers reason from examples, generalization,
observation, parallel case or causal relation. Also the speaker's ethos, logos, and
pathos are all part of reasoning in argumentation. Four common types of
reasoning are:
1. Inductive reasoning: The thought process in which reasoning moves from the
specific to the general. If evidence indicates that this case, this case, and this
case are true, you reason that in consequence the general principle is true.
However, the validity of inductive reasoning requires checking. Since each
president (each case) of the United States has been a man, does the next
president have to be a man?
2. Deductive reasoning: The thought process in which reasoning moves from
the general to the specific. Aristotle invented the syllogism to express and to test
deductive reasoning. In contemporary discourse, the enthymeme is more likely
to be the basis of the deductive argument. If the general principle is true and
accepted, then is your specific case relevant to the general principle? If so the
argument is valid. However, the validity of the argument must be tested to assure
that the specific case is related to the general principle in significant ways.