EVALUATING ARGUMENTS AND BUILDING ARGUMENTS ENGL 121 Howard Community College

Why evaluate arguments?  What is the author saying? How is the author saying it?  Writers use various argument tactics:  Some good and effective/fair  Some bad and ineffective/unfair  We must:  evaluate HOW a writer makes his or her argument, and  decide whether or not their methods are legitimate.

In this presentation…  Generalizing (Inductive Reasoning)  Analogies  Causes and Effects  Weighing Options  Assumptions  Other fallacies

Generalizing (Inductive Reasoning)  Drawing conclusion with the information at hand – we do this all the time!  Fallacies* in Generalization  Hasty generalization: based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence  Stereotypes: hasty generalization about a group *Fallacy: erroneous reasoning

Analogies  Pointing out “similarity between two things that are otherwise different” – we do this all the time too!  False Analogy: an analogy that is off- base  Example: “If we can put humans on the moon, we should be able to find a cure for the common cold.”

Tracing Causes & Effects  Post hoc fallacy: assuming that because Y follows X (Y happens after X), therefore X is the cause of Y  Example: “Since Governor Cho took office, unemployment of minorities in the state has decreased by 7 percent. Governor Cho should be applauded for reducing unemployment among minorities.”

Weighing Options  Either…or fallacy: setting up “a false choice between their preferred option and the one that is clearly unsatisfactory”  Example: “Our current war against drugs has not worked. Either we should legalize drugs or we should turn the drug war over to our armed forces and let them fight it.”

Making Assumptions  Claim that is taken as truth without sufficient evidence  Fallacies:  Argument with missing claim  Non sequitur [Latin: “does not follow]: when the missing claim is an assertion that few would agree with (or is arguable)  Example: “Violent crime is increasing. Therefore, we should vigorously enforce the death penalty.”

Other Fallacies  Biased language  ad hominem [Latin: “to the man”] means to attack the opponent’s character rather than argument  Red herring means to divert attention away from main issue (to distract)  Straw Man Fallacy means to misrepresent opponent’s position/argument  Misquoting or quoting to mislead is unethical

Practice Question What’s wrong with this statements? My roommate, who is an engineering major, is taking a course called Structures of Tall Buildings. All engineers have to know how to design tall buildings.

Practice Question What’s wrong with this statements? If you’re old enough to vote, you are old enough to drink. Therefore, the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen.

Practice Question What’s wrong with this statements? Most young people can’t afford to buy a house in Silicon Valley because they spend too much money on new clothes and computer games.

Practice Question What’s wrong with this statements? If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.