ARGUMENT + BIAS Flashcards
Ch 1: ARGUMENT
Way you put together or structure ideas, opinions, or beliefs, so people will better understand what you’re trying to say.
A conclusion together with the premises that support it
Structure of argument
Main point and reasons that support
Premise(s) + Conclusion = Argument
*unless formulate ideas/opinions into arguments, have nothing more than unjustified opinions.
Think of Arguments as…
House
Roof = conclusion
Walls supporting roof = premises
Foundation = universal criteria
What does universal criteria (foundation) include? (i.e premises must be….)
Consistency
Simplicity
Reliability
Relevance
Sufficiency
Consistency and the laws (3)
Mother of all criteria (key) on which measure value of our beliefs/premises
- if ideas inconsistent from very beginning, they can’t have conviction or sway over anyone (greater clarity of thought produced - not guarantee argument)
- Law of identity
- statement in which subject and predicate are the same is true
Ex. Raymond is bald=Raymond had no hair
EX. non-venomous snake is not poisonous; person afraid of non-venomous snake for fear of getting poisonous bite is wrong and irrational b/c something non-venomous can’t have venom - Law of non-contradiction
- something can’t be both true and not true at the same time when dealing with the same context
EX. 1. Judas hanged himself 2. Judas didn’t hang himself (either statement excludes possibility of other, we have contradiction since both could not be true) - Law of excluded middle
- for every proposition, either the proposition or its negation is true
Ex. 1. Person is pregnant 2. Person isn’t pregnant (either could be true; can’t be in the middle OR sort of pregnant)
If premises fail to satisfy UNIVERSAL CRITERIA (foundation)… + Breatharians Ex…
House (argument) falls apart
Ex. The Breatharians - Jasmuheen (former=Ellen Greve)
- quickest way to show falsity of their claims involved consistency challenges
Stay in office for 2 weeks (inconsistent to claim that person could live on nothing but light and air) - volunteered on Australia’s “60 minutes”
48 hours - BP increase and signs of dehydration. Doctor supervising advised to quit program before she lost kidney function, so they did.
She claims that show stopped the test because “they feared she’d be successful”
- maintained not her beliefs that were factually wrong, rather it was fear of press and world that she is correct
** clearly demonstrates power of critical thinking and importance of consistency!
** Example of ad hoc fallacy
- addition of more premises in attempt to save a particular belief or position
Simplicity
If can present argument that accomplishes just as much but with fewer premises (reasons to support conclusion), it tends to be more highly valued
Referred to as “Occam’s razor” (William Occam)
- Criterion is best summed up in his famous saying: “don’t multiply entities beyond necessity”
Reliability
Attain dependable, factual info is critical in continued support of one’s conclusion
3rd universal criterion demanding attain our info from trustworthy sources and we don’t shirk responsibility on this regard (“epistemic responsibility”)
Ex. Many people formulate opinions about extremely important issues (like Covid and vaccines) based on info found on social media
- this is not reliable source of info (premise isn’t reliable, so can’t support conclusion nor satisfy universal criteria)
Ex. Spread of false info of Rohingya Muslims by Buddhist extremists led to enormous campaign of ethic cleansing, thousands of refugees flee to Myanmar
Relevance
(premises should be relevant to support of a conclusion)
Many ways which people introduce irrelevant premises into argument in guise of presenting relevant points
** Red herring fallacy = fallacy of improper relevance (along with relevant info to distract attention from that relevant info)
Ex. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Supreme Court justice candidate
Brett Kavanaugh re: Sexual Assault Dr. Christine Blasey Ford
when asked question about drinking again, K responded by asking senator: “I’m curious if you have [blacked out from drinking too much]”
- introducing irrelevant premise to distract from relevant info
Sufficiency
Enough of something to satisfy some condition, want, goal, etc.
“Provide conclusion with ‘enough’ evidence for support”
Assuming premises to be true, they are “enough” to guarantee the conclusion to be true.
If argument’s premises are sufficient, then it is a deductive argument.
3 types of reasoning
- Deductive
- Conclusion guaranteed by premises (generally assumed to be true); it can’t be otherwise
*Move from broad generalizations to specific observations
Ex. Father Flanagan and Senator Robert Jones
Deductive reasoning: senator is a murderer
Premises to conclude this: evidence like was he married? How did the wife die? Did he collect insurance money and in what amount?
Logical validity using deductive reasoning:
- if all fish have cells in their bodies and all cells contain DNA (both premises assumed to be true), it must follow that fish have DNA (conclusion)
EX. All dogs have ears, golden retrievers are dogs, thus, they have ears.
- Inductive
- Conclusions are not logically valid (guaranteed) but warranted or reasonable or probable
**the hallmark of scientific investigation
*Move from specific observations to broad generalizations (specific obs -> pattern recognition -> general conclusion)
DRAW CAUSAL LINK BETW PREMISE AND HYPOTHESIS
EX. In the summer, there are ducks on our pond. So, summer will PROBABLY bring ducks to our pond
Ex. Likelihood of a dropped pen falling downwards in class?
- Abductive
- Making probable conclusion based on what you know (“take your best shot”), often incomplete
*starts with observation(s) and seeks simplest + most likely conclusion from the observations
Ex. Ignaz Semmelweis germ theory invention
- can’t see germs and scientists at the time don’t believe anything can’t see since can’t confirm or falsify
- conduct experiments to give conclusion on what is cause of sepsis?
- concluded that incidence of sepsis (fever) could be drastically reduced by requiring hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics
*observation of friend’s autopsy who died due to fatal dissection wound AND noticed symptoms similar to those of childbed fever — obs prompt for connection between contamination by germs (no disinfectant or hand washing) with fever.
- idea not taken seriously because I’m conflict with theory of disease accepted then
- died from Sepsis (very thing that cured women for)
Ch 2: BIASES
Way in which person influenced in order to understand and act on particular types of info
Types : biological, cultural/social influences
- act like filters through which we attempt to make sense of the world
Mirror test: make every effort to understand both cultural and biological biases which gave rise to differences of viewpoint we have
Biological biases
Age, sex, health
- Sexual differences: males and females composed of diff quantities of hormones
- Dimorphism: sexes of same species display different characteristics
- Biological equilibrium
Genetics
- ADHD and Homosexuality
- The Gay Gene (largely biologically influenced)
- between choice and biological development (“being gay is sci proven that it’s not a choice, IT IS biological)
- genes do not work in isolation
- epigenetics: study of how behaviours and env cause changes that affect way genes work (don’t alter DNA sequence nor irreversible like genetic changes)
Neuropsychology
- mental health issues, neuroses, psychoses, OCD, suicide, infanticide, addiction…
Emotional
- affective states that motivate human behaviour
- basic: fear, anger, sorrow, joy, disgust, anticipation, surprise, and acceptance
- more subtle variations: terror/phobia, rage, sadness, grief, depression, happiness, gladness, gratitude, etc.
*discussing issues found emotionally charged create env in which controlling emotional biases (among others) become really difficult (ex. Abortion, euthanasia, healthcare, capital punishment…)
Ex. pet tarantula stimulate fight or flight
Cultural biases
Ethnicity
Family
Religion
Friends
Education
Media
- Meme: any cultural artifact imaginable including one’s belief, habits and customs
- quantity of our memes increases exponentially
- Memetic equilibrium: culturally compatible state with biological equilibrium
Social biases
Ethnicity
Family upbringing
Religion
Geographic location
Friends
Media
Education
