arguments (part 1)
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Module 3 - Arguments (Part 1)TRANSCRIPT
All-Star Wrestling = Real?All-Star Wrestling = Real?
Is All-Star Wrestling real?
Do you watch Wrestling?
Do you like Wrestling?Why do you like
Wrestling?
Do You Agree? Why?Do You Agree? Why?
The National Education Blueprint is aimed at bringing about a major change in the education system. Below we compare the characteristics of a student today and what the blueprint promises in 2010 (NST, 18/01-2007).
The Student in 2007 The Student in 2010
Lacks confidence Self-confident
Lacks communication skills Able to communicate well
Lacks leadership skills Has leadership skills
May not be able to speak proper English Able to speak good English
Too dependent on tuition Won’t be dependent on tuition
Does not mix freely with students of other races Mixes freely with students of other races
Studies in a very exam-oriented environment Studies in an environment that is not too exam-oriented
Not IT-savvy Is IT-savvy
Not creative and innovative Is creative and innovative
May not take part in co-curricular activities Takes part in more co-curricular activities
May not know how to read, write and count Has no problems with reading, writing orcounting
Is not very marketable More marketable
You must unlearn
what you have
learned.
Module 3: Arguments - Part 1 (of 3)Module 3: Arguments - Part 1 (of 3)
1. Distinguishing Fact & Opinion
7. Evaluating Arguments
2. What is an Argument?
5. Deduction &Induction
6. Analyzing Arguments
8. Writing Arguments
3. Identifying Premises & Conclusions
4. What Is Not an Argument?
3.1 Distinguishing Fact & Opinion 3.1 Distinguishing Fact & Opinion
Vince Carter is a Vince Carter is a Basketball Player. He Basketball Player. He plays in the NBA and plays in the NBA and
represented USA in the represented USA in the Sydney Olympic Games Sydney Olympic Games 2000. He is currently the 2000. He is currently the best player in the NBA.best player in the NBA.
Facts and Facts and Opinions, Opinions,
please please identify.identify.
3.1 Distinguishing Fact & Opinion3.1 Distinguishing Fact & Opinion
Fact = Can be proved or disproved
Opinion = Personal Belief
“Gubra starts at 9.00 pmGubra starts at 9.00 pm. . It’s a great movieIt’s a great movie!”
3.1 Facts3.1 Facts
Tell who, what, when, where, or how much.
Have a verifiable truth value.
Can be quantified and is specific.
Are supported by evidence.
FactFact OpinionOpinion
KL is the capital of Malaysia. KL is the best city in the world.
UNITAR is a University in Malaysia.
I love studying at UNITAR.
Yao Ming is more than 7 feet tall.
Yao Ming is very good looking.
(Source: The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English in English Dictionaries and Thesauruses; 2003)
"A fact is a thing that is occurred, to exist,
or to be true."
"A fact is a thing that is occurred, to exist,
or to be true."
3.1 Opinions3.1 Opinions
Tend to be vague.
Are personal beliefs or value judgments.
FactFact OpinionOpinionKL is the capital of Malaysia. KL is the best city in the world.
UNITAR is a University in Malaysia.
I love studying at UNITAR.
Yao Ming is more than 7 feet tall. Yao Ming is very good looking.
An opinion is a view about a particular issue. It is what the person believes or thinks, and
is not necessarily the truth.
An opinion is a view about a particular issue. It is what the person believes or thinks, and
is not necessarily the truth.
Some Opinion Clues
Judging
Good, Better, Best, Bad, Worse, Worst, Should, Must
Predicting
Will
Shall
3.1 Exercise I: 3.1 Exercise I: iPhone
“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything… It's the ultimate digital device. It's like having your life in your pocket.“
“The iPhone will be ultra-slim - less than half-an-inch (1.3cm) thick - boasting a phone, Internet capability and an MP3 player as well as featuring a two megapixel digital camera”
Facts and Facts and Opinions, Opinions,
please please identify.identify.
I am Steve Jobs, so you
can trust me.
3.1 Exercise I: 3.1 Exercise I: iPhone
“This is a leapfrog product with a revolutionary new interface with software five years ahead of any other phone and desktop class applications, not those crippled applications you find on those other phones”
"Most advanced phones are called smart phone. But they are actually not so smart, and really not so easy to use. When you get a chance to get your hands on it, I think you'll agree, we've reinvented the phone.”
Facts and Facts and Opinions, Opinions,
please please identify.identify.
I am Steve Jobs, so you
can trust me.
3.1 Exercise II: Read the Article3.1 Exercise II: Read the Article
““Making of the Creative Student”Making of the Creative Student”
Facts and Facts and Opinions, Opinions,
please please identify.identify.
3.2 What Is an Argument? 3.2 What Is an Argument?
Argument - A form of thinking in which certain statements (reasons) are offered in support of another statement (a conclusion).
Premises (Reasons) - Statements that support another statement (known as a conclusion), justify it, or make it more probable.
Conclusion - A statement that explains, asserts, or predicts on the basis of statements (known as reasons) that are offered as evidence for it.
A Claim Defended with Reasons.A Claim Defended with Reasons.
3.2 Example – A Simple Argument3.2 Example – A Simple Argument
1. Lawyers earn a lot of money. (Premise)
2. I want to earn a lot of money. (Premise)
3. I should become a Lawyer. (Conclusion)
TIPS
3.3 Identifying Premises & Conclusions3.3 Identifying Premises & Conclusions
Look for premise indicators that provide clues when premises are being offered. Examples: because, since, for, given that, as, judging from, and seeing that.
Look for conclusion indicators that provide clues when conclusions are being offered. Examples: therefore, thus, hence, so, as a result, accordingly, consequently, and which shows that.
3.3 Identifying Premises & Conclusions3.3 Identifying Premises & Conclusions
If the passage contains no indicator words, try these two strategies:
Ask yourself, "What claim is the writer or speaker trying to prove?" That claim will be the conclusion.
Try putting the word "therefore" before each of the statements in turn. The statement it fits best will be the conclusion.
TIPS
3.3 Exercise 13.3 Exercise 1
Make a will. Otherwise, the state Make a will. Otherwise, the state will determine who gets your stuff.will determine who gets your stuff.
(Andrew Tobias, "Isn't It Time You Faced the Future?" 2001)(Andrew Tobias, "Isn't It Time You Faced the Future?" 2001)
Identify the premise(s)
and conclusion
of this argument.
3.3 Exercise 23.3 Exercise 2
Research universities also must aggressively Research universities also must aggressively support teaching. After all, a significant support teaching. After all, a significant percentage of their students are percentage of their students are undergraduates, and such institutions are undergraduates, and such institutions are clearly obligated to provide them a quality clearly obligated to provide them a quality education. education.
Ernest L. Boyer, Ernest L. Boyer, Scholarship ReconsideredScholarship Reconsidered, 1990), 1990)
Identify the premise(s)
and conclusion of
this argument.
3.3 Exercise 33.3 Exercise 3
No one who observes people can pretend No one who observes people can pretend that in fact they always seek anything like that in fact they always seek anything like their own long-run advantage. If this were the their own long-run advantage. If this were the case only stupidity could explain how case only stupidity could explain how frequently and obviously they act contrary to frequently and obviously they act contrary to their own long-run advantage. People are not their own long-run advantage. People are not that stupid! that stupid! (Charles Hartshorne and Creighton Peden, (Charles Hartshorne and Creighton Peden, Whitehead's View of RealityWhitehead's View of Reality, 1981), 1981)
Identify the premise(s)
and conclusion of
this argument.
3.3 Exercise 43.3 Exercise 4
We have good reason to believe that people will exist We have good reason to believe that people will exist in the future and that they will be similar enough to us in the future and that they will be similar enough to us that we can have a good idea of what their well-being that we can have a good idea of what their well-being requires. Knowing this and knowing that our present requires. Knowing this and knowing that our present actions can influence their future well-being, it is actions can influence their future well-being, it is reasonable to conclude that future people must be reasonable to conclude that future people must be given some ethical consideration by presently living given some ethical consideration by presently living human beings.human beings.
(Joseph R. DesJardins, (Joseph R. DesJardins, Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to EnvironmentalEnvironmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental PhilosophyPhilosophy, 3rd ed., 2001), 3rd ed., 2001)
Identify the premise(s)
and conclusion of
this argument.
3.4 What Is Not an Argument?3.4 What Is Not an Argument?
More precisely, a passage is an argument if and only if:
It is a group of two or more statements.
One of those statements (the conclusion) is claimed or intended to be supported by the other(s) (the premises).
AnAn argumentargument is a claim defended with reasonsis a claim defended with reasons..
3.4 What Is Not an Argument?3.4 What Is Not an Argument?
• Notice three important things that follow from this definition:
Arguments consist entirely of statements (sentences that it makes sense to regard as either true or false). Questions, commands, and other kinds of non-statements cannot be parts of arguments (Keep in mind, however, that rhetorical questions should be treated as statements.).
No single statement is an argument. Arguments always consist of at least two statements.
Nothing counts as an argument unless it is claimed or intended that one statement follows from one or more other statements in the passage. In other words, a passage is an argument only if the speaker or writer intends to offer evidence or reasons why another statement should be accepted as true.
3.4 What Is Not an Argument?3.4 What Is Not an Argument?
Five kinds of passages that are sometimes confused with arguments are:
Reports A statement or group of statements intended simply to convey information about a subject.
Unsupported statements of belief or opinions
Is a statement or set of statements in which the speaker or writer expresses his or her personal opinion, but offers no reasons or evidence to back up that opinion.
Illustrations Is a passage intended to provide examples that illustrate or support a claim, not to provide convincing evidence that the claim is true.
Conditional Statements Is an if-then statement. It is an assertion that such-and-such is true if something else is true.
Explanations Is a statement or set of statements that seeks to provide an account of why something has occurred or why something is the case.
3.4 Example: Report3.4 Example: Report
Planet Earth was much drier in the Triassic than it is now, and there were large deserts in inland areas. There were no flowering plants or grasses--they
evolved much later. The most common trees were conifers, similar to today's pines. Other large plants included yews, ginkgos, and the palmlike cycads.
Moisture-loving ferns and horsetails thrived by lakes and rivers.
(Philip Whitfield, Simon & Schuster's Children's Guide to Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals, 1992)
3.4 Example: Unsupported statements of 3.4 Example: Unsupported statements of belief or opinionbelief or opinion
For the person who called and said Larry Bird was better than Michael Jordan, wake up. No one was ever better than Michael Jordan, not even Kareem in his glory and not even Dr. J.
(From a newspaper call-in column)
3.4 Example: Illustration3.4 Example: Illustration
Almost all groups agree in holding other groups to be inferior to themselves. The American Indians looked upon themselves as the chosen people,
specially created by the Great Spirit as an uplifting example for mankind. One Indian tribe
called itself "The Only Men"; another called itself "Men of Men"; the Caribs said, "We alone are
people."
(Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935)
3.4 Example: Conditional Statement3.4 Example: Conditional Statement
If Aida comes to the wedding then I will come to the wedding.
3.4 Example: Explanation3.4 Example: Explanation
I speak good English because my parents encouraged me to practice it everyday.
Group ActivityGroup Activity
Break into groups of 4 - 6, read the article provided (Title: “Making of the Creative Student”, NST, 18/01-2007) and then reflect, discuss and answer the following questions:
Yes? – Which of the “The Student in 2007” characteristics do you have (your perception)?
Why? – Please discuss “Why do you think that you lack this/these characteristic(s)?”
How? – How can the education system (or student) encourage/facilitate “The Student in 2010” characteristics?
* Use the template provided by your lecturer.
20 min Group discussion
5 min Summarize discussion findings
15 min Group presentation & discussionThe Group leader must submit their findings in hard or soft-copy format to the lecturer before or during the next class.
SummarySummary
1. Distinguishing
Fact & Opinion
Fact = Can be proved or disproved
Opinion = Personal Belief
2. What is an Argument? An argument is a claim defended with reasons.
3. Identifying Premises
& Conclusions
Look for premise indicators that provide clues when premises are being offered (e.g. because, since, for).
Look for conclusion indicators that provide clues when conclusions are being offered (e.g. therefore, thus, hence, so).
If the passage contains no indicator words, try these two strategies: 1) Ask yourself, "What claim is the writer or speaker trying to prove?" That claim will be the conclusion. 2)Try putting the word "therefore" before each of the statements in turn. The statement it fits best will be the conclusion.
4. What Is Not
an Argument?
Five kinds of passages that are sometimes confused with arguments are: Reports, Unsupported statements of belief or opinions, Illustrations, Conditional Statements, and Explanations
Any Questions? Any Questions?
The EndThe End
Contact DetailsContact Details
Zaid Ali AlsagoffZaid Ali Alsagoff
UNIVERSITI TUN ABDUL RAZAK 16-5, Jalan SS 6/1247301 Kelana Jaya
Selangor Darul EhsanMalaysia
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 603-7627 7238 Fax: 603-7627 7246
ReferencesReferences
Online ResourcesOnline ResourcesCourseware Module 7: http://cw.unitar.edu.my/ugb2013/c7/index.htm
BooksBooksChapter 2: G Bassham, W Irwin, H Nardone, J M Wallace, Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction, McGraw-Hill International Edition, 2007Chapter 10: John Chaffee, Thinking Critically, 6th Edition, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2000
GraphicsRock Cartoon: http://www.homestead.com/jasonpaulhamus/files/wrestling/rock3.jpgRock Bottom slam: http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/e/ee/250px-Rockbottom.jpg John Cena: http://www.photosleeve.com/d/42473-1/cena.JPG Batista: http://sportsmedia.ign.com/sports/image/article/635/635699/batista-animal-unleashed-20050721053017434.jpgTriple H: http://www.thestunner.4mg.com/images/cool%20triple%20h%20cut.gifStone Cold: http://images.quizilla.com/A/AjLake/1074381314_sStoneCold.jpg Hulk Hogan: http://sportsmedia.ign.com/sports/image/article/630/630882/hulk-hogan-interview-20050701022156947.jpg Vince Carter Dunk: http://www.usabasketball.com/images/carter_dunk_france_220.jpg Yoda: http://swg.stratics.com/content/lore/personas/images/yoda.gif